prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' 2 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
28. He was from
Samaria
Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...
, and met the army of the northern kingdom of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, who were returning with captives from Judah. In a speech from verse 9 to verse 11, he urged them to return the slaves. He was joined in this plea by some of the northern kingdom's leaders (verses 12-13), and it was successful. The slaves were escorted back to Jericho (verse 15) after being clothed, fed,
anointed
Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body.
By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or oth ...
and some of them put on donkeys.
The leaders, certain chiefs of the Ephraimites, were Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, who said, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring on us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” This episode has been compared to the story of the Good Samaritan.
William Schniedewind notes that Oded is the only prophet in the Book of Chronicles who does not address a king. Schniedewind argues that this is because "in
the Chronicler
The Chronicler is the author, or group of authors, to whom biblical scholars have attributed the composition of the Books of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, and the Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;
A different Oded is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 15, as being the father of the prophet Azariah.