--- title: נָבִיא — spokesman · The Tanakh dictionary description: נָבִיא (5030), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 315 times: spokesman. BDB 1906: n.m. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5030.html) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [נ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1504.md)‎ / נָבִיא‎ # נָבִיא «נָבִיא» in the Tanakh dictionary: **spokesman** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers. **Used:** 315 times · **Key:** 5030 · **BDB:** נָבִיא ### Glosses prophet (131); prophets (94); the.prophets (43) ### Meaning (OSHB) spokesman [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5030/#m1) ### Meaning (BDB 1906) n.m. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5030/#m2) **The whole BDB entry:** n.m. spokesman, speaker, prophet—נ׳ Gn 20:7 + 155 times; sf. נְבִיאֶ֑ךָ Ex 7:1; pl. נְבִיאִים Nu 11:29 + 82 times; נְבִאִים Je 27:18 + 16 times; sf. נְבִיאַי ψ 105:15; נְבִאָיו 1 K 22:22; נְבִיאָו֯ 2 K 17:13, etc.;— genuine prophet of י׳, נביא, anciently called רֹאֶה, 1 S 9:9 (antiquarian note); change prob. occurred in times of Elijah and is first reflected in Ephr. lit. as applied to Abraham Gn 20:7; Moses Dt 34:10, M. and other early proph. Ho 6:5; 12:11(×2), 14(×2) Am 2:11, 12; of proph. in ecstatic state Nu 12:6 (E), 11:24 (JE). So in Judaic lit., of prophet like Moses Dt 18:15, 18 (D), of Aaron (as mouthpiece of M.) Ex 7:1 (P), of Sam. 1 S 3:20, an unknown Ju 6:8; in time of Sam. proph. were organized in bands: †הֶבֶל נביאים 1 S 10:5, 10; †להקת הנ׳ 1 S 19:20; and in time of Elijah were †בְּנֵי הַנְּבִיאִים = members of prophets’ guilds 1 K 20:35 2 K 2:3, 5, 7, 15; 4:1, 38(×2) נָבִיא of genuine proph. (besides phrases), in Judaic prophets, only of Jer., Je 1:5; Ezekiel, Ez 2:5 = 33:33; of ancient prophets Je 28:8, 9(×3) Zc 1:6; 8:9; especially †הנביאים הראשׁנים Zc 1:4; 7:7, 12, cf. †עבדי(ו) הנביאים my (his) servants the prophets 2 K 9:7; 17:13, 23; 21:10; 24:2 (all RD) Ezr 9:11 Dn 9:10 Je 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15; 44:4 Am 3:7 Zc 1:6, cf. Ez 38:17 Dn 9:6; †עבדוֹ הַנּ׳ his servant the prophet 1 K 14:18 2 K 14:25; הַנָּבִיא with n.pr.: Jer, 2 Ch 36:12 Dn 9:2 + 31 times Je (but 𝔊 only 4 times, the rest prob. redactional, see GieJer. xxvii); Elijah 1 K 18:36 (om 𝔊), 2 Ch 21:12 Mal 3:23; Nathan 2 S 7:2 + 10 times S. and K.; 4 times Chr ψ 51:2 (title); Isaiah, 2 K 19:2; 20:1, 14 = Is 37:2; 38:1; 39:1; 2 K 20:11; 2 Ch 26:22; 32:20, 32; Habakkuk Hb 1:1; 3:1 (titles); Haggai, Hg 1:1, 3, 12; 2:1, 10; Zech., Zc 1:1, 7 (titles); elsewhere several others in S., K. and Chr. 15 times; נביא is used elsewhere of genuine proph. only 1 S 9:9 + 34 times S. and K.; 1 Ch 16:22 = ψ 105:15, + 13 times Chr.; ψ 74:9 complains of absence of נ׳; לַחְתֹּם חָזוֹן וְנָבִיא Dn 9:24 v. חתם. false prophets: †prophets as official class, beside priests, charact. as false prophets: Is 28:7 Je 2:26; 4:9; 6:13; 8:1, 10; 13:13; 14:18; 18:18; 23:11, 33, 34; 26:7, 8, 11, 16; 32:32 Zc 7:3, app. also 2 K 23:2 Ne 9:32 La 2:20 Je 29:1 Ez 7:26 (in these not characterized); always false (except of ancient and special prophets given above) in Am 7:14 Ho 4:5; 9:7, 8 Mi 3:5, 6, 11 Is 3:2; 9:14; 29:10 Je 2:8, 30; 5:13, 31; 14:13, 14, 15(×2); 23:9 + 16 times; 27:9, 14, 15, 16, 18; 29:8, 15; 37:19 Ez 13:2(×2), 3, 4, 9, 16; 14:4, 7, 9(×2), 10; 22:25, 28 Zp 3:4 La 2:9, 14; 4:13; especially discredited Dt 13:2, 4, 6; 18:20(×2), 22(×2) Zc 13:2, 4, 5; such a prophet Hananiah called הַנָּבִיא Je 28:1, 5, 10, 12, 15, 17 (𝔊 omits in all but v 1, where Ψευδοπροφήτης). Usage of prophets themselves gives such a bad flavour to נביא, that we are not surprised that it is absent from exilic Isaiah, the Wisd. lit., and ψψ (except for special reasons in 3 ψψ given under 1). heathen prophets 1 K 18:20; 19:1; 2 K 3:13(×2); נביאי האשׁרה 1 K 18:19; נביאי הבעל 1 K 18:19, 22, 25, 40 2 K 10:19; 1 K 22:6, 10, 12, 13, 22, 23 = 2 Ch 18:5, 9, 11, 12, 21, 22. Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 180 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates) ### Trees and pragmatics [Every English meaning of «נָבִיא» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5030/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames. ### In the verses [Habakkuk 1:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HAB.1.1/) הַמַּשָׂא֙אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָזָ֔ה חֲבַקּ֖וּק הַנָּבִֽיא׃ *Word for word:* the oracle which he.saw Habakkuk the prophet *JPS 1917:* THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see. [Habakkuk 3:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HAB.3.1/) תְּפִלָּ֖ה לַחֲבַקּ֣וּק הַנָּבִ֑יא עַ֖ל שִׁגְיֹנֽוֹת׃ *Word for word:* a.prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on shiggionoth *JPS 1917:* A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. - ← previous: [נְבָט](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5028.md) - next →: [נְבִיאָה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5031.md) - ↑ back to [נ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1504.md)