proph·et /ˈprɑfət/
 預言者,先知,提倡者


 Proph·et n.
 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.]
 4. Zool. 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.

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 prophet
      n 1: an authoritative person who divines the future [syn: oracle,
            seer, vaticinator]
      2: someone who speaks by divine inspiration; someone who is an
         interpreter of the will of God


 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.