民十一29　　摩西对他说，你为我的缘故嫉妒人么？唯愿耶和华的百姓都是申言者，愿耶和华把祂的灵放在他们身上！

　　林前十四31　因为你们都能一个一个地申言，为要使众人有学习，使众人得勉励。

　　申言者乃是神的发言人。……例如出埃及三章与四章，当摩西被神呼召的时候，他对神说，他是拙口笨舌的人（四10）。神就把亚伦赐给摩西作他的申言者（14~16，七1）。亚伦不是为摩西说预言，乃是替摩西说话。在全本圣经中，作申言者是重在为神说话，并且说出神来，有时也说预言，但〔那〕是次要的。……这是圣经中作申言者的正确意义（真理课程一级卷二，一九页）。

　　申言者直接得着神的启示，被神的灵推动（彼后一21），为神说话并将神说出来。神是隐藏的，但借着申言者的说话，就将神的自己和神的心意说明出来（真理课程三级卷二，一四一页）。

　　Num. 11:29 But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Oh that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!

　　1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

　　Prophets are God's spokesmen….For example, in Exodus 3 and 4 when Moses was called by God, he told God that he was slow of speech and of a slow tongue (4:10). So God gave Aaron to Moses to be his prophet (4:14-16; 7:1). Aaron did not predict for Moses; rather, he spoke for him. In the whole Bible, to prophesy is mainly to speak for God and to speak forth God; sometimes it is also to predict, … [which] is secondary. This is the proper meaning of prophesying in the Bible. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 2, p. 19)

　　Prophets receive God's revelation directly and are borne by the Spirit of God to speak for God and speak forth God (2 Pet. 1:21). God is hidden, but through the speaking of the prophets, God Himself and His intention are explained. (Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 2, p. 121)

　　〔在民数记十一章，〕七十〔个长老〕中有两个，没有和其余的人一同在会幕四围，而他们也申言（26）。……约书亚为摩西嫉妒，要摩西禁止他们〔27~28〕。但摩西回答：“你为我的缘故嫉妒人么？”（29上）然后摩西发出一个极大的预言：“唯愿耶和华的百姓都是申言者，愿耶和华把祂的灵放在他们身上！”（29下）这预言为保罗在哥林多前书所推动，并要在神新约经纶中得以应验（民数记生命读经，一四六页）。

　　这给我们看见，不仅新约的保罗，在林前十四章三十一节有那样的看见，说，“你们都能一个一个地申言。”恐怕保罗的观念是从摩西来的，因为保罗最懂旧约，他必定熟悉民数记十一章二十九节，摩西所说的：“唯愿耶和华的百姓都是申言者。”我们都知道，保罗写新约的书信时，有许多话都是源自旧约。因此我们看见，新旧约圣经里，有个一贯的概念，就是神愿意祂的子民为祂说话（为神说话，五○页）。

　　保罗和摩西几乎说到相同的事。……（民十一29，……林前十四31）。今天基督徒多半把“申言”这个辞领会成说预言的意思，这是可怜的光景。但摩西使用希伯来文的“申言”，用意并不是指着“说预言”。连他自己也没有说多少预言！摩西五经里面有多少预言？很少。但他的著作，就是他的说话，完全把神说出来了。他为神说话，他也说神！他很少说预言。以赛亚、耶利米、以西结也是一样。他们的书包含的预言其实很少，书中充满的乃是说出神，为神说话，以及直接说神。这是旧约的申言：预言很少，其中充满的乃是说出神，为神说话，以及直接说神。新约里的希腊文也是这样。新约希腊文的申言，意思是一种神的说话。你说出神，说出基督，你向人说基督，你为基督说话。这就是申言。申言主要就是为基督说话，说出基督，把基督说出来。申言就是说神，说基督，说神圣的权益，说基督和神的事，说出神，把神说出来，并且为神说话（神圣的说话，一四至一五页）。

　　参读：民数记生命读经，第十八篇；罗马书生命读经，第二十六篇；真理课程一级卷二，第十四课；真理课程三级卷二，第三十课；长老训练第八册，第三章；人人要说神的话，第一篇。

　　[In Numbers 11] two of the seventy [elders], who were not with the others around the Tent of Meeting, also prophesied (v. 26)…. Joshua was jealous for Moses, and he charged Moses to forbid them [vv. 27-28]. But Moses replied,”Are you jealous for my sake?” (v. 29a). Then Moses uttered a great prophecy:”Oh that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!” (v. 29b). This prophecy was promoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians and will be fulfilled in God's New Testament economy. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 133)

　　Paul in the New Testament was not the only one who had this kind of vision in 1 Corinthians 14:31:”You can all prophesy one by one.” It is very likely that Paul's concept came from Moses, because Paul, as one who understood the Old Testament, must have been familiar with what Moses had said in Numbers 11:29,”Oh that all Jehovah's people were prophets!” We know that when Paul wrote the Epistles in the New Testament, many of his words were derived from the Old Testament. Therefore, we see that this concept is consistent in both the Old and New Testaments—God wants His people to speak for Him. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5,”Speaking for God,” p. 209)

　　Paul said nearly the same thing that Moses did…(Num. 11:29;…1 Cor. 14:31). It is a poor situation that most of the Christian people today understand the word prophesy to mean to predict. But when Moses used the Hebrew word for prophesy, his intention was not to indicate prediction. Even he himself did not predict much. In all his five books how many predictions are there? There are very few, but his writing, that is, his speaking, was altogether the speaking forth of God. He was speaking for God, and he was speaking God. Moses predicted little. It was the same with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Their books actually contain very few predictions but rather are full of speaking forth God, speaking for God, and speaking God directly. This was the Old Testament prophecy: there is not much prediction, but it is full of speaking forth of God, speaking for God, and speaking God directly. It is the same way with the Greek word in the New Testament. Prophecy in New Testament Greek means a kind of speaking of God. You speak God forth, you speak Christ out, you speak Christ to people, you speak for Christ. This is prophecy. To prophesy is mainly to speak for Christ, to speak Christ forth, to speak Christ out. To prophesy is to speak God, to speak Christ, to speak the divine interest, to speak the things concerning Christ and God, and to speak forth, speak out, and speak for God. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 3,”The Divine Speaking,” pp. 280-281)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 18; Life-study of Romans, msg. 26; Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 2, lsn. 14; Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 2, lsn. 30; CWWL, 1986, vol. 1,”Elders' Training, Book 8: The Life Pulse of the Lord's Present Move,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1985, vol. 4,”Everyone Speaking the Word of God,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, pp. 325-327