DEUTERONOMY 34:10 claims that no other prophet ever matched Moses, whom God had “singled out, face to face.” Albeit unique, Moses is only one of the many prophets who, as God’s spokespersons, guided Israel. In the Bible, Miriam is the very first person to receive the title “prophet” (Exodus 15:20; Genesis 20:7 refers to Abraham’s prophetic gifts, but he is not called “Abraham the prophet”). Along with several passages that mention unnamed female prophets (Isaiah 8:3; Ezekiel 13:17; Joel 3:1), the Bible names three other women prophets: Deborah, Huldah, and Noadiah.
Nothing is known about Noadiah (5th century B. C.E.) apart from Nehemiah’s claim that she opposed him (Nehemiah 6:14); she must have been important enough to disturb Nehemiah, but it is her predecessors Deborah and Huldah who are praised as prominent and influential. Deborah leads the Israelites to victory and is the only chieftain in that period of Israelite history who is also a prophet (Judges 4:4). The poem attributed to Deborah refers to her as a “mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7), a title that probably designates her position as the people’s protector rather than a biological maternity.
Huldah is perhaps Israel’s most successful prophet. Whereas the messages of other prophets in the Bible often fall on deaf ears during their lifetime, Huldah’s authority goes unquestioned and her words are heeded instantly. According to II Kings 22 and II Chronicles 34, a royal delegation in 622 B. C.E. consults Huldah about the “book of the torah” that was found at the Temple. When she authenticates it as God’s teachings, the king immediately—and unquestioningly—implements the book’s laws. Huldah is identified as a married woman, whose husband is the keeper of the king’s wardrobe, while she herself holds “office” in a public area known as the Mishneh. Although the later Rabbis express unease about the prominence of Huldah, the Bible presents her authority as a matter of fact. According to many modern scholars, the “book of the torah” that Huldah authenticates is Deuteronomy, or at least portions of it. If so, we owe the binding authority that Deuteronomy holds to none other than Huldah, whose own words confirmed and thus made possible the preservation and transmission of these teachings to us.
—Tamara Cohn Eskenazi