Sons of the Prophets

The single reference outside the Elisha cycle to the sons of the prophets is to someone identified as “a certain man of the sons of the prophets” who condemned Ahab's release of Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 20:35-42 ). The “company of prophets” (1Samuel 10:5,1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Samuel 19:20 ) are groups of prophets whose charismatic spirit involved Saul in prophecy (1 Samuel 10:10 ) and, later, both Saul and his messengers (1 Samuel 19:20 ).

Amos' famous declaration, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet” (1 Samuel 7:14 NAS) is probably a declaration of independence from the prophetic guilds of his day. Similarly, Jeremiah's claim that God made him a prophet even before conception ( Jeremiah 1:5 ) may obliquely represent a rejection of association with the prophetic schools of Judah. See Prophet.

Fred L. Horton, Jr.