For the source text click/tap here: Sanhedrin 17
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Moshe is commanded to choose 70 elders, and the Gemara explains that including Moshe we find 71 judges in the group.
Our Gemara continues and explains the process that took place when Moshe chose the elders, and specifically the enigmatic story regarding two of the elders – Eldad and Medad – who, according to the Torah (see Bamidbar 11:26-29) remained removed from the rest of the group, and nevertheless prophesied in a manner that brought Yehoshua to demand that they be shut up.
We explore the curious history of unauthorized prophecy.