This list provides names given in history and traditions for people who appear to be unnamed in the Bible.
Revelation 12 is thought to identify the serpent with Satan, unlike the pseudepigraphical-apocryphal Apocalypse of Moses (Vita Adae et Evae) where the Devil works with the serpent.[1]
The pseudepigraphical Book of Jubilees provides names for a host of otherwise unnamed biblical characters, including wives for most of the antediluvian patriarchs. The last of these is Noah's wife, to whom it gives the name of Emzara. Other Jewish traditional sources contain many different names for Noah's wife.
The Book of Jubilees says that Awan was Adam and Eve's first daughter. Their second daughter Azura married Seth. For many of the early wives in the series, Jubilees notes that the patriarchs married their sisters.
| Patriarch | Wife | |
|---|---|---|
| Azûrâ | ||
| Nôâm | ||
| Mûalêlêth | ||
| Dinah | ||
| Baraka | ||
| Edna | ||
| Edna | ||
| Lamech (Seth's line) | Betenos | |
The Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq (c. 750), as cited in al-Tabari (c. 915), provides names for these wives which are generally similar to those in Jubilees, but he makes them Cainites rather than Sethites, despite clearly stating elsewhere that none of Noah's ancestors were descended from Cain.
See also: Cain and Abel.
Name: Aclima (or Calmana or Luluwa)
source: Golden Legend,[2] which also tells stories about many of the saints
Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 4:17
Name: Delbora
source: Golden Legend, which also tells stories about many of the saints
Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 4
See also: Balbira and Kalmana, Azura and Awan for alternate traditions of names.
See also: Noah.
Name: Naamah
Source: Midrash Genesis Rabbah 23:4
Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 4:22; Gen. 7:7
Daughter of Lamech and Zillah and sister of Tubal-cain (Gen. iv. 22). According to Abba ben Kahana, Naamah was Noah's wife and was called "Naamah" (pleasant) because her conduct was pleasing to God. But the majority of the rabbis reject this statement, declaring that Naamah was an idolatrous woman who sang "pleasant" songs to idols.
See also Wives aboard the Ark for a list of traditional names given to the wives of Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
See also: Wives aboard Noah's Ark.
Name: Egyptus
Source: Book of Abraham
Appears in the Bible in Genesis 7 and 6
The Mormon Book of Abraham, first published in 1842, mentions Egyptus (Abraham 1:23) as being the name of Ham's wife; his daughter apparently had the same name (v. 25).
A large body of legend has attached itself to Nimrod, whose brief mention in Genesis merely makes him "a mighty hunter in the face of the Lord". (The biblical account makes no mention of a wife at all.) These legends usually make Nimrod to be a sinister figure, and they reach their peak in Hislop's The Two Babylons, which make Nimrod and his wife Semiramis to be the original authors of every false and pagan religion.
Name: Amatlai bat Karnevo
Source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91a [3]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
See also: Lot's daughters.
Name: Paltith
Source: Book of Jasher 19:24[4]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
Name: Ado (or Edith, or Erith)
Source: Book of Jasher 19:52 (Ado); Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer (Edith)[5]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
Name: Adinah
Source: Book of Jasher 28:28[6]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
See also: Potiphar.
Name: Zuleikha
Source: The Sefer Hayyashar, a book of Jewish lore published in Venice in 1625. https://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/960102_Joseph.html Also, the Persian mystical poem "Yusuf and Zulaikha" by Jami, 15th century.
Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 39:12
Potiphar's wife attempted to seduce Joseph in Egypt.
Name: Merris
Source: Eusebius of Caesarea (Preparation for the Gospel 9.15)
Name: Merrhoe
Source: Eustathius of Antioch (Commentary on Hexameron MPG 18.785)
Name: Thermutis
Source: Flavius Josephus
Name: Bithiah or Bitya
Source: Leviticus Rabbah
Name: Sobekneferu or Neferusobek
Source: Unwrapping the Pharaohs
Book: Ashton . John . Down . David . 22 September 2006 . Unwrapping the Pharaohs . Master Books . 87–90 . Chapter 12: Pharaohs of the Oppression . https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/ancient-egypt/pharaohs-of-the-oppression/ . 978-0-890-51468-9 . 3 February 2015.
Appears in the Bible at: Exodus 2
Pharaoh's daughter, who drew Moses out of the water, is known as Bithiah in Jewish tradition (identifying her with the "Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah" in 1 Chronicles 4:18).
Name: Bunah
Source: Book of Jasher 34:36[7] Legends of the Jews Volume 1 Chapter 6[8]
Name: Dinah
Source: Midrash Bereshit Rabba 80:11. After Simeon and Levi slaughtered the men of Shechem, Dinah refused to go with them unless someone married her and raised the child of Prince Chamor she was carrying as his own. Simeon did this.
Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 34
Names: Jannes and Jambres
Source: 2 Timothy 3:8,[9] Book of Jasher chapter 79[10] Antiquities of the Jews Book 2[11] Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ Chapter 109[12] Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII[13] Easton's Bible Dictionary[14] The Book of the Bee Chapter 30[15] Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. XIII[16] Legends of the Jews Volume 2 Chapter 4,[17] Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Papyrus Chester Beatty XVI: Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres
Appears in the Bible at: Exodus 7
The names of Jannes and Jambres, or Jannes and Mambres, were well known through the ancient world as magicians. In this instance, nameless characters from the Hebrew Bible are given names in the New Testament. Their names also appear in numerous Jewish texts.
Name: Tharbis
Source: Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book II, Chapter 10
Name: Adoniah
Source: Book of Jasher, 23.5–25.5
Appears in the Bible at: Numbers 12
Job's wivesSee main article: Job's wife.
Names: Sitis, Dinah
Source: The apocryphal Testament of Job[18]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Job
Apocryphal Jewish folklore says that Sitis, or Sitidos, was Job's first wife, who died during his trials. After his temptation was over, the same sources say that Job remarried Dinah, Jacob's daughter who appears in Genesis.
Name: Raḥma
Source: Islamic tradition[19] The source does not tell which wife of Job has this name.
See also: Jephthah's daughter.
Name: Seila
Source: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum
Name: Adah
Source: Order of the Eastern Star[20]
Appears in the Bible at: Judges 11
The Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum falsely ascribes itself to the Jewish author Philo. It in fact did not surface until the sixteenth century; see Works of Philo.
See also: Manoah's wife.
Name: Tzelelponit
Source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91a
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Judges 13
Name: Nitzevet bat Adael
Source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91a [3]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Samuel
See also: Witch of Endor.
Name: Sedecla
Source: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum
Appears in the Bible at: 1 Samuel 28
Name: Iddo or Jadon
Source:[21]
Named Jadon by Josephus in The Antiquities of the Jews VIII.8.5
Appears in the Bible at: 2 Chronicles 12:15 and 1 Kings 13
See also: Wise woman of Abel.
Name: Serah
Source: Aggadic Midrash[22]
Appears in the Bible at: 2 Samuel 20
See also: Queen of Sheba.
Name: Makeda
Source: Traditional Ethiopian lore surrounding Emperor Menelik I; see the Kebra Nagast
Name: Nicaule
Source: Josephus
Name: Bilqis
Source: Islamic traditions
Appears in the Bible at: 1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9
According to Ethiopian traditions, the Queen of Sheba returned to Ethiopia pregnant with King Solomon's child. She bore Solomon a son that went on to found a dynasty that ruled Ethiopia until the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.
See also: Wife of Jeroboam.
Name: Ano
Source: Septuagint
Appears in the Bible at: 1 Kings 14
Name: Amatlai bat Orevti
Source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91a [3]
Appears in the Bible at: Book of Esther
The Deuterocanonical books, sometimes called the "Apocrypha", are considered canonical by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox (though these churches' lists of books differ slightly from each other).
Name: Habroun, Hebsoun, Bakhous, Adai, Tarsai, Maqbai and Yawnothon.
Source: Syriac tradition
Name: Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus.
Source: Eastern Orthodox TraditionThe woman with seven sons is a Jewish martyr who is unnamed in 2 Maccabees 7, but is named Hannah, Miriam, Shamuna and Solomonia in other sources. According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, her sons, the "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" (not to be confused with the martyrs in the Ethiopian book of Meqabyan), are named Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus. According to the Syriac Maronite Fenqitho (book of festal offices), the name of the mother is Shmooni while her sons are Habroun, Hebsoun, Bakhous, Adai, Tarsai, Maqbai and Yawnothon.[23]
Name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Simiel, Oriphiel, and Raguel.
Source: Pope Gregory I
Name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel
Source: Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Tradition
Name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel.
Source: Pseudo-Dionysius[24]
Name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Suriel, Zadkiel, Sarathiel, and Ananiel.
Source: Coptic Orthodox tradition[25] [26] [27]
Name: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Sarakiel, Remiel and Raguel
Source: Book of the Watchers
Tobit 12:15 reads "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One."[28] Of the six unnamed archangels, Michael is named in the Book of Daniel, and Gabriel is named in the Gospel of Luke.[29]
The Book of Enoch, deuterocanonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, names the remaining four archangels Uriel, Raguel, Zerachiel, and Ramiel.[30] Other sources name them Uriel, Izidkiel, Haniel, and Kepharel.[31] In the Coptic Orthodox Church the names of these four archangels are given as Suriel, Sedakiel, Sarathiel and Ananiel. Several other sets of names have also been given.
See main article: article and Biblical Magi.
Source: Armenisches Kindheitsevangelium[32]
Source: European folklore
Source: The Book of Adam, an apocryphal Ethiopian text
Source: Syriac Christian folklore
Source: White Shrine of Jerusalem - Masonic
Appear in the Bible at Matthew 2. The Gospel does not state that there were, in fact, three magi or when exactly they visited Jesus, only that multiple magi brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Nevertheless, the number of magi is usually extrapolated from the number of gifts, and the three wise men are a staple of Christian nativity scenes. While the European names have enjoyed the most publicity, other faith traditions have different versions. According to the Armenisches Kindheitsevangelium, the three magi were brothers and kings, namely Balthasar, king of India; Melqon, king of Persia; and Gaspar, king of Arabia. The Chinese Christian Church believes that the astronomer Liu Xiang was one of the wise men.
See main article: article and Annunciation to the shepherds.
Source: The Syrian Book of the Bee written by Bishop Shelemon in the Aramaic language in the thirteenth century.
Appear in the Bible at Luke 2.
Source: Gospel of Philip[33]
Source: History of Joseph the Carpenter[34]
Source: Epiphanius of Salamis
Source: Hippolytus of Thebes, Chronicle[35]
That Jesus had sisters is mentioned in 6:3 NRSV and 13:55-56 NRSV, although their exact number is not specified in either gospel. See .
The various versions of Epiphanius differ on whether one of the sisters was named Maria or Anna.
See main article: article and Massacre of the Innocents.
Source: St. Helena[36] [37] [38] [39] Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 2:6–18.
Source: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus,[40] although that reference does not connect her with John the Baptist.Appears in the Bible at Matthew 14, Mark 6.
Source: Acts of Peter and The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
See main article: Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter.
Source: 3rd century pseudo-Clementine homily[41] Appears in the Bible at Matthew 15, Mark 7.According to the same source, her daughter was Berenice.
Source: Early Christian TraditionAppears in the Bible at Mark 9.
Several early Christian writers recorded a legend that the child whom Jesus took in his arms in Mark 9 was St. Ignatius of Antioch.[42]
Source: Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus
Source: Latin translation of the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (Gos. Nicodemus 5:26)Appears in the Bible at Matthew 9:20–22.
Veronica is a Latin variant of Berenice (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Βερενίκη). Veronica or Berenice obtained some of Jesus' blood on a cloth at the Crucifixion (see also: Veil of Veronica). Tradition identifies her with the woman who was healed of a bleeding discharge in the Gospel.
Source: Eastern Orthodox Church TraditionAppears in the Bible at John 4:5–42.
In the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the name of the woman at the well when she met Jesus is unknown, but she became a follower of Christ, received the name Photini in baptism, proclaimed the Gospel over a wide area, and was later martyred. She is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Source: Coptic folklore
Source: Pseudo-Cyprian, De pascha computus
Source: European Christian folkloreAppears in the Bible at Luke 16:19–31.
Dives is simply Latin for "rich", and as such may not count as a proper name. The story of the blessed Lazarus and the damned rich man is widely recognised under the title of Dives and Lazarus, which may have resulted in this word being taken for a proper name.
Source: Western Christian traditionAppears in the Bible at John 8.
A long-standing Western Christian tradition first attested by Pope Gregory I identifies the woman taken in adultery with Mary Magdalene, and also with Mary of Bethany.[43] Jesus had exorcised seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9), and Mary Magdalene appears prominently in the several accounts of Jesus' entombment and resurrection, but there is no indication in the Bible that clearly states that Mary Magdalene was the same person as the adulteress forgiven by Jesus. Roman Catholics also have identified Mary Magdalene as the weeping woman who was a sinner, and who anoints Jesus' feet in Luke 7:36–50, and while the Church has dropped this interpretation to a degree, this remains one of her more famous portrayals.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has never identified Mary Magdalene as either the woman taken in adultery, or the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet.
Source: Christian traditionAppears in the Bible at John 9:1–38.
See main article: article and Pontius Pilate's wife.
Source: European folklore; Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (as "Claudia Procles")[44] Appears in the Bible at Matthew 27:19.
During the trial of Jesus the wife of Pontius Pilate sent a message to him saying, "Have nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him."
The proposed names of Procla and Procula may not be names at all, but simply a form of Pilate's official title of Procurator, indicating that she was the Procurator's wife.
Source: Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour
Source: Acts of Pilate
Source: Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea[45]
Source: Codex Colbertinus[46]
Source: Russian Orthodox tradition[47] Appear in the Bible at: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.
The good thief is revered under the name Saint Dismas in the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Source: Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (Gos. Nicodemus 7:8)Appears in the Bible at John 19:34.
In tradition, he is called Cassius before his conversion to Christianity.[48] The Lance of Longinus, also known as the Spear of Destiny, is supposedly preserved as a relic, and various miracles are said to be worked through it.
Source: Codex Egberti, 10th centuryAppears in the Bible at Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, and John 19:29–30.
Source: Apocryphal Gospel of Peter (Gos. Peter 8)
Source: The Book of the BeeAppears in the Bible at Matthew 27:62–66. Centurion possibly appears also in the Bible at Matthew 27:54.[49]
See main article: article and Ethiopian eunuch.
Source: Adversus haereses (Against the Heresies, an early anti-Gnostic theological work) 3:12:8 (180 AD)
Source: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo tradition[50]
Source: Russian Orthodox Church tradition[51] Appears in the Bible at Acts of the Apostles 8:27.
In Eastern Orthodox tradition he is also identified with Simeon Niger.
Source: Traditional. See Daughters of PhilipAppears in the Bible at Acts of the Apostles 21.8-9.