[prof-its] 
) | the canonical group of books that forms the second of the three Jewish divisions of the Old Testament, comprising Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Compare Law of Moses, Hagiographa. |
[prof-it] | 1. | a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration. |
| 2. | (in the Old Testament)
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| 3. | one of a class of persons in the early church, next in order after the apostles, recognized as inspired to utter special revelations and predictions. 1 Cor. 12:28. |
| 4. | the Prophet, Muhammad, the founder of Islam. |
| 5. | a person regarded as, or claiming to be, an inspired teacher or leader. |
| 6. | a person who foretells or predicts what is to come: a weather prophet; prophets of doom. |
| 7. | a spokesperson of some doctrine, cause, or movement. |
tēs, equiv. to pro- pro- 2 + -phētēs speaker, deriv. of phánai to speak| proph·et (prŏf'ĭt) n.
[Middle English prophete, from Old French, from Latin prophēta, from Greek prophētēs : pro-, before; see pro-2 + -phētēs, speaker (from phanai, to speak; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots).] proph'et·hood' n. |
Someone who brings a message from God to people. The best-known prophets are those of the Old Testament. Their most frequent themes were true worship of God, upright living, and the coming of the Messiah. They often met with bitter resistance when they spoke against the idol worship and immorality of their people. Among the prophets of the Old Testament were Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and Moses.
Prophets also appear in the New Testament. Jesus called John the Baptist a prophet; Christians consider him a bridge between the prophets of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament. Jesus mentions “true prophets” and “false prophets” — those who present the true message of God and those who present a counterfeit (see By their fruits ye shall know them and wolves in sheep's clothing). He himself was considered a prophet in his lifetime (see A prophet is not without honor save in his own country) and is still widely revered by non-Christians as a prophet, though not as the Messiah. The New Testament also mentions that some of the early Christians were prophets who spoke inspired messages to their communities.
Note: In general usage, a “prophet” is someone who can foretell the future. The prophets of the Bible often made predictions, which confirmed their authority when the predictions came true, but changing the lives of their people was a more central part of their mission.