The word prophet as found in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew nabi, the verbal root of which means to “bubble” or “spring forth.” Used in the form of a noun, it means one in whom the message of God springs forth or one to whom anything is secretly communicated. Nabi is generally defined as a “speaker” or “spokesman” for God, and carries the idea of “one who is called.”
A prophet, then, is one commissioned by God to make known his will. The spirit of prophecy is the spirit by which the knowledge of God must be communicated and is not confined to the foretelling of future events (see Moses 6:13, 23; Moses 8:16). Similarly, among the Book of Mormon peoples a prophet was understood to be a man “chosen of God” (Helaman 9:16) to speak his words (Alma 5:11), and to whom God had given great power and authority (Helaman 11:8) to act in his name (Alma 19:4).