Prophet

The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is nabi , derived from a verb signifying "to bubble forth" like a fountain; hence the word means one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God. The English word comes from the Greek prophetes (profetes), which signifies in classical Greek one who speaks for another , especially one who speaks for a god , and so interprets his will to man; hence its essential meaning is "an interpreter." The use of the word in its modern sense as "one who predicts" is post-classical. The larger sense of interpretation has not, however, been lost. In fact the English word ways been used in a closer sense. The different meanings or shades of meanings in which the abstract noun is employed in Scripture have been drawn out by Locke as follows: "Prophecy comprehends three things: prediction; singing by the dictate of the Spirit; and understanding and explaining the mysterious, hidden sense of Scripture by an immediate illumination and motion of the Spirit." Order and office . --The sacerdotal order was originally the instrument by which the members of the Jewish theocracy were taught and governed in things spiritual. Teaching by act and teaching by word were alike their task. But during the time of the judges, the priesthood sank into a state of degeneracy, and the people were no longer affected by the acted lessons of the ceremonial service. They required less enigmatic warnings and exhortations, under these circumstances a new moral power was evoked the Prophetic Order. Samuel himself Levite of the family of Kohath, (1 Chronicles 6:28) and almost certainly a priest, was the instrument used at once for effecting a reform in the sacerdotal order (1 Chronicles 9:22) and for giving to the prophets a position of importance which they had never before held. Nevertheless it is not to be supposed that Samuel created the prophetic order as a new thing before unknown. The germs both of the prophetic and of the regal order are found in the law as given to the Israelites by Moses, (13:1; 18:20; 17:18) but they were not yet developed, because there was not yet the demand for them. Samuel took measures to make his work of restoration permanent as well as effective for the moment. For this purpose he instituted companies or colleges of prophets. One we find in his lifetime at Ramah, (1 Samuel 19:19,20) others afterward at Bethel, (2 Kings 2:3) Jericho, (2 Kings 2:2,5) Gilgal; (2 Kings 4:38) and elsewhere. (2 Kings 6:1) Their constitution and object similar to those of theological colleges. Into them were gathered promising students, and here they were trained for the office which they were afterward destined to fulfill. So successful were these institutions that from the time of Samuel to the closing of the canon of the Old Testament there seems never to have been wanting due supply of men to keep up the line of official prophets. Their chief subject of study was, no doubt, the law and its interpretation; oral, as distinct from symbolical, teaching being thenceforward tacitly transferred from the priestly to the prophetic order. Subsidiary subjects of instruction were music and sacred poetry, both of which had been connected with prophecy from the time of Moses (Exodus 15:20) and the judges. (Judges 4:4; 5:1) But to belong to the prophetic order and to possess the prophetic gift are not convertible terms. Generally, the inspired prophet came from the college of prophets, and belonged to prophetic order; but this was not always the case. Thus Amos though called to the prophetic office did not belong to the prophetic order. (Amos 7:14) The sixteen prophets whose books are in the canon have that place of honor because they were endowed with the prophetic gift us well as ordinarily (so far as we know) belonging to the prophetic order. Characteristics . --What then are the characteristics of the sixteen prophets thus called and commissioned and intrusted with the messages of God to his people?

1. They were the national poets of Judea.
2. They were annalists and historians. A great portion of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Daniel of Jonah, of Haggai, is direct or in direct history.
3. They were preachers of patriotism, --their patriotism being founded on the religious motive.
4. They were preachers of morals and of spiritual religion. The system of morals put forward by the prophets, if not higher or sterner or purer than that of the law, is more plainly declared, and with greater, because now more needed, vehemence of diction.
5. They were extraordinary but yet authorized exponents of the law.
6. They held a pastoral or quasi-pastoral office.
7. They were a political power in the state.
8. But the prophets were something more than national poets and annalists, preachers of patriotism moral teachers, exponents of the law, pastors and politicians. Their most essential characteristic is that they were instruments of revealing God's will to man, as in other ways, so specially by predicting future events, and in particular foretelling the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption effected by him. We have a series of prophecies which are so applicable to the person and earthly life of Jesus Christ as to be thereby shown to have been designed to apply to him. And if they were designed to apply to him, prophetical prediction is proved. Objections have, been urged. We notice only one, vis., vagueness. It has been said that the prophecies are too darkly and vaguely worded to be proved predictive by the events which they are alleged to foretell. But to this might be answered,
9. That God never forces men to believe, but that there is such a union of definiteness and vagueness in the prophecies as to enable those who are willing to discover the truth, while the willfully blind are not forcibly constrained to see it.
10. That, had the prophecies been couched in the form of direct declarations, their fulfillment would have thereby been rendered impossible or at least capable of frustration.
11. That the effect of prophecy would have been far less beneficial to believers, as being less adapted to keep them in a state of constant expectation.
12. That the Messiah of revelation could not be so clearly portrayed in his varied character as God and man, as prophet, priest and king, if he had been the mere teacher."
13. That the state of the prophets, at the time of receiving the divine revelation, was such as necessarily to make their predictions fragmentary figurative, and abstracted from the relations of time.
14. That some portions of the prophecies were intended to be of double application, and some portions to be understood only on their fulfillment, Comp. (John 14:29; Ezekiel 36:33)

(Hebrews nabi, from a root meaning "to bubble forth, as from a fountain, " hence "to utter", Comp. Psalm 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of Samuel another word, ro'eh, "seer", began to be used (1 Samuel 9:9). It occurs seven times in reference to Samuel. Afterwards another word, hozeh, "seer" (2 Samuel 24:11), was employed. In 1 Ch. 29:29 all these three words are used: "Samuel the seer (ro'eh), Nathan the prophet (nabi'), Gad the seer" (hozeh). In Joshua 13:22 Balaam is called (Hebrews) a kosem "diviner," a word used only of a false prophet.

The "prophet" proclaimed the message given to him, as the "seer" beheld the vision of God. (See Numbers 12:6, 8.) Thus a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God's name and by his authority (Exodus 7:1). He is the mouth by which God speaks to men (Jeremiah 1:9; Isaiah 51:16), and hence what the prophet says is not of man but of God (2 Peter 1:20, 21; Comp. Hebrews 3:7; Acts 4:25; 28:25). Prophets were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and will to men (Deuteronomy 18:18, 19). The whole Word of God may in this general sense be spoken of as prophetic, inasmuch as it was written by men who received the revelation they communicated from God, no matter what its nature might be. The foretelling of future events was not a necessary but only an incidental part of the prophetic office. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised up among the people was "to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character of God, and which lie at the foundation of his government."

Any one being a spokesman for God to man might thus be called a prophet. Thus Enoch, Abraham, and the patriarchs, as bearers of God's message (Genesis 20:7; Exodus 7:1; Psalm 105:15), as also Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; 34:10; Hosea 12:13), are ranked among the prophets. The seventy elders of Israel (Numbers 11:16-29), "when the spirit rested upon them, prophesied;" Asaph and Jeduthun "prophesied with a harp" (1 Chronicles 25:3). Miriam and Deborah were prophetesses (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4). The title thus has a general application to all who have messages from God to men.

But while the prophetic gift was thus exercised from the beginning, the prophetical order as such began with Samuel. Colleges, "schools of the prophets", were instituted for the training of prophets, who were constituted, a distinct order (1 Samuel 19:18-24; 2 Kings 2:3, 15; 4:38), which continued to the close of the Old Testament. Such "schools" were established at Ramah, Bethel, Gilgal, Gibeah, and Jericho. The "sons" or "disciples" of the prophets were young men (2 Kings 5:22; 9:1, 4) who lived together at these different "schools" (4:38-41). These young men were taught not only the rudiments of secular knowledge, but they were brought up to exercise the office of prophet, "to preach pure morality and the heart-felt worship of Jehovah, and to act along and co-ordinately with the priesthood and monarchy in guiding the state aright and checking all attempts at illegality and tyranny."

In New Testament times the prophetical office was continued. Our Lord is frequently spoken of as a prophet (Luke 13:33; 24:19). He was and is the great Prophet of the Church. There was also in the Church a distinct order of prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5), who made new revelations from God. They differed from the "teacher," whose office it was to impart truths already revealed.

Of the Old Testament prophets there are sixteen, whose prophecies form part of the inspired canon. These are divided into four groups:

(1.) The prophets of the northern kingdom (Israel), viz., Hosea, Amos, Joel, Jonah.

(2.) The prophets of Judah, viz., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah.

(3.) The prophets of Captivity, viz., Ezekiel and Daniel.

(4.) The prophets of the Restoration, viz., Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

1. (n.) One who prophesies, or foretells events; a predictor; a foreteller.

2. (n.) One inspired or instructed by God to speak in his name, or announce future events, as, Moses, Elijah, etc.

3. (n.) An interpreter; a spokesman.

4. (n.) A mantis.

OLD PROPHET, THE

(nabhi' 'echadh zaqen, "an old prophet" (1 Kings 13:11), ha-nabhi' ha-zaqen, "the old prophet" (1 Kings 13:29)):

1. The Narrative:

The narrative of 1 Kings 13:11-32, in which the old prophet is mentioned, is part of a larger account telling of a visit paid to Bethel by "a man of God" from Judah. The Judean prophet uttered a curse upon the altar erected there by Jeroboam I. When the king attempted to use force against him, the prophet was saved by divine intervention; the king then invited him to receive royal hospitality, but he refused because of a command of God to him not to eat or drink there. The Judean then departed (13:1-10). An old prophet who lived in Bethel heard of the stranger's words, and went after him and offered him hospitality. This offer too was refused. But when the old prophet resorted to falsehood and pleaded a divine command on the subject, the Judean returned with him. While at table the old prophet is given a message to declare that death will follow the southerner's disobedience to the first command. A lion kills him on his way home. The old prophet hears of the death and explains it as due to disobedience to God; he then buries the dead body in his own grave and expresses a wish that he also at death should be buried in the same sepulcher.

2. Critical:

There are several difficulties in the text. In 1 Kings 13:11, the King James Version reads "his sons came" instead of "one of his sons came," and translation 1 Kings 13:12 b: "And his sons shewed the way the man of God went." There is a gap in the Massoretic Text after the word "table" in 13:20; and 13:23 should be translated, "And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled for himself the ass, and departed again" (following Septuagint, B with W. B. Stevenson, HDB, III, 594a, note).

Benzinger ("Die Bucher der Konige," Kurz. Hand-Komm. zum Altes Testament, 91) holds that we have here an example of a midrash, i.e. according to LOT, 529, "an imaginative development of a thought or theme suggested by Scripture, especially a didactic or homiletic exposition or an edifying religious story." 2 Chronicles 24:27 refers to a "midhrash of the book of the kings," and 2 Chronicles 13:22 to a "midrash of the prophet Iddo." In 2 Chronicles 9:29 we have a reference to "the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Josephus names the Judean prophet Jadon (Ant., VIII, viii, 5), and so some would trace this narrative to the midrash of Iddo, which would be a late Jewish work. There is a trace of late Hebrew in 1 Kings 13:3, and evidence in several places of a later editing of the original narrative. Kittel and Benzinger think it possible that the section may be based on a historical incident. If the narrative is historical in the main, the mention of Josiah by name in 13:2 may be a later insertion; if not historical, the prophecy there is ex eventu, and the whole section a midrash on 2 Kings 23:15-20.

3. Central Truths:

(1) Several questions are suggested by the narrative, but in putting as well as in answering these questions, it must be remembered that the old prophet himself, as has been pointed out, is not the chief character of the piece. Hence, it is a little pointless to ask what became of the old prophet, or whether he was not punished for his falsehood. The passage should be studied, like the parables of Jesus, with an eye on the great central truth, which is, here, that God punishes disobedience even in "a man of God." It is not inconsistent with this to regard the old prophet as an example of "Satan fashioning himself into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14), or of the beast which "had two horns like unto a lamb" (Revelation 13:11).

(2) It must also be remembered that the false prophets of the Old Testament are called prophets in spite of their false prophecies. So here the old prophet in spite of his former lie is given a divine message to declare that death will follow the other's disobedience.

(3) One other question suggests itself, and demands an answer. Why did the old prophet make the request that at death he should be buried in the same grave as the Judean (1 Kings 13:31)? The answer is implied in 1 Kings 13:32, and is more fully given in 2 Kings 23:15-20, where King Josiah defiles the graves of the prophets at Bethel. On seeing a "monument" or grave-stone by one of the graves, he inquires what it is, and is told that it marks the grave of the prophet from Judah. Thereupon he orders that his bones be not disturbed. With these the bones of the old prophet escape. Perhaps no clearer instance of a certain kind of meanness exists in the Old Testament. The very man who has been the cause of another's downfall and ruin is base enough to plan his own escape under cover of the virtues of his victim. And the parallels in modern life are many.

David Francis Roberts

CHRIST AS KING, PRIEST, PROPHET

See under several titles; also CHRIST, OFFICES OF.

PROPHET, THE OLD

See OLD PROPHET, THE.

5578. pseudoprophetes -- a false prophet
... a false prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: pseudoprophetes
Phonetic Spelling: (psyoo-dop-rof-ay'-tace) Short Definition: a false prophet ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5578.htm - 8k

4396. prophetes -- a prophet (an interpreter or forth-teller of ...
... a prophet (an interpreter or forth-teller of the divine will). Part of Speech: Noun,
Masculine Transliteration: prophetes Phonetic Spelling: (prof-ay'-tace ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4396.htm - 8k

919. Bariesous -- "son of Joshua," Bar-Jesus, a false prophet
... 918, 919. Bariesous. 920 . "son of Joshua," Bar-Jesus, a false prophet. Part
of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Bariesous Phonetic Spelling: (bar- ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/919.htm - 6k

2495. Ionas -- Jonah, an Israelite prophet
... Jonah, an Israelite prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Ionas
Phonetic Spelling: (ee-o-nas') Short Definition: Jonah Definition: (Hebrew ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2495.htm - 6k

2408. Ieremias -- Jeremiah, an OT prophet
... Jeremiah, an OT prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Ieremias
Phonetic Spelling: (hee-er-em-ee'-as) Short Definition: Jeremiah Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2408.htm - 6k

5617. Hosee -- Hosea, an Israelite prophet
... Hosea, an Israelite prophet. Part of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration:
Hosee Phonetic Spelling: (ho-say-eh') Short Definition: Hosea Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5617.htm - 6k

13. Agabos -- Agabus, a Christian prophet
... Agabus, a Christian prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Agabos
Phonetic Spelling: (ag'-ab-os) Short Definition: Agabus Definition: Agabus ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/13.htm - 6k

2268. Esaias -- Isaiah, an Israelite prophet
... Isaiah, an Israelite prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Esaias
Phonetic Spelling: (hay-sah-ee'-as) Short Definition: Isaiah Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2268.htm - 6k

4545. Samouel -- Samuel, a prophet and judge in Isr.
... 4544, 4545. Samouel. 4546 . Samuel, a prophet and judge in Isr. ... Word Origin
of Hebrew origin Shemuel Definition Samuel, a prophet and judge in Isr. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4545.htm - 6k

2243. Elias -- Elijah, an Israelite prophet
... Elijah, an Israelite prophet. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Elias
Phonetic Spelling: (hay-lee'-as) Short Definition: Elijah Definition: Elijah ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2243.htm - 6k

5030. nabi -- a spokesman, speaker, prophet
... 5029, 5030. nabi. 5031 . a spokesman, speaker, prophet. Transliteration:
nabi Phonetic Spelling: (naw-bee') Short Definition: prophet. ...
/hebrew/5030.htm - 6k

5029. nebi -- a prophet
... 5028, 5029. nebi. 5030 . a prophet. Transliteration: nebi Phonetic Spelling:
(neb-ee') Short Definition: prophet. Word Origin (Aramaic ...
/hebrew/5029.htm - 6k

256. Achab -- "father's brother," a king of Isr., also a false ...
... 255, 256. Achab. 257 . "father's brother," a king of Isr., also a false prophet.
Transliteration: Achab Phonetic Spelling: (akh-awb') Short Definition: Ahab ...
/hebrew/256.htm - 6k

5151. Nachum -- an Israelite prophet
... Nachum. 5152 . an Israelite prophet. Transliteration: Nachum Phonetic Spelling:
(nakh-oom') Short Definition: Nahum. ... prophet NASB Word Usage Nahum (1). Nahum. ...
/hebrew/5151.htm - 6k

4401. Malaki -- "my messenger," an Israelite prophet
... "my messenger," an Israelite prophet. Transliteration: Malaki Phonetic Spelling:
(mal-aw-kee') Short Definition: Malachi. ... prophet NASB Word Usage Malachi (1). ...
/hebrew/4401.htm - 6k

477. Elisha -- "God is salvation," a well-known Isr. prophet
... prophet. Transliteration: Elisha Phonetic Spelling: (el-ee-shaw') Short Definition:
Elisha. Word Origin contr. ... prophet NASB Word Usage Elisha (58). Elisha. ...
/hebrew/477.htm - 6k

452. Eliyyah -- "Yah is God," a well-known prophet of Isr., also ...
... 451, 452. Eliyyah. 453 . "Yah is God," a well-known prophet of Isr., also
three other Isr. Transliteration: Eliyyah Phonetic Spelling ...
/hebrew/452.htm - 6k

5986. Amos -- an Israelite prophet
... Amos. 5987 . an Israelite prophet. Transliteration: Amos Phonetic Spelling:
(aw-moce') Short Definition: Amos. ... prophet NASB Word Usage Amos (7). Amos. ...
/hebrew/5986.htm - 6k

2265. Chabaqquq -- a Hebrew prophet
... a Hebrew prophet. Transliteration: Chabaqquq Phonetic Spelling: (khab-ak-kook')
Short Definition: Habakkuk. ... prophet NASB Word Usage Habakkuk (2). Habakkuk. ...
/hebrew/2265.htm - 6k

1410. Gad -- a son of Jacob, also his tribe and its territory ...
... 1409, 1410. Gad. 1411 . a son of Jacob, also his tribe and its territory, also
a prophet. Transliteration: Gad Phonetic Spelling: (gawd) Short Definition: ...
/hebrew/1410.htm - 6k

Prophets and the Prophet
... THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY PROPHETS AND THE PROPHET. 'When thou art come into
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/prophets and the prophet.htm

The Prophet Jonah.
... THE PROPHET JONAH. It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that
Jonah is older than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,"that ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet jonah.htm

The Making of a Prophet
... THE MAKING OF A PROPHET. 'Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/the making of a prophet.htm

John is a Prophet, but not the Prophet.
... Sixth Book. 8. John is a Prophet, But Not the Prophet. "Art thou that prophet?
And he answered No." [4857] If the law and the prophets ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of john/8 john is a prophet.htm

The Prophet Micah.
... THE PROPHET MICAH. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like
Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet micah.htm

The Prophet Hosea.
... THE PROPHET HOSEA. ... That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry
is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet hosea.htm

The Child Prophet
... THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL THE CHILD PROPHET. ... All that reverent love could do, we may
be sure, the young prophet would do, to lighten the heavy tidings. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the child prophet.htm

The Prophet of the Highest.
... The Prophet of the Highest. ... A long period, computed at four hundred years, had passed
since the last great Hebrew prophet had uttered the words of the Highest. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/meyer/john the baptist/iv the prophet of the.htm

The Prophet Joel.
... THE PROPHET JOEL. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The ... David. A whole people, without
contradicting or murmuring, still depend upon the prophet. ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet joel.htm

The Prophet Amos.
... THE PROPHET AMOS. GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It ... Judah. The circumstances
of the prophet we learn, generally, from the words in chap. ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet amos.htm

Prophet (315 Occurrences)
... hence "to utter", Comp. Psalm 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the
most generally used for a prophet. In the time of Samuel ...
/p/prophet.htm - 49k

Prophet's (22 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Prophet's (22 Occurrences). Matthew 10:41 He who receives
a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. ...
/p/prophet's.htm - 13k

Amoz (14 Occurrences)
... Strong, the father of the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:2, 20; 20:1; Isaiah 1:1;
2:1). As to his personal history little is positively known. ...
/a/amoz.htm - 12k

Malachi (2 Occurrences)
... There is reason, however, to conclude that Malachi was the ordinary name
of the prophet. He was contemporary with Nehemiah (Comp. ...
/m/malachi.htm - 21k

Seer (21 Occurrences)
... (see PROPHET.). Noah Webster's Dictionary. (n.) A person who foresees events;
a prophet. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. SEER. ...
/s/seer.htm - 17k

Yea (867 Occurrences)
... Matthew 11:9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and
more than a prophet. ... Luke 7:26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? ...
/y/yea.htm - 37k

Prediction (4 Occurrences)
... Matthew 8:17 in order that this prediction of the Prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled,
"He took on Him our weaknesses, and bore the burden of our diseases." (WEY ...
/p/prediction.htm - 7k

Presumptuously (10 Occurrences)
... (Deuteronomy 18:20, 22, of the prophet; Exodus 21:14 Deuteronomy 1:43; Deuteronomy
17:12, 13 Psalm 19:13, "presumptuous sins" (zedh, "proud"); compare Psalm 86 ...
/p/presumptuously.htm - 11k

Prophesies (17 Occurrences)
... Jeremiah 28:9 The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet
shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him. ...
/p/prophesies.htm - 11k

Berechiah (12 Occurrences)
... 4 (qv), whom Jehovah hath blessed, father of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah
1:1, 7; Matthew 23:35). ... (4.) The father of the prophet Zechariah (1:1, 7). Int. ...
/b/berechiah.htm - 12k

What was a prophet in the Old Testament? | GotQuestions.org

What is a prophet in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Was Jesus a prophet? | GotQuestions.org

Prophet: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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