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these masters. They were called sons of the prophets (1 Kings 20:35). Used in this sense,
the word
means a companion and/or follower of a prophet.
The word is also used of “heathen prophets”: “Now therefore send, and gather to me
all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the
prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:19).
This word has a feminine form, “prophetess” (
), which appears 6 times. In
Exod. 15:20 Miriam is called a “prophetess.” Isaiah’s wife, too, is called a “prophetess”
(Isa. 8:3). This usage may be related to the meaning “a companion and/or follower of a
prophet.”
TO PROSPER
(
, 6743), “to succeed, prosper.” This word is found in both ancient and
modern Hebrew. Occurring some 65 times in the text of the Hebrew Old Testament, the
word is first found in Gen. 24:21: “… whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous
[literally, “to prosper”] or not.” This word generally expresses the idea of a successful
venture, as contrasted with failure. The source of such success is God: “… as long as he
sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” (2 Chron. 26:5). In spite of that, the
circumstances of life often raise the question, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper?” (Jer. 12:1).
is sometimes used in such a way as to indicate “victory”: “In your majesty
ride forth victoriously” (Ps. 45:4,
RSV
; the
KJV
rendering, “ride prosperously,” is not
nearly so appropriate).
TO PROVOKE (ANGER)
(
, 3707), “to provoke, vex, make angry.” This word is common throughout
the history of Hebrew and is used in modern Hebrew in the sense of “to be angry, to
rage.” It occurs some 55 times in the Hebrew Old Testament.
A word that is characteristic of the Book of Deuteronomy, it seems fitting that
is found for the first time in the Old Testament in that book: “… To provoke him to
anger” (Deut. 4:25). The word is characteristic also of the books of Jeremiah and Kings.
A review of the uses of this verb shows that around 80 percent of them involve Yahweh’s
“being provoked to anger” by Israel’s sin, especially its worship of other gods. One such
example is in 2 Kings 23:19: “And all the houses also of the high places that were in the
cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah
took away.…”
TO PURSUE
(
$
, 7291), “to pursue, follow after, pass away, persecute.” This verb also
appears in Coptic, Syriac, Mandaean, Arabic, and postbiblical Aramaic. It appears in the
Bible about 135 times and in all periods.
The basic meaning of this verb is “to pursue after” an enemy with the intent of
overtaking and defeating him. In most of its occurrences
is a military term. It first
occurs in Gen. 14:14, where it is reported that Abram mustered his
(
8
, 318),
men) and “pursued them [men who took his brother] unto Dan.” A nuance of this verb is
“to pursue” a defeated enemy with the intent of killing him: “And he divided himself