Seer

A seer (Hebrew ro'eh or chozeh) was an early term for a prophetic figure who received divine revelation through visions. The biblical text itself explains the terminological shift: "Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer" (1 Sam. 9:9). Samuel is the preeminent seer of the early monarchic period (1 Sam. 9:11–19), and Gad is designated David's seer (2 Sam. 24:11). The distinction may reflect a shift from ecstatic individual vision toward the forth-telling of the classical prophetic movement, though both terms continued in use in the later period (2 Chr. 29:25; Isa. 30:10).