prophet

Culture

2022

We explain what a prophet is and the characteristics of the biblical prophets and the Koran. Also, the list of prophets of different religions.

The prophets receive a message from God and then spread his instructions.

What is a prophet?

A prophet is an individual who has had a religious, mystical or supernatural revelation, which prompts him to share with the world a truth of divine origin. It is a very frequent figure in the doctrine of the different religious creeds, especially in the great monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), who are considered spokesmen for the word of God.

This term comes from the ancient Greek word prophetes, translatable as "messenger" or "spokesman", although its religious meaning, proper as we said of monotheisms, was born with the Hebrew culture, which used the term nabi. The latter was translated as prophet for the first time in the Septuagint Bible, written in Koine Greek.

Prophets are often portrayed as deluded and eccentric individuals who, when chosen by God to receive His message, they separate themselves from the rest of the flock and then return with the mission of spreading divine instructions.

The big ones religions they usually have a founding prophet, like Jesus of Nazareth for Christians or Muhammad for Muslims, for example, and whose message his faithful take as true. However, many religions recognize the prophets of others, as do the biblical prophets of the Old Testament, recognized as predecessors of Jesus Christ by Christianity.

Prophets often make prophecies, that is, they make predictions or announcements about the future to come, accompanied by warnings regarding the criteria that God will use to save the faithful and just, and to condemn the unbelievers and wicked. Sometimes these prophecies are spoken in a Figurative language or poetic, which requires further interpretation by the believers or the authorities of the church itself.

Today, the word prophet is often used for those who claim to have a vision of the future, given to them by God or other supernatural forces, and who generally preach coming catastrophes and tragedies (prophets of disaster). However, to distinguish them from the religious figure, they are often preferred to call them seers.

Biblical prophets

The Christian Bible comprises two great sets of texts and stories:

  • On the one hand, the Old Testament (OT), equivalent to the Tanakh of the Jews, which contains the writings of the Torah of Moses, considered as the faithful dictation of the word of God to this prophet;
  • And on the other hand the New Testament (NT), centered on the facts of life, teachings and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, considered the last prophet of God by Christians.

However, there are not a few prophets of God mentioned in the Old Testament. In fact, the first prophet was Adam himself. Today we know them as biblical prophets, Hebrew prophets or prophets of the people of Israel, and they are traditionally divided into:

  • Major prophets, whose works are much more voluminous and comprise entire books in his name.
  • Minor Prophets, of much shorter work, also known as the "Twelve Prophets" and gathered in the last portion of the Old Testament, known as the Book of twelve.

Both categories have the same authority, although they may differ in terms of their members, depending on each tradition specific religious. For that reason, the study of these texts ancient works is usually a complex task of specialists, since there are many translations, versions and interpretations that have been made of such ancient texts in the history of the humanity.

Prophets in the Quran

The Koran, the sacred text of Muslims, considers as certain the existence of numerous prophets throughout the history of their religion, many of whom are not even remembered today, as there was "a prophet for each community."

Islam shares with its sister religions, Judaism and Christianity, the belief in the ancient prophets of Tanach, and even the New Testament of Jesus of Nazareth. However, its true and definitive prophet is Muhammad (Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullāh), who completed the line of prophets begun by Adam and Abraham, and continued by Moses and Jesus.

Thus, the text of the Koran is considered by Muslims as the only true writing of the divine word, dictated by God to Muhammad and collected by his companions. To preserve this unaltered divine word, the Qur'an is recited in classical Arabic, and its translations into other languages ​​are not regarded as copies of the Qur'an, but rather as versions or interpretations of it.

List of the prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Prophets like Noah could anticipate what was going to happen.

A list of the joint prophets of the great monotheistic religions of the world (also called Abrahamic religions, since they share their faith in the prophet Abraham) would include the following names:

Old Testament Prophets or Tanach

  • Prophets of the Torah
    • Moses
    • Aaron
    • Miriam
    • Eldad and Medad
    • Pinchas
  • Early prophets
    • Josue
    • Deborah
    • Samuel
    • Gad
    • Nathan
    • David
    • Solomon
    • Jedutun
    • Ajías
    • Elijah
    • Elysium
    • Shemaia
    • Gone
    • Janani
    • Jehu
    • Micaia
    • Jaziel
    • Eliezer
    • Zacharias ben Yehudía
    • Hulda
  • Major Prophets
    • Isaiah
    • Jeremiah
    • Ezequiel
    • Daniel
  • Minor prophets
    • Hosea
    • Joel
    • Amos
    • Obadiah
    • Jonah
    • Micah
    • Nahum
    • Habakkuk
    • Zephaniah
    • Haggai
    • Zechariah
    • Malachi

Prophets of the New Testament or Christianity

  • Baruc
  • Simeon
  • Ana
  • Emmanuel
  • John the baptist
  • Jesus of Nazareth

Prophets of the Quran or Islam

  • Ulul Azmi or magnets of the rasul
    • Noah (Nuh)
    • Abraham (Ibrahim)
    • Moses (Muse)
    • Jesus of Nazareth (Isa)
    • Muhammad (Muhammad)
  • Other prophets of Islam
    • Adam
    • Idris
    • Hud
    • Saleh
    • Lut
    • Daniel
    • Ism’ail
    • Ishaq
    • Yaqub
    • Yusuf
    • Ayub
    • Shoaib
    • Harün
    • Dhul-Kifl
    • Dawood
    • Sulaiman
    • Ilyas
    • Alyassa
    • Samuel
    • Saijo
    • Zakariya
    • Yahya (John the Baptist)
!-- GDPR -->