1. Revelation 2:20 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is a prophetess?

Revelation 2:20 (ESV)

20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servantsto practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

The term “prophetess” describes a female prophet. The Lord empowered many people over the years of scriptural revelation to speak his words to people; such an empowered person is known as a “prophet”. We may think of Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. Five women in the Bible are described as prophetesses: Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), and Anna (Luke 2:36).