Daniel (Bible prophet)

Home > People > Philosophy and Religion > Biblical Proper Names: Biographies

proph·et / ˈpräfit/ • n. 1. a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God: the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. ∎  (the Prophet) (among Muslims) Muhammad. ∎  (the Prophet) (among Mormons) Joseph Smith or one of his successors. ∎  a person who advocates or speaks in a visionary way about a new belief, cause, or theory: he was a prophet of revolutionary socialism. ∎  a person who makes or claims to be able to make predictions: the anti-technology prophets of doom. 2. (the Prophets) the prophetic writings of the Old Testament or Hebrew scriptures, in particular: ∎  (in Christian use) the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets. ∎  (in Jewish use) one of the three canonical divisions of the Hebrew Bible, distinguished from the Law and the Hagiographa, and comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the twelve minor prophets. DERIVATIVES: proph·et·hood / -ˌhoŏd/ n.

prophet a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God; among Muslims, the Prophet means Muhammad, and among Mormons, Joseph Smith or one of his successors. The word comes (in Middle English) via Old French and Latin from Greek prophētēs ‘spokesman’.

In Christian use, the Prophets designates the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets; in Jewish use, the Prophets is one of the three canonical divisions of the Hebrew Bible, distinguished from the Law and the Hagiographa, and comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the twelve minor prophets.
the Law and the Prophets the Old Testament Scriptures or their content (especially as referred to in the New Testament).
a prophet is not without honour save in his own country proverbial saying, late 15th century, meaning that a person's gifts and talents are rarely appreciated by those close to him; in Matthew 13:57, the words are attributed to Jesus.