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The Bible consists of plenty of feminine prophets. This is the story …
Definition
In the Bible, prophets like Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah and Daniel are well-known. Many individuals are unaware that the Bible additionally consists of feminine prophets. Depending in your model of the Bible they’re known as prophets or prophetesses. Some folks desire to name them ‘girls prophets’ or ‘feminine prophets’, or they simply use the identical phrase ‘prophet’ for women and men alike. Although the Old Testament priesthood was restricted to males, the Old Testament has no such gender restriction for different leaders and prophets.
Female prophets in Jewish custom
Traditionally the Jewish Talmud recognises seven girls of the Hebrew Scriptures as prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther. Three of those girls, Miriam, Deborah and Huldah, are explicitly known as prophets (or prophetesses) within the Bible. Additionally Miriam and Deborah are particularly known as leaders. With the exception of Huldah, all these stay in style names for Christian and Jewish women to today.
Miriam
The first lady to be explicitly known as a prophet within the Bible is Miriam, the sister of Moses. In Exodus 15:20 we learn that ‘the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the ladies went out after her with tambourines and with dancing’ (NRSV). In Micah 6:4 it’s written: ‘I introduced you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I despatched Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to guide you’ (GNB). So proper from the start of the Law, there was a lady as a frontrunner and prophet.
Deborah
In the early days of Israel earlier than the dominion, the tribes had been dominated by Judges. The fourth Judge, and one of many biggest was Deborah. She was not solely a Judge, however was additionally particularly known as a prophet. In Judges 4:4 we learn ‘Deborah the spouse of Lappidoth was a prophet and a frontrunner of Israel throughout these days’ (CEV).
Huldah
Huldah was a prophet in Jerusalem through the reign of King Josiah. She was a prophet alongside or overlapping with the prophets Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1-2) and Zechariah (Zephaniah 1:10). She held nice respect and authority. Both the excessive priest Hilkiah and the king deferred to her on issues of faith (2 Kings 22:14), even over the opposite male prophets who existed on the time. Huldah recognised a scroll discovered within the Temple as a legitimate ebook of Scriptures, in all probability what we now know as Deuteronomy, so she helped to kind the canon now we have at the moment (as advised in 2 Kings chapter 22).
Anna
When Jesus is introduced on the Temple as a child, Mary and Joseph met Anna, who was an previous widow in her eighties. She is particularly described as a prophet (Luke 2:36-38). The textual content implies that she was a prophet for a lot of many years earlier than she met the child Jesus, which successfully places her as a uncommon instance of a documented prophet within the intertestamental interval.
Were feminine prophets an exception?
Some folks declare that feminine prophets had been the exception. An exception requires a rule to range from. Those who declare feminine prophets had been the exception are assuming that there was a rule that the position of prophet was particularly male, as a way to have exceptions from it. All the monks of Judaism had been males, however there was by no means a rule limiting the position of prophet to males, and with no rule there are not any exceptions to the rule. Rather, the story of Miriam reveals us that from the start prophets may equally be male or feminine.
That there have been fewer feminine prophets to male prophets merely displays the patriarchal society. In an analogous manner, the UK has had fewer feminine monarchs and few feminine Prime Ministers. Most have been males, with none rule that the position was restricted to males.
Women at Pentecost
Only a small variety of feminine prophets are named within the Old Testament. There might have been extra who’re unnamed and never talked about. However, Joel predicted a time when feminine prophets could be extra frequent, when he mentioned: ‘Your little kids will prophesy’ (Joel 2:28). This was quoted by Peter at Pentecost, and this solely is smart whenever you realise that each women and men (Acts 1:14) had been chatting with the crowds (Acts 2:1-18). Peter regarded this as prophesying – in any other case he wouldn’t have quoted Joel to clarify it.
Female Prophets within the Early Church
In the Early Church, we learn that Luke and St Paul stayed with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea. Philip was one of many seven deacons of the Jerusalem church. Luke notes that he and Paul met his 4 single daughters who had the present of prophecy (Acts 21:8-9).
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes that ‘Every man who prays or prophesies along with his head lined dishonours his head, however each spouse who prays or prophesies along with her head uncovered dishonours her head…’ (1 Corinthians 11:4-5 ESV). St Paul’s objection was to not girls prophesying, however to them doing it when their heads weren’t lined.
In Revelation, in directions to the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:18–29), there may be criticism of a lady who calls herself a prophet, as a result of she is deceiving folks with immorality and consuming meals sacrificed to idols (Rev 2:20). The criticism isn’t for being a feminine chief, however for being an immoral chief.
Conclusion
When we consider the good prophets of the Bible most of them are males, and in an historical patriarchal society perhaps that’s to be anticipated, however we must always not overlook all the good feminine prophets too. The position of prophet was by no means restricted to males. There had been feminine prophets within the Old Testament, a minimum of one within the intertestamental interval, and examples of girls prophesying within the Early Church.
