how to say “prophet” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-1.m4a” /]נָבִיא, חוֹזֶה, רוֹאֶה

The best-known word for prophet in the Bible is נביא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-2.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-3.m4a” /]וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה… (דברים ל”ד, י’)

And there never rose a prophet in Israel like Moses… (Deuteronomy 34:10)

But other terms exist, including איש א-להים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-4.m4a” /] – man of G-d, as well as חוזה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-5.m4a” /] and רואה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-6.m4a” /], both meaning seer or one who sees.

Here’s a Biblical example that sums puts most of these together, perhaps for the purpose of linguistic diversity:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-7.m4a” /]וְדִבְרֵי דָּוִיד הַמֶּלֶךְ הָרִאשֹׁנִים וְהָאֲחרֹנִים הִנָּם כְּתוּבִים עַל דִּבְרֵי שְׁמוּאֵל הָרֹאֶה וְעַל דִּבְרֵי נָתָן הַנָּבִיא וְעַל דִּבְרֵי גָּד הַחֹזֶה. (דברי הימים א’ כ”ט, כ”ט)

As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer. (Chronicles I, 29:29)

Nonetheless, נביא remains the most common word for prophet in Biblical Hebrew as well as in Modern Hebrew, where the first meaning of חוזה that comes to mind is contract. The essential meaning of the root נ.ב.א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-8.m4a” /], the root of נביא, is to call out, to announce, to preach – which is the job of the Biblical prophet.

A prophetess is a נביאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-9.m4a” /].