1) It is a fundamental part of religion to acknowledge that God bestows prophecy upon the sons of men. But prophecy does not descend except upon a wise man, eminent in wisdom, of sterling character, never ruled by worldly passion...

(2) Prophets are of various degrees. Even as there is in wisdom, one wise man greater than his fellow, so it is in prophecy, one prophet is greater than another prophet.

a)But all of them do not see the vision of prophecy except in a dream, in a vision by night, or during the day when a deep slumber falls upon them, as it is said: "I become known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream" (Num. 12.6).

b)And they all, when they prophesy, tremble in all their limbs, the strength of their bodies gives way, their thinking power becomes unbalanced, their understanding alone remains open to grasp what it will see, as it says of Abraham: "And behold, a great trembling and darkness befell upon him" (Gen. 15.12);

c) The ideas that a prophet received by prophecy, are given to him in visions of allegories or parables, that the prophet must interpret. For instance, the vision of the ladder which Yaakov our father saw: "The angels of God were ascending and descending upon it" (Gen. 28.12); which was a parable, the interpretation of which is the rise and fall of kingdoms... all of them are prophesying in parables and metaphors.

d) All the prophets do not prophesy every time they may desire, but they must prepare their minds, rest in a state of joy and contentment, and in total solitude; for, prophecy does not rest upon any prophet when he is in a state of sadness, but when he is in a state of delightfulness. Therefore, the disciples of the prophets had before them the harp, the flute and the violin when they were seeking the spirit of prophecy, as it says: "And they strove to prophecy" (I Sam. 10.5), meaning, they did everything they could until they did prophesy, as one says: "Over there is one aspiring to become great."

All the things that we have spoken about the path of prophecy for all prophets is true First and Last, EXCEPT for Moses our Master, the Master of all prophets. And what difference is there between the prophecy of Moses and that of all the other prophets?

1. All the other prophets prophesied while in a dream, or in a vision, but Moses our Master prophesied while awake and standing up, as it is said:

"And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that He might speak with Him, then he heard the Voice speaking to him" (Num. 7.89);

2. All other prophets received their prophecy through an Angel, they therefore saw what they did see in the form of allegory and riddles, but Moses our Master did not receive it through an angel, for it is said: "With Him I do speak mouth to mouth" (Num. 12.8),

and it is also said:

"and the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face" (Ex. 33.11);

and it is further said:

"And the face of the Lord he does behold" (Num. 12.8)

3 All prophets are awe-stricken, trembling and faint when they get prophecy, but Moses our Master, which is as the verse says:

"The Lord would speak as a man speaks to his friend" (Ex. 33.11), meaning, that as no man trembles to hear the words of his friend, so was the power of the mind of Moses our Master to understand the words of prophecy, he remaining upright and unaffected emotionally.

4 All other prophets would have to wait to get a prophesy, but not so Moses! He, at any time he desired, Hashem's Spirit came to him and prophecy rested upon him. He did not need to prepare his mind. Moshe did not need to be in readiness to meet Hashem, as he was prepared and ready constantly like the ministering Angels.

Moshe, therefore, prophesied at all times, as it says: "You stand here and let me hear what Hashem will command concerning you" (Num. 9.8).

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