Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the conception of prophecy that Gershom Scholem developed in his early essay “On Jonah and the Concept of Justice”. I argue that Scholem did not so much develop a theological interpretation of the nature of prophecy but was rather concerned with the philosophical issues of time and justice. These concerns are demonstrably related to his friend Walter Benjamin’s interests in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Scholem’s philosophical reflections on prophecy, therefore, offer a unique insight into the complex intellectual relation between him and Benjamin.