How the Bible viewed the prophets?

Danah, to answer this question properly would be to basically do a copy and paste job from the Bible to LI. I'll spare you that, but recommend that you simply read the Biblical texts.

The common word for prophet in Hebrew is nabi' and the LXX usually renders it by the Greek word prophetes which is also used for prophets in the NT. Both are commonly rendered "prophet" in English translations. Two other Hebrew words are associated with prophetic figures: חֹזֶה hozeh and רֹאֶה ro'eh both mean "someone who sees" and can be literally rendered "seer". However [i]ro'eh[i] was already an old fashioned word when 1 Samuel 9:9 was written.

The words nabi' and hozeh are close synonyms, in Amos 7:12 Amaziah calls Amos "hozeh", but suggests that he "prophesy" in Judah (verb naba' נבא from same root as nabi' נָבִיא), while in Ezra 13:9 the noun verb [i]hazah[i] has "prophet" as its subject and in Isaiah 29:10 nabi' & hozeh are in parallel.

In the NT, John the Baptist is far and away the most well-known prophet. In a sense all of the disciples, Stephen, Paul, Barnabas and a number of other figures also have prophetic roles as the NT understanding of prophecy is anyone who speaks forth a message on God's behalf. Some named prophets in the NT include: Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, Judas (not Iscariot), Silas, Agabus, and Ana. In most cases all we have is their name, others have a couple of verses for the entirety of their story.

Popular views of the biblical prophets see them as "religious" figures. This is wrong in two ways. Firstly it suggests a separation of religion and the rest of life which is modern and Western In Ancient Israel there was not a distinct private religious sphere. Secondly it suggests that they spoke about "religious" issues. They did, but they spoke more about what we call politics. Even prophets who had a strong burden to correct false religious practice, like Hosea, addressed political issues strongly too (cf. Hos 5:11 with 5:13; 9:1 with 9:3).

Much of the Bible is itself a collection of prophetic texts. The major prophets (so called because of the size of the books, not importance) are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. And the 12 minor prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In addition some of the most revered prophets are written about in other books -- Moses and Elijah are probably the two most important figures in Jewish literature. Some other prophets that I think have interesting stories connected with them are Nathan, Samuel, Elisha, and even Balaam (who was not a prophet of God).

I understand that Islam considers Noah and Lot to be prophets, but they aren't generally thought of that way by Christians at least; I can't speak for Jewish views. (The link Judaism 101 has a good article on "Prophets and Prophecy" from a Jewish perspective.) Likewise Abraham is thought of as a patriarch, and David as a king, but neither are generally viewed as prophets -- though I suspect if you find an exhaustive list of biblical prophets they will probably be included on it.

format_quote Originally Posted by Danah

Is this something viewed by many Christians too?

Certainly Christians are among those who not only accept popular ideas, but pass them on giving them an air of accpetance. When radio preachers do this, or posting are made on internet websites they sometimes even become perceived as somehow being authoritative. Such things are a mixed bag. And sorting out the best content from that which ranges from truly scholarly to the mundane or pendantic and then all the way to utterly false is a major issue of discernment. I feel for anyone trying to navigate those channels for the waters is often muddy and the task it is not easy.

This is the first time I heard a Christians said that Noah is not considered as a prophet. I remember reading a chapter in Genesis saying that God said to Noah to build the ark and he told him how this ark should be built. Did God speak to just anyone?

That God speaks to a person does not make that individual a prophet. I would contend that God speaks to all of us. But we are not all prophets.

The story of Noah as told in Genesis has Noah ordered to build an ark. He does. He is ordered to prepare it to accept the animals that God will gather to it. He does. He is told to get his family on board. He does. But there is no record that he is told to give a message to anyone. It would be conjecture to argue from the biblical text that Noah either did or did not have a message for those around him who watched him build the ark. We simply don't know what he did. Did he keep his nose to the grindstone ignore the taunts of his neighbors, or did he actively go out and plead with them to change their ways. We simply don't know. And so, without evidence that Noah was more than obedient to the task given him, I don't list Noah among the prophets who went forth speaking on God's behalf.

So let me be more specific now. I am interested in knowing about the following before finishing the book I am reading now:
1. Jonah
2. Jacob
3. Isaac
4. Joseph
5. Abraham
6. David

EDIT: I also want to know about the following if possible:
7. Daniel
8. Zechariah


As for those you mentioned that was viewed as King and a patriarch, I would like to see how the bible viewed them to "not" be prophets.

A king is not automatically a prophet. Remember, a prophet is one who speaks forth on God's behalf. Ruling on God's behalf is being obedient, but it does not make one a prophet.

I did a quick search for every verse that includes the mention of David and the word "prophet", here are my results:

1 Samuel 19:20
Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 22:5
Then the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

2 Samuel 24:11
And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

1 Kings 1:8
But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David’s mighty men were not with Adonijah.

1 Kings 1:32
King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king.

1 Kings 1:38
So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon.

1 Chronicles 17:1
Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, "Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent."

1 Chronicles 29:29
Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer,

2 Chronicles 21:12
And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

2 Chronicles 29:25
And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.

Psalm 51:1
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God,according to your steadfast love;according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Jeremiah 13:13
Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Hebrews 11:32
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

You'll note that prophets come and speak on God's behalf to David, but David himself never speaks to anyone as a prophet. The only verse that might even be understood to imply that David was a prophet is Hebrews 11:32. But this verse lists people who are judges, King David, and the prophet Samuel as part of a much longer list of persons of notable faith. It would be a stretch to consider David a prophet based on this verse alone.

I did the same sort of search for Abraham and the word "prophet". The results are:

1 Kings 18:36
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

Luke 13:28
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

Luke 16:29
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'

John 8:52
The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.'

John 8:53
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?"

Acts 3:25
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'

Again, I don't see anything that identifies Abraham as a prophet. The closest among these is Luke 13:28. But I do not read this verse to indicate that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are being numbered among the prophets (if it does are you prepared to include Isaac and Jacob among the prophets of Islam?), but rather that they are listed as individuals, and the prophets are listed as a group. Certainly that is the pattern of the other passages similarly constructed passages.


With regard to the individuals you mention, what would you like to know about them?

Rather than trying to pick lines out of your post, I'm going to summarize what I think I am reading between the lines. It seems that you see God make a covenant with Noah, call Abraham, speak to and work with them in special and unique ways, and your conclusion is that they are not just any old, normal, run-of-the-mill person. I agree. But being special does not equate with being a prophet. They might even be seen (probably are seen by Jews) as more special than some of the lesser prophets (this is especially true with regard to Abraham), but specialness and being chosen by God for some specific task does not make one a prophet, unless that task is to perform the role and work of a prophet -- i.e., speaking forth on God's behalf. Moses did that. Elijah did that. Jonah did that (although poorly). But I don't see Noah being described as having done that. Where do you see it having happened?

Here is Noah's entire life story as found in the Bible. Perhaps I'm missing something. Remember, we are not looking for evidence that Noah was good, righteous, obedient, called by God, used by God, did things for God or was otherwise a faithful servant of God in anyway. We are looking specifically to see if Noah spoke forth on God's behalf -- it could be a word of blessing, of warning, of encouragment, of guidance, or even future telling, but it has to be something he says as if he is the mouth of God.

Genesis 5
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.


Genesis 6
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.


Genesis 7
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.


Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

22 "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."


Genesis 9
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
"Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers."

26 He also said,
"Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

27 May God extend the territory of Japheth;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his slave."

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.

I might have missed it, but I don't see Noah delivering any message on God's behalf. Indeed, if Matthew is correct in the reference he makes to Noah, Noah didn't share any warnings with his fellow inhabitants of earth, for "they knew nothing about what would happen":

Matthew 24
37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Hebrews tells us that Noah was himself warned, but never says that he warned anyone else.

Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

When it says that Noah condemned the world, I don't get the impression that it is refering to Noah delivering a message.

That's not to say that Noah could not have been a prophet, I just don't see him doing the work of a prophet in any of these passages. The one possible exception might be 2 Peter 2:5 which refers to Noah as a "preacher of righteousness." Now, certainly in the context of the New Testament where this if found, preachers were people who spoke forth for God. But, the New Testament also recognized that there were several offices in which people might do that, and not all of them were called prophets:

1 Corinthians 12
28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

So, that's about all of the information I can share with you regarding Noah. Based on it I'm not prepared to say that he never prophecied on God's behalf, but I also can't confirm that he did. If you want to think of him as a prophet, that's fine. He certainly was a righteous man that allowed himself to be used by God. And if you were to find where he was a prophet, it wouldn't change that aspect of Noah's character by either addition or substraction. But without evidence of him speaking forth like a prophet where his story is told in Genesis, or him specifically being listed as a prophet elsewhere in the scriptures, it just isn't one of the titles I would ascribe to him.


I'm not going to duplicate what I've done above with Noah for Abraham, but I believe if I did, it would produce similar results. A great man of faith, but not one who was asked to functioned in the role of a prophet.




I wonder now if I misunderstood when in your post two back you said, "As for those you mentioned that was viewed as King and a patriarch, I would like to see how the bible viewed them to "not" be prophets." To whom were you referring?


I'm afraind, the rest of what you have asked about is simply going to have to wait till I have more time another day.

format_quote Originally Posted by Danah

One more thing, do all Christian denominations agreed that Noah and Abraham are not prophets?

No. Getting all Christian denominations to agree on almost anything is rather like trying to get Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims to agree on the successor to Muhammad (pbuh). We can agree on the biggest of issues, but its in the details that we fight with each other.

Anyway, I'm beginning to think that maybe I was wrong in some of those other statements with regard to Abraham and David. I came across a Bible passage yesterday in my devotional reading that clearly referred to David as a prophet. I imagine I would have gone right by it without taking notice of it if we hadn't been having this discussion. And I already knew that there was a similar verse with regard to Abraham. Can't say with respect to Noah yet, but I think I had better back up and restate (i.e., correct) some of what I said earlier. I'm first going to change from speaking on behalf of all Christians, to speaking for myself alone. Though what I'm expressing is reflecting of what I have experienced over the course of 53 years as a member of my own denomination, it is my experience and not a dogmatic position found in the written documents of my church.


So, rather than say that Noah, Abraham, and David are NOT prophets, I think it is safer to say that I just don't think of them first as prophets. They may have also been prophets, but I primarily think of them in their other roles as patriach (Abraham), king (David), and servants of God (all of them) which I see as the principal ways we talk about them.

The verse with regard to King David is: "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne" (Acts 2:29-30).

The verse that I was thinking of for Abraham is also in the New Testament, but I don't recall it at this time.

Yes, Al-manr, I recognize Abraham as a prophet. But, no, I don't think of him that way, nor do I think of David that way, even after reading that verse. Maybe this is a failing on my part, but I don't really think so. Both may have been prophets (the use of "may" not implying doubt or uncertainty, but in the sense of allowing that it is so), but this still isn't how I think of them because it isn't how they are primarily known and spoken of. Let me use a parallel from modern life to explain why I don't. Hilary Clinton may be a first lady of the United States, but this isn't how I primarily think of her anymore either. Instead, I think of her as Secretary of State, for that is her primary role as far as I am concerned. This doesn't mean that when an exhaustive list of the First Ladies of the United States if published that it should not include her, it should, but when I read her biography I would expect her role as Secretary of State to be listed first as being primary. So, too, Abraham and David should indeed both be listed among the lists of prophets. Being educated on this and reminded of it is a good thing. I don't want to overlook it. But in terms of their primary roles with respect to the history of Israel, the roles that are most significant in the life of the nation of Israel are, respectively, that of patriarch and king.

Also, perhaps it is worthy of note, when authors of the New Testament refer to "the prophets" as a group, it does not necessarily mean they are referrencing all of the propehts. One must read the context, but often they are not referencing the the prophets as individuals, but rather the work of the prophets as a set type of literature. Israel's greatest prophets are generally considered to be Moses and Elijah, but when speaking of "the Law and the Prophets", it means the Torah literature by the first term, and by the second those writings known as the works of the major and minor prophets. In that second set neither Moses nor Elijah would be included. So, if those who are well known principally as prophets are not meant when Jesus says,
"All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:40) or "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it" (Luke 16:16), then I think it fair to say that Jesus doesn't have Abraham or David in mind in these reference either.

That's not to say that they aren't being referenced in statements like, "Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world..." (Luke 11:50). But it must be remembered that Abraham, Moses, and David all died of old age. So, I think passages such as these refer not to them but to those prophets, like Jeremiah, that were killed. Nevertheless, surely Abraham, Moses, David, and Elijah are every bit as included as are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Micah when the author of Hebrews penned: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe" (Hebrews 1:1-2). I'm just used to thinking in terms of the context of the phrase "the propehts" as a reference to those books by Isaiah, Jeremiah (including the book of Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) which are known ollectively as "The Prophets," and then I remind myself that there were other prophets such as I have already named. But with regard to Abraham and David we see them primarily exercising other roles in scipture. It doesn't mean that they aren't also prophets, but (whether you find it reasonable or not) it is why I don't think of them that way.

Now, with regard to how the Bible viewed the prophets, just my own confusion above shows that we have to be careful and not speak of them as a single unit. When we do so, we are really talking about the collected prophet writings more than about individual prophets.

To make other general statements about the prophets would simply be to reaffirm the overall role of a prophet being one who speaks forth on God's behalf. Moses did that in a unique way as being the intermediary through whom God gave the nation of Israel the Law. If we look at Abraham, in addition to being a patriarch of the nation, he was also unique in being given the special title "friend of God" (James 2:23). And kings like David, Solomon, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Josiah (some good and some bad) were all given the task of ruling under God's authority and guidance. It is during the time of the monarchy that it seems the prophets did the majority of their work, and during that time they mostly served as a moral compass. They would bring words of reproof and correction from God either directly to (and often against) the king, as Nathan did with King David (see 2 Samuel) and Elijah did with King Ahab (see 1 Kings 18), and they would do the same with the nation as a whole such as Isaiah and Micah brought during the reign of Ahaz. Often time their messages were delivered not just through words, but also by prophetic sign (see Ezekiel 4 or Micah 1:8).

Not all prophets were themselves compliant with God's purposes. Jonah is an interesting study in rebellion by a prophet. He is commanded to go to the city of Ninevah and preach against it because of its wickedness, but Jonah hated Ninevah and was apparently pleased with the idea of God destroying it because of its wickedness. And so, rather than going as he was commanded, he ran away so that he would not be able to share the message that God had given him. The part of the story that seems to interest most people is that in the process of running away he actually preferred to be thrown overboard from a ship and drown in the sea than to deliver a message that might bring about repentance on the part of the Ninivites. When that happened he was rescued by God who sent a great fish to swallow Jonah and then, after 3 days in the fish (and Jonah's own repentance at having run from what God called him to do) God cause the fish to vomit Jonah alive on dry land. From there he went to Ninevah, preached a simple message: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." and then waited for God to in fact destroy Ninevah. But instead, Ninevah repented and the rest of the story has more to do with God's relationship with his reluctant prophet and what Jonah needs to learn about God's mercy than the message to Ninevah.

Generally, what we know about Biblical prophets are just small snapshots of a few moments in their lives as they deliver God's message. Rare is it that we have a prophet's entire life story like we do with Samuel.

format_quote Originally Posted by _muslim_

I'm sorry Danah for commenting here, but are there prophets in Christianity?
In a christian discussion they stated that there are no prophets. Oh, I see? Must be due to the catholic/protestant/orthodox... difference in views.

Yes, there are prophets in Christianity. I've never heard any individual Christian or denominational body deny their existence. I don't know the context of the discussion your refer to, perhaps it was more about whether Christians think that there are still prophets today? Some Christian groups do believe that there are still prophets among us today and some do not. But as to whether there were ever prophets, I feel pretty safe in asserting that we all think there were.

format_quote Originally Posted by _muslim_

No it wasn't that. There was a discussion going on about a muslim who had the name of a prophet. The debate was about his faith, whether he was a muslim or a christian. And I heard one of them comment "Since when has Christianity had prophets "

I've always assumed so. That's why I was wondering...

Can't help with that, except to suggest that either there was some sort of disconnect in the conversation so that the speaker was responding to something different than had actually been said, or it might have been someone who simply isn't fully informed.