Female Prophets From Nine To None
The Talmud states in Megillah 14a “Our rabbis taught: Forty-eight male prophets and seven prophetesses prophesied for the Israelites, and they didn’t subtract or add to what was written in the Torah…. Then Talmud Megillah 14a Who were these seven prophetesses? Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Ḥuldah, and Esther.
The Hebrew Bible explicitly refers to three of the seven prophets: Miriam, Deborah and Huldah as נְבִיאָה “prophetess” (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; and 2 Kings 22:14). Four of the seven female prophetess Sarah, Hannah, Avigail, and Esther, have midrash proofs.
Talmud Megillah 14a states that Sarah (Genesis 11:29) is also as written (Genesis 21:12): “Everything that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice.” The Talmud understands that if God commands Abraham to listen to what Sarah says—to expel Hagar and Ishmael—then what she says is the word of God, even though the Bible doesn’t say this explicitly.
Also Genesis Rabbah claims that when the verse says Rebecca learned of Esau’s intention to kill Jacob it means she learned this through prophecy: (Genesis Rabba 67:9) “The words of Esau… were reported to Rebecca” (v. 42) Who told her? Rabbi Hagay in the name of Rabbi Isaac says: “The matriarchs were all prophetesses, and Rebecca is one of the matriarchs.”
The book of Nehemiah (6:14) also mentions a Noadiah the prophetess, so Noadiah is a biblical figure mentioned in Nehemiah. A female prophet (prophetess) active in Jerusalem around 445 BCE during the rebuilding of the city walls. Her name means “witness of the Lord” or “Yahweh has met /assembled”. Noadiah aligned herself with some of Nehemiah’s opponents—such as Tobiah and Sanballat—and joined some male prophets who opposed Nehemiah in completing the wall project.
Nehemiah does not confront her directly in the narrative but calls upon God to remember her actions along with other opposing prophets: “My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat… and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.” She is only mentioned this single time in the Old Testament. A separate male Levite named Noadiah is mentioned in Ezra 8:33).
A ninth female prophet is found in the Book of Isaiah 8:3 which mentions an unnamed נביאה. This prophetess in Isaiah 8:3 is often understood to be Isaiah’s wife, although her personal name is not given in the Bible. The title (naviyah in Hebrew) suggests she possessed a prophetic gift alongside her husband.
The Bible doesn’t give much information for “the prophetess” in Isaiah 8:3. Many assert she is his wife, but cite no evidence to support this. The word הַנְּבִיאָ֜ה (the prophetess) occurs 5 times in the bible. So there are at least seven (the Rabbis) or nine if you add the two females Prophets of the Books of Nehemiah and Isaiah. Check them out.
Exodus 15:20
2 Kings 22:14
2 Chronicles 34:22
Nehemiah 6:14
Isaiah 8:3
