Who Were the Seers?

First Samuel 9:9 reads: “The prophet of today used to be called a seer in former times.” These words may indicate that after the prophets became more prominent from the days of Samuel onward, the expression “seer” came to be replaced with the term “prophet.” The seers were divinely inspired “to see” into a matter, that is, to discern the divine will. The seer’s eyes were unveiled to see or to understand things that were hidden from men generally. Therefore, he was consulted for advice in handling problems.