Oded ( ''‘Ōḏêḏ'') is a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") 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 section of the Jewish Tan ...

28. He was from

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

, and met the army of the northern kingdom of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, 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 Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

(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 According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim (, ''ʾEp̄rayim,'' in pausa: , ''ʾEp̄rāyim'') was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh, together with Ephraim, formed the Tribe of Joseph. It is one of the Ten Lost T ...

, 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 In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...

. William Schniedewind notes that Oded is the only prophet in the

Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") 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 section of the Jewish Heb ...

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 some 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 (;

's view there was no legitimate northern king to address". A different Oded is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 15, as being the father of the prophet Azariah.

References

{{Authority control Prophets in the Hebrew Bible Books of Chronicles people