Etymology
In both Arabic and Hebrew, the term nabī (plural forms: nabiyyūn and anbiyāʾ) means "prophet". Forms of this noun occur 75 times in the Quran. The term nubuwwah (meaning "prophethood") occurs five times in the Quran. The terms rasūl (plural: rusul) and mursal (plural: mursalūn) denote “messenger” or "apostle" and occur more than 300 times. The term for a prophetic “message”, risāla (plural: risālāt) appears in the Quran in ten instances.
The Syriac form of rasūl Allāh (literally: "messenger of God"), s̲h̲eliḥeh d-allāhā, occurs frequently in the apocryphal Acts of St. Thomas. The corresponding verb for s̲h̲eliḥeh — s̲h̲alaḥ, occurs in connection with the prophets in the Hebrew Bible.
The words "prophet" (Arabic: نبي nabī) and "messenger" (Arabic: رسول rasūl, ) appear several times in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The following table shows these words in different languages:
| Arabic | Arabic Pronunciation | English | Greek | Greek pronunciation | Strong Number | Hebrew | Hebrew pronunciation | Strong Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| نبي | Nabi | Prophet | προφήτης | prophētēs | G4396 | נביא | nâbîy' | H5030 |
| رسول | Rasul | Messenger, Apostle | ἄγγελος, ἀπόστολος | ä'n-ge-los, ä-po'-sto-los | G32, G652 | שליח,מלאך | mal·äkh', shä·laḥ' | H4397,H7971 |
In the Hebrew Bible the word "prophet" (Hebrew: navi) occurs more commonly, and the word "messenger" (Hebrew: mal'akh) refers to angels (Arabic: ملائكة, Malāīkah), But the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi, speaks of a messenger that Christian commentators interpret as a reference to the future prophet John the Baptist.
In the New Testament, however, the word "messenger" becomes more frequent, sometimes in association with the concept of a prophet.
"Messenger" can refer to Jesus, to his Apostles and to John the Baptist.
It seems that in the New Testament a messenger can have a higher rank than prophets: Jesus Christ said about John the Baptist:
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. —Matthew, Gospel of Matthew
Read more about this topic: Prophets In Islam
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)