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Prophet
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English Dictionary: Prophet by the DICT Development Group
3 results for Prophet
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
prophet
n
  1. an authoritative person who divines the future [syn: prophet, prophesier, oracle, seer, vaticinator]
  2. someone who speaks by divine inspiration; someone who is an interpreter of the will of God
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Prophet \Proph"et\, n. [F. proph[8a]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[94]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 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.
     
No guarantee of accuracy or completeness!
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