Company of Prophets

Biblical Text

The company of prophets was a group of prophets who gathered and prophesied together in the time of Samuel and Saul.

In 1 Samuel 10:5-13, after anointing Saul, Samuel gives him a sign: at "the hill of God," Saul will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place (a hilltop site of worship), and he will prophesy with them. The company comes down with various musical instruments before them. When this came to pass, the people said, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" and the saying became a proverb (1 Samuel 10:11-12).

In 1 Samuel 19:18-24, David flees to Samuel at Naioth in Ramah. Saul sends messengers three times to seize David, but each group of messengers prophesies in the presence of the company of prophets led by Samuel. When Saul himself comes, he too is seized by the Spirit of God and prophesies, and the same proverb is cited again.

Background and Terminology

The Hebrew word hebel, translated "company" in 1 Samuel 10, originally means "cord" or "rope" and is also used in the sense of "band" or "group." In 19:20 the word lahaqah, which occurs only once in the Bible, is used; its precise meaning is uncertain.

Later, in the time of Elijah and Elisha, men called in Hebrew "the sons of the prophets" lived together at Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and elsewhere (2 Kings 2:3-7; 4:38; 6:1-7). In Hebrew, "son" is also used idiomatically to denote a member of a particular group.

Accounts from the reign of Ahab likewise show prophets active in groups. Obadiah hid a hundred prophets of the LORD in a cave (1 Kings 18:4), and about four hundred prophets were gathered around Ahab (1 Kings 22:6).

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The accounts of the company of prophets are linked to scenes in which the Spirit of God comes not merely upon a single individual but upon many people. Moses expressed the wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them (Numbers 11:29). At Pentecost, Peter explained the coming of the Holy Spirit as the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (Acts 2:16-21).

The New Testament also mentions people who prophesied. The church at Antioch had prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1), and Philip's four daughters prophesied (Acts 21:9). Paul addresses prophecy in the gatherings of the church (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).

The event in 1 Samuel 19, moreover, takes place after the account of Saul's rejection by God (1 Samuel 15). For this reason, some interpreters take it to show that a prophetic experience does not in itself guarantee obedience.

Interpretations and Issues

• A school of the prophets? A long-standing interpretation holds that Samuel founded a school to train prophets and that the groups of Elisha's time carried it on. However, the text never uses the word "school," nor does it explain how the groups of Samuel's time relate to those of Elisha's time. Scholars have proposed various views, regarding these groups as religious communities or as bands of disciples following a master, among other possibilities.
• The nature of the prophesying: Some view the prophesying accompanied by musical instruments as an ecstatic experience, while others see it as inspired song in praise of God. The latter view points to 1 Chronicles 25:1, where the Hebrew verb "to prophesy" is used of musical service in the temple.
• Relation to the gift of prophecy today: Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement tend to read these passages as models for present-day experiences of the Holy Spirit and the gift of prophecy. Cessationists regard them as belonging to a particular period of Old Testament history (see Cessationism and Continuationism).
• Saul lying naked: Some interpret 1 Samuel 19:24 to mean that Saul removed only his outer garments, while others read the passage literally.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, a theological seminary is sometimes called the "prophets' hill" (seonji dongsan), and seminary students are called "students of the prophets" (seonji saengdo). These expressions are said to reflect the traditional interpretation that regarded the company of prophets as a school of the prophets.