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How many prophets are recognized by Judaism, and what were their names?

I found a website that claims the number of prophets is 124000. Is this true?

Are all of their speeches or writings documented? Where can I find them?

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how about these names? these are prophets or his helpers? ... these names in google search ... all of them is prophet? Idris (Enoch[a]) , Noah , Hud (Eber[a]) , Saleh , Avraham (Ibrahim) , Lot , Shmuel , Ishmael , Ishaq , Jacob , Joseph , Job Shuayb (Jethro[a]) , Musa , Aaron , Dawud , Solomon , Elijah , Elisha , Jonah , Dhul-Kifl (Ezekiel[a]) , Zechariah , John the Baptist , – saber tabatabaee yazdi Dec 22 '12 at 4:56
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet – jozi Dec 22 '12 at 5:08
Who_are_the_prophets_in_Judaism wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_are_the_prophets_in_Judaism – saber tabatabaee yazdi Dec 22 '12 at 6:35
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1 Answer

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The Talmud (Megillah 14a) writes:

הרבה נביאים עמדו להם לישראל, כפלים כיוצאי מצרים, אלא, נבואה שהוצרכה לדורות - נכתבה, ושלא הוצרכה - לא נכתבה.‏
Many prophets arose for the Jews: more than twice the number of Jews in the Exodus [1200000, but this language is likely meant to be understood as a really, really big number]. However, those prophesies which were needed for future generations were recorded while those that were not needed for future generations were not recorded.

So there were a whole lot of prophets in history. The 48 men and 7 women who are recorded as prophets are (as listed in Rashi to that piece of Talmud):

  1. Abraham
  2. Sarah
  3. Isaac
  4. Jacob
  5. Miriam
  6. Aaron
  7. Moses
  8. Joshua
  9. Devora
  10. Pinchas
  11. Eli
  12. Elkana
  13. Hannah
  14. Samuel
  15. David
  16. Abigail
  17. Gad
  18. Nathan
  19. Solomon
  20. Ido
  21. Michayahu
  22. Ovadiah
  23. Achiyah
  24. Yehu
  25. Azaryah
  26. Chaziel
  27. Eliezer
  28. Hoshea
  29. Amos
  30. Micah
  31. Amotz
  32. Elijah
  33. Elisha
  34. Jonah
  35. Isaiah
  36. Chuldah
  37. Joel
  38. Nachum
  39. Habakkuk
  40. Tzefaniah
  41. Uriah
  42. Jeremiah
  43. Ezekiel
  44. Daniel (some count Shemaya instead)
  45. Baruch
  46. Neriah
  47. Seriah
  48. Mechasiah
  49. Haggai
  50. Zechariah
  51. Malachi
  52. Esther
  53. Mordechai Bilshan
  54. Unknown
  55. Unknown
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Regarding the last two which were left as unknown, a note in Artscroll Megillah 14a2 (note 23) reads, "Rashi concludes by confessing ignorance of the identity of the remaining two prophets. Turei Even suggests Elazar ben Aharon the Kohen and Elihu ben Berachel the Buzite. The Vilna Gaon, however, maintains that the missing two are Oded the Prophet and Chanani the Seer. See also Rabbeinu Chananel." Hope this helps – AEML Dec 23 '12 at 0:34
@AaronLevian Thanks. Oded and Chanani certainly make sense as they are called a Navi in the pesukim in Divrei Hayamim (2:15:8 and 2:28:9 as well as 2:16:7 respectively). – Double AA♦ Dec 23 '12 at 0:47
1200000 OR 120000 (1m OR 120K) – saber tabatabaee yazdi Dec 23 '12 at 3:59
@sabertabatabaeeyazdi The number of Jews counted in the census immediately following the Exodus (recorded in Numbers 2:32) is 603550, so twice that is 1207100. – Double AA♦ Dec 23 '12 at 4:02
+1. But note there's some dispute over some on Rashi's list. – msh210♦ Dec 23 '12 at 5:37

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