Shouters

Shouters may be the literal translation of the Hebrew term Neb'im (See Abraham Joshua Heschel "The Prophets" for a critique of this view). The term appears in the Books of Samuel where it describes a group of individuals who roam around playing music and acting in an ecstatic fashion. In many English translations of the Bible they are simply described as "prophets". Samuel is identified as their leader by one passage in the text, though some textual scholars considers this passage as having originated in a separate source (the "monarchial source") to another in which they are seemingly fairly independent from Samuel (the "republican source"). The hypothesis goes as to say in the "monarchial source", the expression "Is Saul among the Prophets?" is explained as having originated when Saul met the Neb'im, and joined in their activities (the "republican source" gives a different explanation for the phrase). taken' [JewishEncyclopedia] .