Was Yitro a prophet?

Question

Yitro is such an important tzaddik in the Torah, I was wondering if he is a prophet?

Answer 1

@mevaqesh cites נתנאל בירב פיומי as having said.

“Seven prophets prophesied to the nations of the world before the giving of the Torah: Laban, Jethro, Balaam, Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.”

The gemara Bava Basra 15b (ArtScroll 15b1 top of the page) gives a different list which does not include Yisro.

Seven Prophets prophesied for the nations of the world and these are: Bil'am, his father, Iyov (Job), Elifaz the Teimanite, Bildad the Shuchite, and Tzofar the Na'amassite and Elihu the son of Berachel the Buzite (the four friends who came to console Iyov).

Yisro is not listed among the known prophets sent to the Bnai Yisrael. Before Sinai only Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov Moshe and Aharon are listed in List of Jewish Prophets After Sinai it continues with Yehoshua, Pinchas, Elkanah, Eli, Shmuel, etc.

Thus Yisro is not listed as one of them, nor is he explicitly called a prophet in the Torah. he has a parsha named for him because of his advice to Moshe and his behavior.

One should note that just as there were many prophets sent to Bnai Yisrael whose names were not included, there could have been others sent from among the nations whose names are not included and Yisro could have been among them.

Note that Adam, Noach, Shem and Eiver are not in the lists. We see that Rivkah went to "inquire of Hashem" about the problems with her pregnancy. The implication seems to be that she went to ask a prophet. Note that even if one says that she "asked" directly and was granted a prophesy, she is not in the list of 7 female prophets.

While there were many others, their names are not passed down to us.

The Talmud (Megillah 14a) says that there had been twice as many prophets as the number of people who left Egypt (2,600,000), but only those whose messages were for future generations were recorded. This count was 48 male and 7 female Prophets.

Of course, there is much debate about who is included in the list. Rashi (Megillah 3a) suggests that Daniel wasn't a prophet and should be replaced by Shemaia, who told Rehavam not to go to war with Yeravam and the northern kingdom. Rabbein Hananel and the Vilna Gaon start from Moshe and add in the sons of Korach.

Rashi also comments that "two [of the prophets] I don't know," referring to numbers 47 and 48. Another commentator says the missing two prophets are Oded and Hanani Haroeh.