Who are “the sons of the prophets”? They are groups of faithful men, at times inspired, that are associated with famous prophets (1 Kings 20; 2 Kings 2, 4, 5, 6, 9). One synonym for “prophet” is “man of God” which occurs over 70 times in the Bible (for examples, Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6; 1 Kings 13:5; 2 Chronicles 8:14). Terms such as “man” and “sons” reflect the general rule that these prophets are males.
After Samuel, the Old Testament names these men as true prophets: David, Nathan, Gad, Asaph, Jeduthun, Ahijah, Shemaiah, Iddo, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Hanani, Jonah, Oded, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
In this period, Huldah is one true prophetess that is named. (The wife of Isaiah is also a prophetess, but Isaiah 8:3 does not offer her name.) King Josiah’s officials go to Huldah at her residence in Jerusalem’s Second Quarter to learn God’s plan for the nation (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22). God obviously selects those through whom He speaks. In that situation, He selects Huldah. What does that tell us? That the ability is there and that God could have selected women as spokespersons all along. In the age of the kings, the fact that there are some 30 male prophets (not counting “sons of the prophets”) and just two known female prophets is also not a mistake. That too is God’s selection and God’s confirmation of His general rule.