The Encyclopedia of World Religions

358 S prophets, biblical

the unseen. The prophets in the biblical tradition talk a great deal about remaining loyal to God and making society more just. They often thought of justice as returning to the way things used to be. Prophets sometimes acted out their messages, as when I SAIAH walked naked through J ERUSALEM and J EREMIAH wore a yoke. They also occasionally chal lenged their opponents to contests, as in the con test between E LIJAH and the prophets of Baal. But the most typical activity of the prophets was to speak messages from God. Often their prophecies took the form of poetry. The earliest biblical prophets—those whom the Bible considers genuine—include figures such as Miriam, the sister of M OSES , and Deborah, the judge. The prophet Samuel helped set up the mon archy, while the prophet Nathan was an important and sometimes critical adviser of King D AVID . After the monarchy had split into northern and south ern kingdoms, Elijah and Elisha were active in the northern kingdom. They called upon the people to remain faithful to the worship of YHWH. A MOS and H OSEA also opposed the worship of other gods, though few of these prophets’ sayings are recorded. The prophets whose words were gathered into major books came a little later: Isaiah around 700 B . C . E ., Jeremiah around 600 B . C . E ., and E ZEKIEL during the exile in Babylon (597–539 B . C . E .). The prophecies of two anonymous prophets became part of the book of Isaiah. “Second Isaiah” was active during the Babylonian exile, while “Third Isaiah” was active after the exiles returned home. According to tradition, prophecy ceased in Israel about the year 400 B . C . E . Certainly after that time the inhabitants of Judea tended to favor writings known as APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE . These writings make the fate of God’s people depend not so much on their return to YHWH and their seeking of justice but on the outcome of a cosmic struggle between God and forces opposed to God. But the ancient Judeans still respected the older prophets. By about 200 B . C . E . they had begun to collect, edit, and combine the sayings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and “the Twelve” to form the second part of the Hebrew scriptures, Nevi’im, “the Prophets.”

S EVENTH -D AY A DVENTISTS interpreted it in such a way that the prophecy had been fulfilled.

prophets, biblical The name of a group of reli gious specialists in ancient Israel, as well as of a collection of books in the Hebrew scriptures ( see SCRIPTURES , H EBREW ). Religious people have often wished for messages from their gods. In the areas around what is now Israel and Palestine during the second millennium B . C . E . (2000–1001 B . C . E .), special classes of people claimed to receive such messages. Similar people existed in ancient Israel and Judah (the northern and southern kingdoms, respectively), too. We now call them “prophets,” although that word comes from ancient Greek rather than ancient Hebrew. Some of these proph ets seem to have received their messages as words; others seem to have had visions. They were active in ancient Israel from before the monarchy (before 1020 B . C . E .) until about the year 400 B . C . E . The B IBLE distinguishes between true and false prophets. This judgment reflects the views of later times, when it was clear which prophets had been correct and which had been wrong. At the time when the prophets were active, it would have been much harder to tell. Some prophets did speak for the G OD YHWH (“the Lord”), while others only spoke for other gods, such as B AAL and Asherah. But it was fairly common for people in ancient Israel to worship those other gods, and they took their prophets seriously. In addition, prophets of YHWH often argued with one another and gave contradictory messages. A superficial reading of the Bible might sug gest that prophets were lone figures who stood up to authority, spoke the word of God, and then vanished. However, a careful reading of the Bible shows that there were regular groups of prophets in ancient Israel and Judah, and at various times prophets seem to have been full-fledged members of the king’s court. Prophets often seem to have been called to prophesy as a result of extraordinary experiences. In this experience they are somewhat like SHAMANS in other religions, who also communicate with