Prophet

== Judaism ==
{{See also|Nevi'im|Prophets in Judaism}}
[[File:Duccio di Buoninsegna 066.jpg|thumb|[[Malachi]], one of the last prophets of Israel, painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, c. 1310 (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, [[Siena Cathedral]]). ''"He <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Mashiach]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents" (Malachi 4:6)''<ref>cf. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Christ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> disciple.” ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 14:26)</ref>]]

In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, [[Israelites |Israelite]] or [[Kingdom of Judea| Judean]] ''nevi'im'' ("spokespersons", "prophets") often acted out prophetic [[parable]]s in their life.<ref>''All the Parables of the Bible'', Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan, 1963.</ref> For example, in order to contrast the people's disobedience with the obedience of the [[Rechabite]]s, God has [[Jeremiah]] invite the Rechabites to drink wine, in disobedience to their ancestor's command. The Rechabites refuse, for which God commends them.<ref>Jeremiah 35:13–16, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004</ref><ref>Commentary on Jeremiah 35, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judah's pride.<ref>Jeremiah 13, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref><ref name="cj13">Commentary on Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah, The Anchor Bible, Doubleday, 1984</ref><ref>Jeremiah, Lamentations, Tremper Longman, Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.</ref> Likewise, Jeremiah buys a clay jar and smashes it in the [[Gehenna |Valley of Ben Hinnom]] in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the [[Kingdom of Judah| nation of Judah]] and the city of Judah beyond repair.<ref>Jeremiah 19, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> God instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of [[Nebuchadnezzar II| Nebuchadnezzar]], king of [[Babylon]].<ref>Jeremiah 27–28, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> In a similar way, the prophet [[Isaiah]] had to walk stripped and barefoot for three years to illustrate the coming captivity,<ref>Isaiah 20, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> and the prophet [[Ezekiel]] had to lie on his side for 390 days and to eat measured food to illustrate the coming siege.<ref>Ezekiel 4, ''The Jewish Study Bible'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

Prophetic assignment is usually portrayed as rigorous and exacting in the Hebrew Bible,<ref>Commentary on Jeremiah, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Isaiah (Commentary), John Goldingay, Hendrickson, 2001</ref><ref>Commentary on Isaiah 6:8–13, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> and prophets were often the target of persecution and opposition.<ref name="ReferenceB">’’Jeremiah (Prophet)’’, The Anchor Bible Dictionary Volume 3, Doubleday, 1992</ref> God's personal prediction for Jeremiah, "And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee,"<ref>Jeremiah 1:19</ref> was performed many times in the [[Bible prophecy|biblical narrative]] as Jeremiah warned of destruction of those who continued to refuse repentance and accept more moderate consequences.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>’’Jeremiah, Lamentations’’, F.B. Huey, Broadman Press, 1993</ref> In return for his adherence to God's discipline and speaking God's words, Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers,<ref>Jeremiah 12:6, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and [[false prophet]],<ref>Jeremiah 20:1–4, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref><ref>The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1995, p. 1501</ref> imprisoned by the king,<ref>Jeremiah 37:18, Jeremiah 38:28, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> threatened with death,<ref>Jeremiah 38:4, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials,<ref>Jeremiah 38:6, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> and opposed by a false prophet.<ref>Jeremiah 28, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> Likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, "Leave the way! Get off the path! Let us hear no more about the [[Book of Isaiah#"Holy One of Israel"|Holy One of Israel]]!"<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Isaiah 30:11, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> The life of [[Moses]] being threatened by [[Pharaoh of the Exodus|Pharaoh]] is another example.<ref>Exodus 2, Exodus 10:28, The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

According to I [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] 9:9,<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Samuel|9:9|105}}, Hebrew – English Bible</ref> the old name for navi is ''ro'eh'', רֹאֶה, which literally means "seer". That could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. L. C. Allen (1971) comments that in the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] Era, there were essentially seer-priests belonging to a guild, who performed [[divination]], rituals, and sacrifices, and were scribes; and beside these were canonical prophets, who did none of these things (and condemned divination), but came to deliver a message.<ref>Discussed more recently in Morris Silver, ''Prophets and Markets: The Political Economy of Ancient Israel'' (Dordrecht NL: Springer Science and Business Media, 2013), 154-75. 
{{ISBN|9789400974180}}</ref> The seer-priests were usually attached to a local shrine or temple, such as [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]], and initiated others into that priesthood, acting as a mystical [[Guild|craft-guild]] with apprentices and recruitment. Canonical prophets were not organised this way.

Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh include [[Abraham]], Moses, [[Miriam]], Isaiah, [[Samuel]], Ezekiel, [[Malachi]], and [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]]. Jewish tradition - unlike Christian and Islamic practice - does not regard [[Daniel (biblical figure) |Daniel]] as a prophet.

A Jewish tradition suggests that there were twice as many prophets as the number which left Egypt, which would make 1,200,000 prophets.<ref name="jfaq"/> The [[Talmud]] recognizes [[Prophets in Judaism#The 48 Prophets |48 male prophets]] who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind.<ref name="jfaq"/> According to the Talmud, there were also seven women counted as prophetesses whose message bears relevance for all generations: [[Sarah]], [[Miriam]], [[Deborah| Devorah]], [[Hannah (Bible) |Hannah]] (mother of the prophet Samuel), [[Abigail]] (a wife of [[David |King David]]), [[Huldah]] (from the time of Jeremiah), and [[Esther]].<ref name="jfaq"/> The Talmudic and Biblical commentator [[Rashi]] points out that [[Rebecca]], [[Rachel]], and [[Leah]] were also prophets.<ref>Rashi on Genesis 29:34.</ref>
[[Isaiah 8#Verse 3|Isaiah 8:3-4]]<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-8_Original-1611-KJV/ | title = 1611 King James Bible: Book of Isaiah, chapter 8, verse 3-4. | website = kingjamesbibleonline.org | language = en | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170219105523/https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-8_Original-1611-KJV | archive-date = February 19, 2017 | url-status = live}}: "And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz."</ref> refers to his wife "the prophetess", who bore his son [[Maher-shalal-hash-baz]]; she is not referred to elsewhere.

Prophets in the Tanakh are not always Jews;<ref name="jfaq">{{cite web | url = http://www.jewfaq.org/prophet.htm | title = Prophets and Prophecy}}</ref>
note for example the non-Jewish prophet [[Balaam]] in [[Book of Numbers| Numbers]] 22.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Numbers|24:1–24:18|105}}</ref> According to the Talmud, [[Obadiah]] is said to have been a convert to Judaism.

The last ''nevi'im'' mentioned in the [[Jewish Bible]] are [[Haggai]], [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)| Zechariah]], and [[Malachi]], all of whom lived at the end of the 70-year [[Babylonian exile]] of {{circa}} 586 to 539 BCE. The [[Talmud]] ([[Sanhedrin (tractate)| Sanhedrin]] 11a) states that Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi were the last prophets, and later times have known only the "[[Bath Kol]]" (בת קול, lit. ''daughter of a voice'', "voice of God").