Sage and Prophet

Rabbi Abdimi of Haifa (a late third- or early fourth-century Eretz-Israel sage) said:

Since the day when the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from the prophets and given to the wise.

[The redactors ask:]

Is then a wise man not also a prophet?—[The redactors respond:]

What he meant was this: Although it has been taken from the prophets it was given to the wise.

[Again the redactors:]

Is then a wise man not also a prophet [that is, were the prophets not also sages,
so that the sages were prophets]?

What he meant was this:

Although it has been taken from the prophets, it has not been taken from the wise.

Amemar (A late fourth- or early fifth-century Babylonian sage) said:

A wise man is superior to a prophet,

as it says, “And a prophet has a heart of wisdom” [Ps 90:12, interpreting the word nabi’ in the phrase ‘we may get (lit., “come”)’ as related to nabi’, ‘prophet’].”

Who is compared with whom?

Is not the lesser compared with the greater
[that is, the prophet with the sage]?
Abaye (a fourth-generation authority) said: The proof [that prophecy has not been taken from the wise] is that a great man makes a statement, and the same is then reported in the name of another great man [who had hit upon the same idea independently].
Said Raba (a fourth-generation authority): What is there strange in this? Perhaps both were born under one star [and this was why they hit on the same idea].
No, said Raba; the proof is this, that a great man makes a statement and then the same is reported in the name of Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef (a second century sage) [who certainly was a much greater man, so that the explanation that they were born under one star will not hold].
Said Rab Ashi (in the generation after Amemar): What is there strange in this? Perhaps in this matter he was born under the same star.

No, said Rab Ashi; the proof is that a great
man makes a statement and then it is found that the same rule was a Halachah communicated to Moses at Mount Sinai.
But perhaps the wise man was no better than a blind man groping his way through a window [and hit on the idea by chance]?
—And does he not give reasons [for his opinions]

[Hence we must say that his agreement with Moses was due not to chance but to the spirit of prophecy].

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to imbeciles and children.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ami said in the name of Ulla:

Since the day the Temple, where the Divine Presence rested in this world, was destroyed, the Holy One, Blessed be He, has only one place in His world where he reveals His presence exclusively; only the four cubits where the study of halakha is undertaken.