Prophets

I. Introduction

The term P. has found its way as a loanword from the Greek translation of the Bible into numerous languages. The Septuagint regularly uses prophḗtēs to translate the Hebrew substantive nābī, which is etymologically connected with Akkadian nabû(m) = 'one who is called'. Since then a very much wider use has emerged. For a more precise demarcation of the concept, it is useful to adopt Cicero's distinction between inductive and intuitive divination (genus artificiosum, genus naturale: Cic. Div. 1,11,34; 2,26 f.) and to describe as prophets only representatives of the latter category: this makes prophets - independent of how they describe themselves - people who receive revelations from a deity through auditions, visions, dreams, etc., and are charged by that deity to convey the message to others.

II. Mesopotamia, Syria-Palestine, Old Testament

There are numerous records of examples of this use from the 2nd millennium BC onwards (mainly oracles and references to oracles or to prophets in letters, inscriptions, administrative texts, etc.). The most important ones are from Old Babylonian Mari (18th century BC [10. vol. 2. 84-93]) and Neo-Assyrian Nineveh (7th century BC; Ninus [2] [5; 6; 10. vol. 2. 56-65, 79-82]), but primarily from Judah and Israel; in addition there are the inscriptions of Zakkur of Ḫamat (c. 800 BC, [4. no. 202; 10. vol. 1. 626-628]), those from Deir Allā (c. 700 BC [2; 10. vol. 2. 138-148]) and others.

Whereas non-biblical texts allow snapshots, the OT offers a more complex picture, which moreover reveals profound historical transformations. There are individual figures - such as the 'seer' and 'man of god' Samuel (1 Sam 9), Ahijah (1 Kg 11; 14) or Elijah (Elias [1]) (1 Kg 17-19; 21; 2 Kg 1) - alongside groups such as the 'sons of the prophets' around Elisha (2 Kg 4,38 ff.; cf. 9,1-10), prophets in the service of the king's court (2 Sam 7; 12; 1 Kg 18,19; 18,40; 22) or the temple (Jer 26,7 f.; 29,8 f.) in addition to lay people seized at times by God (e.g. Am 7,10-17), both men and women, such as Huldah (2 Kg 22,14-20) and Noadiah (Neh 6,14). A first turning-point is marked by the prophets of the 8th century BC, in as much as Amos and Hosea in the northern kingdom and Micah and Isaiah in Judah announce (irrevocable) disaster no longer only for individuals, but for a king(dom), temple or people. When their prophecies were confirmed by the fall of Samaria (in 720 BC) and that of  Jerusalem (in 586 BC), their words began to be collected and expanded, drawing on experiences of later generations, thus resulting in the books of the prophets which are named after them. Following the fall of Judah, the message of the prophets at the end of the Period of Exile (see Is 40-55; Ez 36 f., etc.) and the beginning of the Persian Period (see Hag; Sach 1-8) turned into a proclamation of salvation. When this promise was only modestly fulfilled, people increasingly set their hopes on the End of Days after the expected Final Judgment. As this strand of prophecy culminated in apocalypticism (Apocalypses)  (cf. Joel 2-4; Is 24-27; Sach 9-14), prophetic charisma noticeably diminished (Ps 74,9; 1 Macc 4,46; 9,27). Prophets now appear only as teachers of the Torah (Pentateuch), as 'prophets like Moses' (Dt 18,9-22), who has become an unattainable model of everything prophetic (Dt 34,10).

Concerning numerous details of OT prophecy, non-biblical sources provide material for comparison , e.g. the introduction of the word of God with a messenger formula and thus in the prophet's self-awareness as a messenger of God, in the bipartite structure of prophecies, in prophetic responses to oracles and reassurances of support for the king, in announcements of disaster for enemy peoples, in the reception of revelations in dreams, visions, ecstasy, etc. Prophecy in Israel differs from that of other ancient oriental cultures primarily (1) in the radicality of its declarations of disaster against its own people, (2) in the explicit explanation of disaster with prophetic criticism, predominantly of social and religious conditions and (3) in the formation of a tradition by means of conscious collection of prophecies, continuing updating and 'prophetic prophet-exegesis' 

III. Egypt

In Egyptian culture the term 'P.' (ḥm-nṯr) is used for a high priest. The phenomena treated here, however, have a clear connexion with predicting the future. Since attempts to interpret certain Egyptian works of literature in close relation to OT prophecy [4] must be regarded as failed [2. 15], a clearer definition is needed. There are records of political prophecy in the interests of a ruler, who is presented as a saviour (Prophecy of Neferti, [3]). In it, pondering over the condition of the country appears to be sufficient trigger of visions. In a later period (1st millennium BC) there are also several less specific, rather eschatological works. The 'Prophecy of the Lamb of Bokchoris' [5. 91 f.] (directed against the Assyrians) has a lamb speak, the nature of the inspiration does not survive in the fragmentary beginning of the text. The 'Potter Oracle' (directed against the Greeks and Alexandria), which survives only in Greek translation, shows a potter, whose workshop has been destroyed, as a prophet inspired by Hermes. Both the lamb and the potter die at the end of their speeches. In the New Kingdom the existence of a 'wise woman' as an interpreter of the future in the settlement of Dair al-Madīna has been established [5. 85]. Of her techniques and sources of inspiration nothing is known.

IV. Greece and Rome

Greek προφήτης/prophḗtēs (= prophet), literally 'spokesman (of a deity)'. He, or she (Pl. Phdr. 244a describes the Pythia [1] in Delphi as a προφῆτις/prophêtis; similarly in Late AntiquityDidyma: Iambl. Myst. 3,11; SEG 30,1286; cf. [2. 814-816]), interprets or announces the will of the gods. Fundamentally, a prophḗtēs functions only as the 'manager' of an oracle (Hdt. 8,36 f.; 9,93), whereas a normal seer was called a mántis (for the difference cf. Pl. Chrm. 173c). The activities of a prophḗtēs seem to intersect with those of a prómantis; at any rate, the terms prophêtis andprómantis were both applied to the Pythia (Hdt. 6,66; 7,41; similarly 2,55 to the priestesses in Dodona). When the oracle in Delphi was flourishing, two prophetesses were active, but in the 2nd century AD only one (Plut. Mor. 414b). In Dodona, as early as the Homeric Period (Hom. Il. 16,234 f.) there were the Sélloi , whose functions were related. Evidently they had the task of interpreting Zeus' 'speaking' oak tree, which in earlier stories could still speak for itself (Aesch. fr. 20 Radt; Apoll. Rhod. 1,527). In a later period, in contrast, three elderly prophêtai were active (Hdt. 2,55; Str. 7,7,12). There were prophets at all the famous  oracles (with map) of the Greek world (survey: [1; 2]), as at Ptoeum (IG VII 4135; 4147; 4155), in Clarus (OGIS 530; SEG 26,1288; 33,964) and Didyma (IDidyma 202-306; SEG 27,731; 37,962; 964-971; 973-975; 977). Poets also use this term metaphorically to describe  their activities (first in Pind. fr. 150; Pind. Pae. 6,6); cf. Latin vates .

After the Macedonian conquest of Egypt in the 3rd century BC the use of the term prophet as a translation for local priesthoods became established, for reasons which are still unclear (SEG 27, 1031; 42, 1555); in this period there is also a prophet at the oracle of Zeus-Ammon in Libya ([Pl.] Alc. 2,149b-150a; SEG 33,1056). It may have been under this Egyptian influence that the Septuagint regularly translates Hebrew nābī as prophet (cf. I.). This usage was adopted by the authors of the NT for those who delivered divinely inspired messages. Unlike the Classical Period, in the NT prophets also have knowledge of the past (Jo 4,19) or see into the soul of people (Lk 7,39; cf. V.).

In contrast to the Greek and other ancient religions, in the language of Rome prophet is not a term  that would have been applied as a title to cult officials of the Roman religion. In the history of Roman religion, however, the abilities of a 'seer' or a 'prophet' were increasingly attributed to individuals who emerged independent of public religion; the term for them wasvates (q.v. for further details). Closest to these alternative religious specialists in the domain of public religion organised by an elite were the quindecimviri sacris faciundis as the keepers of theSibyllini libri . They had, however, no 'prophetic' quality in the  Judaeo-Christian sense.

V. Christianity

Christianity emerged from within a Jewish environment, in which prophets and prophetic gifts were an accepted phenomenon (Phil. Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 259; Jos. BI 3,400-402; 1 Q pHab 2,2 f.). John the Baptist was regarded as a prophet in the OT tradition (Mt 3,1-12 and parallel passages; Jos. Ant. Iud. 18,116-119). All the Gospels mention that Jesus was regarded by several contemporaries as a prophet (Mk 8,28 and parallel passages), but they also state that he gave rise to this idea by his words and deeds (Mk 6,4 and parallel passages). His interpretation as a prophet is still one of the main approaches in the study of the historical Jesus [2].

According to early Christian understanding, prophetic speech arises not from human will, but comes from God and is prompted by the Holy Ghost (2 Petr 1,21). For Paul (Paulus [II 2]), prophecy is one of the most important gifts of grace (charísmata) of the spirit of God. At religious service in the community meetings, particular significance is placed on this (1 Cor 14,5). In these, women also appear as prophets (1 Cor 11,5). In the Acts of the Apostles, prophets are among the leaders of  communities (Acts 13,1-3; cf. also Agabus: Acts 11,27 f. and the four daughters of Philip: Acts 21,9). The Book of Revelation contains the most detailed prophecies in the NT (Apc 1,3). The term prophet occurs particularly often in Matthew (Matthaeus): prophets may well be gifted but must all the more be critically tested. The measure of whether they are  true or false prophets is ultimately not their prophecies but the fruits of their conduct (Mt 7,15-23). The same criterion is found in the Didachḗ ; the prophecies themselves could no longer be verified, however, in order to avoid committing unforgivable sin against the Holy Ghost (Didache 11,7; 11,10).

With the increasing institutionalisation of the Church, prophecy moved into the background. InMontanism, in contrast, prophets, particularly women prophets, were of central significance. In the rest of Christianity this led to great scepticism of prophecy (Tert. De ieiunio 1; Euseb. Hist. eccl. 5,16,4; 5,19,2).

VI. Islam

Prophetology in the Qurʾān forms the core of Muhammad's view of history and of his self-conception in relation to the other monotheistic religious communities he regards himself the heir to. The most comprehensive term in the Koran for a prophet is a messenger (rasūl) sent by Allah (God) to various peoples (qaum, or umma), who addresses himself to each of these in its own language with the identical message of the true, original religion of the one God, which, however, is continually adulterated [1]. Among the prophets, in addition to many characters from the  Bible (see below), are also the Koranic prophets and admonishers Hūd, Šuaib and Ṣāliḥ, who take up the pre-Islamic autochthonous tradition and whose message is directed at ancient Arab peoples [2]. Mohammed initially understood himself to be the messenger specially intended for the Arabs  (if also with aspirations of being a redeemer of all people: ḏikr li'l-ālamı̄n); in his prophecies he therefore specifically used the poetic koine, arabiyyah, and furthermore made use of the same stylistic form (rhymed prose) as was used by pre-Islamic seers (kuhhān), but explicitly distanced himself from them  (Koran, Surah 69,40-43).

More restricted in use is the term nabī, (cf. Hebrew nābī, Aramaic nebī), which in the Koran is applied only to people from the Biblical tradition and originates probably only in the Medina period (after 622 AD), when Mohammed obtained greater knowledge of the other monotheistic religions and their prophetologies from the Jews of Medina (Yaṯrīb). Besides the Arab prophets mentioned and Mohammed himself, Nūḥ (Noah), Lūṭ (Lot), Ibrāhīm (Abraham), Ismāīl (Ishmael), Mūsā (Moses), Hārūn (Aaron), Iliās (Elijah), Yūnus (Jonah) and Īsa (Jesus) from the Biblical tradition were counted among the prophets. Later many more were added from the post-Koranic tradition; many legends centre around them and they are reflected in the Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā ('Stories about the Prophets') literature [3]. This and the Koran often reflect apocryphal and heretical Jewish and Christian traditions (story of Jesus' childhood, acts of the Apostles;New Testament Apocrypha) and hence relays to us a picture of Christianity and Judaism as Mohammed came to know them. It is striking that, with the exception of Jonah, none of those the Bible describes as prophets appears in the Koran, whereas kings such as Solomon and David [1] are reckoned such. Particular significance is attached to Abraham [1], as he is considered the first to enunciate the true religion and the founder of the Kaba cult (Kaaba); next to him,Moses [1] and Jesus receive much attention, as both were recipients of holy scriptures (Torah and Gospel). Mohammed is regarded as the last in a series of prophets and as the 'Seal of the Prophets' (authenticator and end of the prophets).

The character of prophecy and its relationship with divination (kihānah) was soon deliberated on widely, and this was reflected in the literary genre of 'Signs of Prophecy' (dalāil al-nubūwah); part of this is a typology of prophets, informed by apocryphal biographies of Jesus and Mohammed [4]. Arab philosophers such as Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and Ibn Rušd (Averroes), as well as the Jewish thinker Maimonides occupied themselves with the nature of prophetic revelation; owing to being translated into Latin their ideas exercised great influence in Europe in the Middle Ages  [5]. The Shiite (Shiites) and Ishmaelite (Ishmael, Ishmaelites) doctrine finally have their own prophetology, in which imams perform a role comparable to prophets.