List of names for the Biblical nameless
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This list of names for the Biblical nameless compiles names given in Jewish or Christian mythology for characters who are unnamed in the Bible itself.
[edit] Hebrew Bible
[edit] Wives of the antediluvian patriarchs
| Patriarch | Wife |
|---|---|
| Cain | Âwân |
| Seth | Azûrâ |
| Enos | Nôâm |
| Kenan | Mûalêlêth |
| Mahalalel | Dinah |
| Jared | Baraka |
| Enoch | Edna |
| Methuselah | Edna |
| Lamech | Betenos |
| Noah | Emzârâ |
- Source: the apocryphal book of Jubilees
- Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 4-5
The book of Jubilees provides names for a host of unnamed Biblical characters, including wives for most of the antediluvian patriarchs. The last in the series 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.
[edit] Cain and Abel's sisters
- Name: Calmana
- source: Golden Legend [1] which also tells stories about many of the saints
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
- Name: Delbora
- source: Golden Legend [2] which also tells stories about many of the saints
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
[edit] Noah's wife
- Name: Naamah
- Source: Middrash Genesis Rabah 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.
[edit] Ham's wife
Latter Day Saint canon only. The traditional name of Ham's wife, though this name is considered a placeholder rather than her actual name. Egyptus is a righteous descendant of Cain, and survives the Deluge aboard Noah's Ark with her husband and children. She has a daughter, also called Egyptus, who has a son called Pharaoh. Either the younger Egyptus or her son Pharaoh correspond to Biblical Mizraim.
[edit] Nimrod's wife
- Name: Semiramis
- Source: The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
A large body of legend has attached itself to Nimrod, whose brief mention in Genesis merely makes him "a mighty hunter before the LORD". 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 Semiramis to be the original authors of every false and pagan religion.
[edit] Mother of Abraham
- Name: Amthlai daughter of Khrubu
- Source:Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Bathra Chapter 5[3]
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
[edit] Lot's daughter
- Name: Paltith
- Source:Book of Jasher 19:24
[4] - Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
[edit] Lot's wife
- Name: Ado
- Source:Book of Jasher 19:24
[5] - Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
[edit] Laban's wife
- Name: Adinah
- Source:Book of Jasher 28:28
[6] - Appears in the Bible at: Book of Genesis
[edit] Potiphar's wife
- Name: Zuleika
- Source: The Sefer Hayyashar, a book of Jewish lore published in Venice in 1625. [1]
- Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 39:12
Potiphar's wife tempted Joseph in Egypt.
[edit] Pharaoh's daughter
Pharoh's daughter, who drew Moses out of the water, is known as Bathya in Jewish tradition.
[edit] Simeon's wife
- Name:Bunah
- Source:
[edit] Pharaoh's magicians
- Names: Jannes and Jambres
- Source: 2 Timothy 3:8
- 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.
[edit] Job's wife
- Names: Sitis, Dinah
- Source: The apocryphal Testament of Job [2]
- 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.
[edit] Samson's mother
- Name: Z'llpunith
- Source:Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Bathra Chapter 5[7]
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Judges
[edit] Samson's sister
- Name: N'shiin
- Source:Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Bathra Chapter 5[8]
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Judges
[edit] Jephthah's daughter
- Name: Seila
- Source: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum
- 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.
[edit] The Witch of Endor
- Name: Zephaniah
- Source: A Rabbinical midrash[9]
- Name: Sedecla
- Source: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum
- Appears in the Bible at: 1 Samuel 28
According to a midrash on 1 Samuel 28, Zephaniah was the mother of Abner, Saul's cousin, and a military commander in Saul's army. (See 1 Samuel 14)
[edit] David's mother
- Name: Nzb'th daughter of Edal
- Source:Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Bathra Chapter 5[10]
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Samuel
[edit] The Queen of Sheba
- Name: Bilqis
- Source: Islamic traditions
- Appears in the Bible at: 1 Kings 10; 2 Books of Chronicles 9
According to Ethiopian traditions, the Queen of Sheba returned to Ethiopia carrying 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.
[edit] Haman's mother
- Name:Amthlai daughter of Urbthi
- Source:Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Bathra Chapter 5[11]
- Appears in the Bible at: Book of Esther
[edit] New Testament
[edit] The Magi
- Names: Balthasar, Melchior, and Caspar (or Gaspar) (and Ataban)
- Source: European folklore
- Names: Hor, Basanater, and Karsudan
- Source: The Book of Adam, an apocryphal Ethiopian text
- Appear in the Bible at: Matthew 2
The Gospel is not clear that there were in fact three Magi or when exactly did they visit Jesus; only that there were more than one Magus, and three gifts. Nevertheless, the number of Magi is usually extrapolated from the gifts, and as such the Three Wise Men are a staple of Christian Nativity scenes. While the European names have gotten the most publicity, other faith traditions have widely different versions.
[edit] The Nativity shepherds
- Names: Asher, Zebulun, Justus, Nicodemus, Joseph, Barshabba, and Jose
- Source: The Syrian Book of the Bee
- Appear in the Bible at Luke 2
The Book of the Bee was written by Bishop Shelemon in the Aramaic language in the thirteenth century.
[edit] Herodias' daughter
- Name: Salomé (sometimes: Salome)
- Source: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 14, Mark 6
[edit] Syrophoenician woman
- Name: Justa
- Source: Third century pseudo-Clementine homily
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 15, Mark 7
According to the same source, her daughter was Berenice.
[edit] Hæmorrhaging woman
- Name: Berenice
- Source: The apocryphal Acts of Pilate
- Name: Veronica
- Source: Latin translation of the Acts of Pilate
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 9:20–22
Veronica is apparently a Latin variant on Berenice. According to the Acts, Veronica or Berenice obtained some of Jesus' blood on a cloth at the Crucifixion. Folklore identifies her with the woman who was healed of a bleeding discharge in the Gospel.
[edit] Samaritan Woman at the Well
- Name: Photini
- Source: Eastern Orthodox Church Tradition
- Appears in the Bible at: John 4:5-42
In the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the woman at the well became a follower of Christ, was baptized, proclaimed the Gospel over a wide area, and was later martyred. She is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
[edit] Damned rich man
- Name: Nineveh
- Source: Coptic folklore
- Name: Phineas
- Source: Pseudo-Cyprian, De pascha computus
- Name: Dives
- Source: European Christian folklore
- Appears in the Bible at: Luke 16
Dives is simply Latin for "rich," and as such may not count as a proper name. The tale 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.
[edit] Woman taken in adultery
- Name: Mary Magdalene
- Source: Christian tradition
- Appears in the Bible at: John 8
A long standing Christian tradition identifies the woman taken in adultery with Mary Magdalene. 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. Both the passages of Mark's gospel in which Mary's exorcism is mentioned, and the passage of the Gospel of John in which the woman taken in adultery appears, have been identified as inauthentic or misplaced by Biblical textual critics.
[edit] Pontius Pilate's wife
- Name: Claudia, Procla, Procula, Perpetua or Claudia Procles
- Source: European folklore; Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich (as "Claudia Procles")
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27:19
[edit] Thieves crucified with Jesus
- Names: Zoatham or Zoathan and Canna or Camma or Chammata
- Source: Old Latin Gospel text
- Names: Joathas and Maggatras
- Source: Old Latin Gospel text
- Names: Titus and Dumachus
- Source: Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23
Dismas is revered as a saint under that name by Roman Catholics.
[edit] Soldier who pierced Jesus with a spear
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. He is also named as Cassius before becoming a Saint.
[edit] Man who offered Jesus vinegar
- Name: Stephaton
- Source: Codex Egberti, tenth century
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27:48
[edit] Guard(s) at Jesus' tomb
- Name: Petronius
- Source: Apocryphal Gospel of Peter
- Names: Issachar, Gad, Matthias, Barnabas, Simon
- Source: The Book of the Bee
- Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27:62–66
There is some confusion as to whether there was one guard, or more than one. It was written that Pilate gave the Pharisees permission to make the tomb as secure as possible. He also told them to "take a guard". Literally we understand it as one guard. However, contextually during the time of Roman rule, a guard refers to a guard or detail of soldiers. It is very similar to how we quantify soldiers nowadays as a platoon or a regiment or brigade.
[edit] Cleopas's companion on the road to Emmaus
- Names: Nathanael, Nicodemus, Simon, or Luke
- Source: European folklore
- Appears in the Bible at: Luke 24:18
Some have surmised that it was indeed the author of the Gospel of Luke who is this nameless Biblical character.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume1.htm#Adam
- ^ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume1.htm#Adam
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0709.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/19.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/19.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/28.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0709.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0709.htm
- ^ http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=366&letter=E&search=witch%20of%20endor#1
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0709.htm
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/jud/t07/t0709.htm
[edit] See also
[edit] For further reference
- "Names for the Nameless", in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, editors. ISBN 0-19-504645-5
