, depicting the Jewish prophets. According to the
Talmud, there were 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses who prophesied to Israel. it does not mean that there were only 55 prophets. The Talmud challenges this with other examples, and concludes by citing a
Baraita tradition that the number of prophets in the era of prophecy was double the number of Israelites who left Egypt (600,000 males). The 55 prophets are recorded, because they made prophecies that have eternal relevance for future generations and not just for their own generation, or own ecstatic encounter with God. Hebrew scripture makes references to groups of such ecstatic prophets, for example in
1 Samuel: On one occasion during
the Exodus journey, "the spirit which was upon Moses" was passed to seventy elders, who were also able to prophecy for one time only, but mostly they could not prophecy again. When
Eldad and Medad continued to prophecy, Moses expressed the hope that "all the 's people" could be prophets.
Prophets to other nations The Talmud lists 7 prophets to the nations of the world (
Gentiles,
goyim): •
Balaam •
Beor •
Job •
Eliphaz •
Bildad •
Zophar •
Elihu ==See also==