What special abilities were the prophets thought to have?
Prophets and Prophecy
Level: Intermediate
- A prophet is One thousand-d'south spokesman to the people
- Can be male or female person, Jewish or gentile
- The Bible records 48 male prophets, 7 female person and 1 gentile
- Daniel was non a prophet because he did not speak to the people
What is a Prophet?
Many people today think of a prophet as any person who sees the future. While the souvenir of prophecy certainly includes the ability to see the futurity, a prophet is far more than simply a person with that power.
A prophet is basically a spokesman for G-d, a person chosen past Thou-d to speak to people on G-d'due south behalf and convey a bulletin or teaching. Prophets were part models of holiness, scholarship and closeness to Thousand-d. They gear up the standards for the entire community.
The Hebrew give-and-take for a prophet, navi (Nun-Beit-Yod-Alef) comes from the term niv sefatayim significant "fruit of the lips," which emphasizes the prophet's office as a speaker.
The Talmud teaches that there were hundreds of thousands of prophets: twice as many as the number of people who left Egypt, which was 600,000. But nigh of the prophets conveyed messages that were intended solely for their ain generation and were not reported in scripture. Scripture identifies only 55 prophets of State of israel.
A prophet is not necessarily a human. Scripture records the stories of vii female prophets, listed below, and the Talmud reports that Sarah'due south prophetic ability was superior to Abraham'due south.
A prophet is not necessarily a Jew. The Talmud reports that there were prophets among the gentiles (most notably Balaam, whose story is told in Numbers 22), although they were not as elevated as the prophets of Israel (every bit the story of Balaam demonstrates). And some of the prophets, such as Jonah, were sent on missions to speak to the gentiles.
According to some views, prophecy is not a gift that is arbitrarily conferred upon people; rather, it is the culmination of a person's spiritual and ethical evolution. When a person reaches a sufficient level of spiritual and ethical achievement, the Shechinah (Divine Spirit) comes to residual upon him or her. As well, the souvenir of prophecy leaves the person if that person lapses from his or her spiritual and upstanding perfection.
The greatest of the prophets was Moses. It is said that Moses saw all that all of the other prophets combined saw, and more. Moses saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets and the Writings that were written hundreds of years later. All subsequent prophecy was merely an expression of what Moses had already seen. Thus, it is taught that nothing in the Prophets or the Writings tin exist in conflict with Moses' writings, because Moses saw it all in accelerate.
The Talmud states that the writings of the prophets volition not be necessary in the World to Come, considering in that day, all people will exist mentally, spiritually and ethically perfect, and all will have the souvenir of prophecy.
Who are the Prophets of the Jewish Scriptures?
The post-obit listing of prophets is based on the Talmud and Rashi, with the location in the Bible where the prophet appears.
| Abraham | Gen 11:26 - 25:ten |
| Isaac | Gen 21:1 - 35:29 |
| Jacob | Gen 25:21 - 49:33 |
| Moses | Ex. 2:1 - Deut. 34:five |
| Aaron | Ex. four:14 - Num. 33:39 |
| Joshua | Ex. 17:9 - 14, 24:xiii, 32:17 - eighteen, 33:xi; Num. 11:28 - 29, 13:4 - 14:38; 27:xviii - 27:23, Deut. 1:38, 3:28, 31:3, 31:7 -Joshua 24:29 |
| Pinchas | Ex. half dozen:25; Num. 25:7-25:eleven; Num. 31:half-dozen; Josh. 22:thirteen - Josh. 24:33; Judges twenty:28 |
| Elkanah | I Samuel 1:1 - 2:20 |
| Eli | I Samuel i:9 - four:xviii |
| Samuel | I Samuel one:1 - I Samuel 25:1 |
| Gad | I Sam 22:5; II Sam 24:eleven-nineteen; I Chron 21:9-21:19, 29:29 |
| Nathan | II Sam 7:2 - 17; 12:one - 25. |
| David | I Sam 16:1 - I Kings 2:xi |
| Solomon | II Sam 12:24; 1 Kings 1:10 - xi:43 |
| Iddo | 2 Chron 9:29, 12:15, 13:22 |
| Michaiah son of Imlah | I Kings 22:8-28; II Chron 18:seven-27 |
| Obadiah | I Kings 18; Obadiah |
| Ahiyah the Shilonite | I Kings xi:29-30; 12:15; 14:2-18; xv:29 |
| Jehu son of Hanani | I Kings 16:1 - 7; Two Chron 19:2; 20:34 |
| Azariah son of Oded | II Chron 15 |
| Jahaziel the Levite | II Chron xx:xiv |
| Eliezer son of Dodavahu | II Chron 20:37 |
| Hosea | Hosea |
| Amos | Amos |
| Micah the Morashtite | Micah |
| Amoz | (the father of Isaiah) |
| Elijah | I Kings 17:1 - 21:29; Ii Kings 1:10-2:15, ix:36-37, 10:10, 10:17 |
| Elisha | I Kings 19:16-19; 2 Kings ii:1-xiii:21 |
| Jonah ben Amittai | Jonah |
| Isaiah | Isaiah |
| Joel | Joel |
| Nahum | Nahum |
| Habakkuk | Habakkuk |
| Zephaniah | Zephaniah |
| Uriah | Jeremiah 26:20-23 |
| Jeremiah | Jeremiah |
| Ezekiel | Ezekiel |
| Shemaiah | I Kings 12:22-24; II Chron 11:2-4, 12:5-15 |
| Barukh | Jeremiah 32, 36, 43, 45 |
| Neriah | (father of Barukh) |
| Seraiah | Jeremiah 51:61-64 |
| Mehseiah | (male parent of Neriah) |
| Haggai | Haggai |
| Zechariah | Zechariah |
| Malachi | Malachi |
| Mordecai Bilshan | Esther |
| Oded | (father of Azariah) |
| Hanani | (father of Jehu) |
| Female person Prophets | |
| Sarah | Gen 11:29 - 23:20 |
| Miriam | Ex. 15:xx-21; Num. 12:one-12:15, xx:1 |
| Deborah | Judges four:ane - v:31 |
| Hannah | I Sam 1:1 - 2:21 |
| Abigail | I Sam 25:ane - 25:42 |
| Huldah | Ii Kings 22:xiv-20 |
| Esther | Esther |
Why is Daniel Not a Prophet?
I am often asked why the Book of Daniel is included in the Writings section of the Tanakh instead of the Prophets department. Wasn't Daniel a prophet? Weren't his visions of the future true?
Co-ordinate to Judaism, Daniel is not i of the 55 prophets. His writings include visions of the hereafter, which nosotros believe to be true; notwithstanding, his mission was not that of a prophet. His visions of the future were never intended to be proclaimed to the people; they were designed to be written down for future generations. Thus, they are Writings, not Prophecies, and are classified appropriately.
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