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prophet |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Prophet \Proph"et\, n. [F. proph[`e]te, L. propheta, fr Gr ?, literally, one who speaks for another, especially, one who speaks for a god an interprets his will to man, fr ? to say beforehand; ? for before + ? to say or speak. See {Fame}. ] 1. One who prophesies, or foretells events; a predicter; a foreteller. 2. One inspired or instructed by God to speak in his name or announce future events, as Moses, Elijah, etc 3. An interpreter; a spokesman. [R.] --Ex. vii. 1. 4. (Zo["o]l.) A mantis. {School of the prophets} (Anc. Jewish Hist.), a school or college in which young men were educated and trained for public teachers or members of the prophetic order These students were called sons of the prophets. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: prophet n 1: an authoritative person who divines the future [syn: {oracle}] 2: someone who speaks by divine inspiration; someone who is an interpreter of the will of God [syn: {religious leader}] From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Prophet (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning "to bubble forth, as from a fountain," hence "to utter", comp. Ps 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 Sam. 9:9). It occurs seven times in reference to Samuel. Afterwards another word _hozeh_, seer" (2 Sam. 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 Josh. 13:22 Balaam is called (Heb.) 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 Num. 12:6, 8.) Thus a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God's name and by his authority (Ex. 7:1). He is the mouth by which God speaks to men (Jer. 1:9; Isa. 51:16), and hence what the prophet says is not of man but of God (2 Pet. 1:20, 21; comp. Heb. 3:7; Acts 4:25; 28:25). Prophets were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and will to men (Deut. 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 (Gen. 20:7; Ex 7:1; Ps 105:15), as also Moses (Deut. 18:15; 34:10; Hos. 12:13), are ranked among the prophets. The seventy elders of Israel (Num. 11:16-29), "when the spirit rested upon them prophesied;" Asaph and Jeduthun "prophesied with a harp" (1 Chr. 25:3). Miriam and Deborah were prophetesses (Ex. 15:20; Judg. 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 Sam. 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 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 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.
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