Lecture XIX: The History of the Prophetical Order (part 1)
by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D.
The life of Samuel is so marked an epoch in the
history of the Prophetical Office, that this seems the
fittest place for the consideration of an institution,
which, though it bore its chief fruits in the periods
following on that just brought to a close in the fore-
going Lectures, may yet be viewed as a whole in this
critical moment of its existence.
It will accordingly be my endeavor to describe, first
the Prophetical Order or Institution, in is original
historical connection, and, secondly, the nature of the
Prophetical Teaching in its relations to the moral and
spiritual condition of the Jewish, and, indirectly, of
the Christian Church.
I. Before entering on the history of the order, the
meaning of the word "Prophet," in the two
sacred languages, must be exactly defined.
The Hebrew word Nabi is derived from the verb
naba, which, however, never occurs in the ac-
tive, but only in the passive conjugations of the verb,
according to the analogy of the deponent verbs in
Latin: — loqui, fari, vociferari, vaticinari, where the pas-
sive form seems to indicate that the speaker is swayed
by impulses over which he has not himself entire con-
trol. The root of the verb is said to be a word sig-
nifying "to boil or bubble over," and is thus taken
from the metaphor of a fountain bursting forth from
the heart of man, int which God has poured it. Its
actual meaning is to pour forth excited utterances, as ap-
pears from its occasional use in the sense of raving.
Even to this day, in the East, the idea of prophet
and madman are closely connected. The religious
sense, in which, with these exceptions, the word is
always employed, is that of "speaking" or "singing un-
der a divine afflatus or impulse," to which the peculiar
form of the word, as just observed, lends itself. The
same seems to be the general sense of the Arabic
neby. It is this word that the Seventy translated by
a Greek term not of frequent usage in classical au-
thors, but which, through their adoption of it, has
passed into all modern European languages; namely,
the word [. . . .] "Prophet." The sense of
this word in the classical writers is not less clearly defined
than that of Nabi in Hebrew, and, though not exactly
the same in sense, is sufficiently analogous to justify
its employment by the Alexandrine translators. It is
always and interpreter or medium of the Divine will.
Thus Apollo is the Prophet of Jupiter, the Pythia was
the Prophetess of Apollo, and the attendants or ex-
pounders of her ejaculations were the Prophets of the
Pythia. It is possible that the Seventy may have
derived their use of the word from its special applica-
tion in Egypt to the chief of the Sacerdotal order in
any particular temple. His duties were to walk at
the close of the sacred processions, bearing in his bo-
som an urn of sacred water; to control the taxes, and
to teach the sacred books. It was probably in this
last capacity that the Greek name of "Prophet" was
applied to him, and that we hear of the office being
held by Sonches and Sechnuphis, the reputed masters
of Pythagoras and of Plato.
The Greek preposition pro- as compounded in
the word Pro-phet, has, as is well known, the three-
fold meaning of "beforehand," "in public," and "in
behalf of" or "for." It is possible that all these three
meanings may have a place in the word. But the
one which unquestionably predominates in its original
meaning is the third, — "one who speaks for," or as
"the mouthpiece of another." As applied therefore
by the Septuagint, in the Old Testament, and by the
writers of the New Testament, who have taken the
word from the Septuagint, it is use simply to ex-
press the same idea as that intended in the Hebrew
Nabi: not foreteller, nor (as has been said more truly,
but not with absolute exactness), "forth-teller," but
"spokesman," and (in the religious sense in which
it is almost invariably used) "expounder," and "in-
terpreter" of the Divine Mind.
The English words "prophet," and "prophe-
sying," originally kept tolerably close to the
Biblical use of the word. The celebrated dis-
pute about "prophesyings," in the sense of "preach-
ings," in the reign of Elizabeth, and the treatise of
Jeremy Taylor on The Liberty of Prophesying, i.e., the
liberty of preaching, show that even down to the
seventeenth century, the word was still used, as in
the Bible, for "preaching," or "speaking according to
the will of God." In the seventeenth century, however,
the limitation of the word to the sense of "predic-
tion," had gradually begun to appear; founded partly
on a misapprehension of the true meaning of the
Greek preposition, partly on the attention attracted
by the undoubtedly predictive parts of the prophetical
writings.
This secondary meaning of the word had by the
time of Dr. Johnson so entirely superseded the original
Scriptural signification, that he gives no other special
definition of it than "to predict, to foretell, to prognos-
ticate;" "a predicter, a foreteller;" "foreseeing or
foretelling future events;" and in this sense it has
been used almost down to our own day, when the
revival of Biblical criticism has resuscitated, in some
measure, the Biblical use of the word.
A somewhat similar divergence of sentiment has
sprung up in the Mussulman world. The Sonnites or
rthodox Mussulmans still use the word in its origi-
nal sense as a divinely instructed teacher, whilst the
Shiahs or heretical Mussulmans use it as equivalent
to one who has the power of prediction. It is even
said that this difference as to the meaning of the
Prophetic office, far more than the dispute respecting
the succession to the Caliphate, lies at the root of
the great schism in the Mussulman community.
How far the modern limitation of the word is borne
out by the unquestionable prevalence of Prediction in
the Prophetical Office of the Jewish Church, will best
appear in the next Lecture. Meanwhile, it is impor-
tant at the outset, and in the history of the Order, to
adhere to the ancient and only Biblical use of the
term: the more so, as the contracted sense in which
it is now popularly employed would exclude from our
consideration the most remarkable and characteristic
instances of it, — Moses, Samuel, and Elijah, in the
Old Testament; John the Baptist and S. Paul in the
New.
THE PROPHET then was "the messenger or interpre-
ter of the Divine will." Such is the force of all the
synonymes employed for the office. The Prophet is
expressly called "the interpreter," and "the messen-
ger of Jehovah." He is also called "the man of
spirit," and "the Spirit of Jehovah" enters into him,
"clothes" him (thus corresponding almost exactly to
our word "inhabited.") The greater Prophets are called
"men of God." His communication is called "the
word of Jehovah," and a particular term is used for the
Divine voice in this connection, chiefly in Ezekiel and
Jeremiah. In the New Testament this meaning is
still continued. The detailed descriptions of "prophe-
sying," by S. Paul are hardly distinguishable from
what we should call "preaching;" the word "exhor-
tation," or "consolation," is used as identical with it;
and the same stress as in the Old Testament is laid
on the force of the Divine impulse, whence it sprung.
"Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man;
but holy men of old spake as they were moved by
"the Holy Ghost." "God spake by (or "in")
the Prophets;" whence the phrase in the Nicene
Creed, The Holy Spirit . . . spoke by the Proph-
ets."
Two points thus distinguish the Prophets from first
to last. The first is their consciousness of deriving
their gift from a Divine source. No other literature
so directly appeals to such an origin. The impulse
was irresistible. "Woe is me if I preach not the
"gospel." Secondly, the Divine communication is
made through the persons of men. The rustling
leaves of Dodona, or the symptoms of the entrails in
Roman sacrifices, were thought "oracular," or "pre-
dictive," but would never have been called "pro-
phetic." The "Urim and Thummim" on the High
Priest's breastplate might be the medium of a Divine
Revelation, but whatever intimations they conveyed
were not made through the mind and mouth of a
man, and were therefore not "prophecies."
II. Such being the meaning of the word, I proceed
to give a brief history of the Institution in the Jew-
ish Church. The life and character of each individual
prophet will belong to the period in which he ap-
peared. But a general survey of all is necessary to
a just understanding of each.
Strictly speaking, the name and office of a Prophet
was not confined to the Jewish people. Not to speak
of the origin of the name as derived from Greek and
Egyptian heathenism, the Bible itself recognizes the
existence of "Prophets" outside the pale of the true
religion. The earliest and greatest instance
of a heathen Prophet is Balaam; and the
form as well as the substance of his prophecies is
cast in the same mould as that of the Hebrew proph-
ets themselves. The "prophets of Baal" are also fre-
quently mentioned during the history of the monarchy,
and "false prophets" are described as abounding. S.
Paul also recognizes Epimenides the Cretan as a
"prophet;" perhaps merely as an equivalent to
"poet," or vates, but probably in allusion to the mys-
terious and religious character with which Epimenides
was invested. S. Jude also speaks of the apocryphal
book of Enoch as a prophecy. These instances are
important, both as illustrating the meaning of the
word and the nature of the office, and also showing
the freedom with which the Bible recognizes "revela-
tion" and "inspiration" outside the circle of the
Chosen People. Still it is within that circle, and as
a special characteristic of the Jewish Church and na-
tion, that the office must be considered.
(1.) There is no direct mention of a Prophet be-
fore the time of Moses. The name is indeed inciden-
tally given to Abraham when Abimelech is
warned to restore Sarah, "for he is a prophet,
and he shall pray for thee;" and probably
the Psalmist makes the same allusion in the expres-
sion, "Do my prophets no harm." But Abraham
never utters what would be called "prophecies;" and
those promises and predictions which are made to him,
or which occur in the earlier chapters of genesis, in
the primeval narrative of the Fall, though often classed
by modern divines as "the first prophecies," are never
so called in the Bible, which, as we have seen, only
recognizes under the name of "prophecies" those
which are delivered through the personal agency of
men. A nearer approach is in the Blessing of Jacob.
This, however, is never directly called a prophecy in
the Bible, nor is Jacob called a Prophet.
But Moses receives the name repeatedly, and in
one famous passage is made the type or like-
ness of the whole order, even of the Last and
Greatest of all. The exposition of the Law is what
most peculiarly marks his position. The poetical gift
displayed in the three Songs of the Pentateuch, and \
the 90th Psalm, belongs to him in common with the
Prophets of a later time. Such a burst of prophecy,
as is contained in the acts and words of Moses, of itself
marks his appearance as the first Prophetical epoch
in the Jewish Church, and, as might be expected, in-
dications of its lesser manifestations elsewhere at this
time are faintly discerned. Aaron is described as "a
prophet" in relation to Moses himself. Miriam is
almost always designated as "the prophetess," and on
one occasion not only the seventy elders, but two
youths outside the sacred circle, are described as
catching the Divine afflatus; and the great Prophet,
in despite of the narrower spirit of the soldier Joshua,
wishes that it should extend to the whole people.
(2.) With the generation of Moses the gift seems
for a time to have expired. Joshua has some-
times been reckoned as a Prophet, and his
address to the people before his death may, in the
Hebrew sense of the word, perhaps be regarded as a
prophecy. But this is not a usual view of his posi-
tion. Josephus thinks that he was accompanied by a
Prophet. And on one occasion, just before his death,
a "messenger of the Lord," an earlier "Malachi," is
described as addressing the people at Bochim. Two
more such nameless Prophets appear in the days of
Gideon and Eli. Ehud apparently had that character
at the court of Moab. But these are doubtful and
isolated instances. The only detailed and character-
istic prophecy of the time of the Judges, is that of
"the Prophetess" Deborah. The other Judges, if
Prophets at all, are Prophets only in action. They
were "clothed with the Divine Spirit," or "struck" by
it, but only to perform acts of strength, not to utter
words of wisdom.
It is at the close of the period of the Judges that
the office of Prophet first becomes not merely an oc-
casional manifestation, but a fixed institution in the
Jewish Church. Samuel is the true founder
of the Order of Prophets. "Until Samuel the
prophet," "From Samuel and those that follow
after." "Samuel and the Prophets," are expres-
sions which exactly agree with the facts of the his-
tory. In his time the name of "Prophet," (Nabi) first
came to use, in place of the ancient and less ex-
alted title of "Seer" (Roeh), or "Gazer" (Hozeh). In
his time first appear the companies of "the sons of
the prophets." From his time the succession con-
tinues, in every generation, unbroken down to Mala-
chi. He, like Moses, appears not alone, but as the
centre of a circle of Prophets; but, unlike Moses, of
a circle some of whom were as highly endowed with
prophetic gifts as he himself. Without dwelling on
the doubtful case of his father Elkanah and his
mother Hannah, there was certainly Gad, Nathan,
David, Saul, and Heman, Samuel's grandson, amongst
those who, if they were not actually educated by him,
all marked the epoch of his appearance. Amongst
these, Samuel, Gad, and Heman, as if still belonging
in a measure to the older state of things are called
"Seers," whereas Nathan and David bear, without
variation, the new name of "Prophet."
(3.) From the two most remarkable of this age,
Nathan and David, flowed in all probability,
the two prophetic schools, which never en-
tirely ceased out of the Jewish Church as long as
the prophetic gift lasted at all, but which may be no-
ticed especially on their first appearance. David,
in continental nations is always termed not "the
Royal Psalmist," but "the Prophet King," and in
Mussulman tradition is especially known as "the
Prophet of God," as Abraham is the "Friend," and
Mahomet "the Apostle" of God. He gave to his
prophetic utterances the peculiar charm of song and
music, which has procured him amongst ourselves the
name of "the Psalmist," and to his prophecies and
those that are formed on their model, the name of
"Psalms," or "songs." Nathan (who probably is the
first "seer" that received distinctly the name of
"Prophet"), in one of the only two prophecies di-
rectly ascribed to him, gives it in the form of an apo-
logue or proverb, that of the ewe-lamb; and being as
he was the main supporter, if not instructor, of Solo-
mon, may be considered as the first example of that
kind of moral instruction in which the gifts of Solo-
mon, though not expressly called prophetic, found
their chief vent.
(4.) It was in the disorders at the close of Solo-
mon's reign that the Prophetic Order as-
sumed an importance in the state such as it
had never acquired before. Samuel had transferred
the crown from Saul to David; Nathan from Adonijah
to Solomon. But Ahijah, in transferring it from Re-
hoboam to Jeroboam, created not merely a new
dynasty, but a new kingdom. The northern king-
dom was, during the first period of its existence, the
kingdom of the Prophets. The Priests took refuge in
Judah. But the Prophets, for the first two centuries
after the disruption, were almost entirely confined to
Israel. All the seats of prophetic instruction (with
the possible exception of Ramah) were within the
kingdom of Samaria, — Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, Car-
mel.
We hear of these by fifties, and by hundreds at
once, and amongst these the names of many have
come down to us: Ahijah of Shiloh, Iddo "the seer,"
Jehu the son of Hanani, Obadiah, Micaiah, Oded,
and, chiefest of all, Elijah and Elisha. A few Proph-
ets of the southern kingdom are mentioned as con-
temporary with these: Arariah, Hanani, "the seer,"
Eliezer. But neither in numbers nor in influence can
these be compared with those who had their sphere
of action in the north, of whom Elijah stands forth
as the great representative. In this arduous position,
sometimes at variance, sometimes in close harmony,
with the Kings of Israel, they maintained the true
religion in the northern tribes, at times when in
Judah it was crushed to the ground, and when in
Israel it had to struggle against severe persecution or
sluggish apathy. And by their free passage to and
fro between the rival kingdoms, and their endeavors
on both sides to keep up a sentiment of humanity,
the Prophets of this epoch must be regarded as im-
portant instruments for upholding not only the relig-
ious but the national unity.
(5.) This is the great epoch of the Prophetic action
as distinct from the Prophetic writings of the
Jewish Church. It is true that during this
time the main historical literature of the
country was formed under the prophetic guidance.
We have distinct notices of the works in which Sam-
uel, Gad, and Nathan described the life of David,
and in which Nathan and Iddo describe the lives of
Solomon and Jeroboam. These unfortunately have
all perished. Their historical as well as their poeti-
cal writings, no less than those of the still earlier
period of Moses and the Judges, are handed down in
the compositions or compilations of others. The writ-
ings of David alone have been preserved in an inde-
pendent and original form. But about the time of the
destruction of the northern kingdom, a new phase
passed over the Prophetic Order. Probably in con-
sequence of the increasing cultivation of the people
that had set in during the reign of Solomon, and
had gradually penetrated all classes, the Prophets, or
their immediate disciples, seem to have committed to
writing the greater part of their prophecies.
Of these written prophecies, the earliest is probably
that of Joel; and in him the man of action is still
visible athwart the written record. Close following
upon him, are the last Prophets of the declining king-
dom of the north, — Jonah (whether as appearing in
the history or in the book of which he is the sub-
ject), Hosea, and Amos.
Immediately succeeding to these, but now confined
to the southern kingdom, rises the great school of
Prophets, under Uzziah and his three successors, Isaiah,
Micah, Nahum, and "Zechariah, who had understand-
ing in the visions of God." Following upon these,
in fainter strains, as the external dangers increased,
and the internal strength of the kingdom declined,
were Zephaniah, probably Habakkuk, Obadiah, and the
nameless "seer" or "seers" in the reign of Manasseh.
The whole of this series is concluded by the most
mournful, and in some respects the greatest of the
older Prophets, Jeremiah, with the circle of inferior
Prophets round him, – Hulda, the Prophetess, Uri-
jah and Hanan.
(6.) Jeremiah is the last of the Prophetic Order who
is actively concerned in moving the affairs of
the State and Church. In the Prophets of
the Captivity and of the Return, the character of
authors goes far to supersede the character of their
older mission. Their works are for the most part, as
those of their predecessors had never been, arranged
in chronological sequence, and their style becomes
continuous and fixed. Amongst these, three names
are conspicuous, — Ezekiel, who connects the close of
the monarchy with the commencement of the Cap-
tivity; the Evangelical Prophet, who heralds the
return from captivity; and Daniel, whatever be
the exact date and character we assign to the book
which bears his name. The group following
the Captivity consists of Haggai, Zechariah,
and the unknown "messenger," whom we call Mala-
chi. These three, probably, alone of the books of the
Old Testament, stand in the canons in the order in
which they were originally published. The only other
indications of the prophetic spirit in this period are
amongst the Samaritans, — "the Prophetess Noadiah,"
and "the rest of the Prophets." Ezra is once called a
Prophet in one of the latter books to which his name
is affixed; but this is not his usual designation.
(7.) With Malachi, accordingly, the succession which
had continued unbroken from the time of Samuel
terminates, and a host of legends, Jewish and Mussul-
man, commemorate the extinction of the prophetic
gift. "We see not our signs: there is no more
any prophet." It is true that the Books of
Baruch, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus, lay claim, more
or less, both to the prophetic form and the prophetic
character. Still the impassioned poetic flow of the
earlier Prophets is greatly abated, and the name is
rarely used. The Religion of the Old Dispensation
was fully revealed and constituted — prophets were not
needed to declare it, but "scribes" to expound and
defend it.
It is this long silence or deterioration of the gift
that renders its resuscitation more remarkable.
It was "in the days of Herod the kind," that
the voice of a Prophet was once more heard. We
shall never understand the true appearance of the
Baptist, or of him whose forerunner he was, nor the
continuity of the Old and New Testaments, unless we
bear in mind that the period of the Christian era was
the culminating point of the Prophetic ages of the
Jewish Church. "The word of God came unto John
the son of Zechariah," as it had come before to Isaiah
the son of Amoz. "The people counted him
as a prophet." "He was a prophet, and more than a
prophet." In appearance, in language, in character,
he was what Elijah had been in the reign of Ahab.
And yet he was only the messenger of a Prophet
greater than himself. The whole public min-
istry of our Lord was that of a Prophet. He was
much more than this. But it was as a Prophet that
He acted and spoke. It was this which gave Him
His hold on the mind of the nation. He entered, as
it were naturally, on an office vacant, but already ex-
isting. His discourses were all, in the highest sense
of the word, "prophecies."
And, when He was withdrawn from the earth, He,
like Moses and Samuel, left a circle of Prophets
behind Him, through whom the sacred gift was
continued and diffused. It was one of the expected
marks of the Messiah's kingdom that the prophetic in-
spiration should become universal. This expectation
S. Peter saw realized on the day of Pentecost; and
from S.Paul's allusions, it is evident that the posses-
sion of the gift throughout the Christian community
was the rule, not the exception. Some there were
more eminent than others, whose names, sayings, or
writings, have been preserved to us. Agabus, Simeon,
Niger, Lucius, Manaen, Philip's daughters, Joseph, who
derived from this gift the name by which he was usu-
ally known, of "Barnabas," Saul, who was called Paul,
John; and to these we may probably add, though not
expressly bearing the name, Cephas or Peter, Jacob or
James the Younger, Judas or Thaddeus, and the au-
thor of the Epistle to the Hebrews. With John, as
far as we know, the name and the thing ceased. There
have been great men to whom the title has been given
in later times. There have been others who have
claimed it for themselves. But in the peculiar Bibli-
cal, Hebrew sense of the word, and certainly within
the circle of the Jewish Church, S. John was the Last
of the Prophets.
from The History of the Jewish Church, Vol. I : Abraham to Samuel,
Lecture XIX: The History of the Prophetical Order.
by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1879, pp. 457-473
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