Bible Characters

A guide on the who’s who of people in the Bible.

God / The Father

Christians believe that God created the whole world, including us, and that he saved us from hell by sending his son Jesus to die in our place. He lives in heaven, and invites us to one day join him there for eternity. 

Jesus

The son of God. Jesus begins a religious movement that eventually overtakes the Empire. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Messiah, (which means the "anointed one,”) the promised deliverer of Israel, whose death on the cross brings deliverance from sin, and whose eventual return to earth will bring deliverance from oppression by ushering in God's kingdom. Jesus's message of caring for the downtrodden, extending kindness to strangers, and loving one's enemies is still unrivalled for its profound insight and penetrating simplicity.

The Holy Spirit

Sent by God after Jesus left Earth. Lives in the hearts of Christians- kind of like a conscience, but part of God.  

The Old Testament:

These are the books of the Bible written before Jesus’s birth. They tell the history of God’s people all the way back to the beginning of time.

The New Testament

The New Testament are the books of the Bible that are written during and after Jesus’s life. They tell the stories of Jesus’ ministry, and the earliest days of the Christian church.

Israelites

God’s people- the word ‘Israel’ means ‘you have struggled with God and prevailed (succeeded)’. In the Old Testament, the Israelites are Jewish, but following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, God’s people become Christians.

Pharisee

The Pharisees were experts in Old Testament laws and rules. They believed that they could earn their way into heaven by their good behaviour, but often cruelly punished, judged and mocked the people that they saw as being ‘beneath them’- including Jesus.

Prophet

A person who can speak to and hear directly from God. God used these people to instruct and guide the Israelites.

Adam and Eve

The first two people in the world.

God forms Adam from the ground and breathes life into him.

God then performs the first surgery, creating Eve from Adam's side (a rib.. literally)

Noah

Noah is most famous for building an ark — a giant three-decked wooden box in which he, his family, and a whole bunch of animals ride out a massive flood that God sends to destroy humankind for its disobedience. God chooses Noah and his family to survive the deluge because Noah is "the most righteous in his generation."

Abraham

Abraham, a man who, though not perfect, obeys God's command to leave his homeland in Mesopotamia and venture to an unknown Promised Land. God makes a promise, or ‘covenant’ with Abraham that his descendants will ‘outnumber the stars in the sky’. Abraham’s descendants are God’s people.

The tales of Abraham and his wife, Sarah, are a roller coaster of dramatic events that repeatedly jeopardize God's promise. Ironically, the biggest threat to God's promise is when God Himself commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham sets out to do just as God orders, but right before Abraham delivers the fatal blow to his own child, God stops the sacrifice. As a reward for Abraham's faith, God fulfills His promise to make Abraham's descendants a great nation, as Isaac's son, Jacob, eventually has 12 sons, whose descendants become the nation of Israel. Today, three of the world's major religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — trace their roots to Abraham.

Moses

The Hebrew Bible describes Moses as the greatest prophet who ever lived, and for good reason. Moses is born during hard times for ancient Israel. Israelites are enslaved in Egypt. God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him that he must return to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from their slavery. With God's help, Moses succeeds in his mission, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where God first appeared to Moses. At Mount Sinai, God gives Moses the Law, including the Ten Commandments. Moses eventually leads the Israelites to the edge of their Promised Land (ancient Canaan; later Israel), where he dies at the ripe old age of 120.

David

David is Israel's second and greatest king (other than God). As a boy, David courageously defeats a mighty enemy warrior named Goliath with only a sling and a stone. As a man, David conquers all Israel's enemies and begins a dynasty that would rule Jerusalem for nearly 500 years.

Beyond David's royal exploits (and indiscretions), he's credited with writing many of ancient Israel's worship songs, which you can read in the Book of Psalms.

Elijah

Elijah is one of Israel's greatest prophets, as well as God's heavyweight champ in an epic bout against a deity named Baal (the Canaanite storm god). In order to prove to the Israelites that God is the only true God, Elijah gathers the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, where for the main event each deity is given a pile of wood with a bull on it. The god who can produce fire and consume the sacrifice wins. Baal goes first, and for half the day his prophets dance, shout, sing, and even cut themselves in order to convince their god to answer Elijah's challenge. When their efforts fail, Elijah prays to God, who immediately sends fire down from the sky and consumes the sacrifice.

Mary

Jesus’s mother. A real queen amongst the faith.

Peter

Peter is a fisherman until Jesus calls him to be a disciple or "a fisher of men." Peter soon becomes the "rock" on which Jesus would build his church, even giving him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Paul

Paul's efforts to convert people to Christianity are all the more remarkable since, when we first meet Paul, he is vigorously attempting to stamp out this movement because he believes that its message contradicts the teachings of the Hebrew Bible. Then, one day, while Paul is traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians, Jesus appears to him in a blinding flash of light and tells Paul his efforts against Christianity are what contradict the teachings of the Hebrew Bible, because Jesus is God's promised Messiah. Paul spends the rest of his life spreading the "good news" about Jesus's life and teachings throughout the Roman world, suffering intensely for a movement he was once bent on destroying.

Deborah

A prophetess and heroine in the Old Testament (Judg. 4 and 5), who inspired the Israelites to a mighty victory over their Canaanite oppressors.

The Samaritans

When Babylon captured most of Israel in 722 BC, the people left behind became known as the Samaritans. The Samaritan people used to be Jewish, but changed some of the core beliefs of the Jewish faith, causing a lot of dislike between the two groups.

The 12 Disciples

A Disciple is someone who follows Jesus. If you follow Jesus, that makes you one of his disciples.

Jesus had 12 Disciples that he was the closes to. The names of these twelve disciples are Simon Peter, Andrew, James (the son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

The 12 disciples/apostles of Jesus were the foundation stones of His church, several even wrote portions of the Bible.