Prophetic utterance, like poetic utterance, transforms experience and moves the receiver to new attitudes. The kinds of experience–the recognitions or revelations–out of which both prophecy and poetry emerge, are such as to stir the prophet or poet to speech that may exceed their own known capacities; they are “inspired,” they breathe in revelation and breathe out new words; and by so doing they transfer over to the listener or reader a parallel experience, a parallel intensity, which impels that person into new attitudes and new actions.
