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Isaac
[People]Isaac is a patriarch in the Book of Genesis, the son of promise born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. He is best known for nearly being offered as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, and he was the father of Jacob and Esau.
Deborah
[People]Deborah was a prophetess and judge in the Old Testament Book of Judges, known for defeating the army of Jabin, king of Canaan, together with Barak, and for the Song of Deborah, which commemorates the victory.
Samson
[People]Samson was a judge of Israel in the Old Testament book of Judges. Born a Nazarite, he fought against the Philistines. Renowned for his great strength, he was captured after revealing the secret of his strength to Delilah, and he died when he brought down the temple of Dagon.
Rahab
[People]Rahab is a woman of Jericho in the Old Testament book of Joshua (chapters 2 and 6) who hid the Israelite spies and was saved together with her family. The New Testament names her in the genealogy of Jesus and presents her as an example of both faith and works.
Gideon
[People]Gideon is a judge of Israel whose story is told in Judges 6–8. Also called Jerubbaal, he is best known for defeating Midian with three hundred men.
Caleb
[People]Caleb is a man of the tribe of Judah who appears in the Old Testament books of Numbers and Joshua. One of the twelve spies, he joined Joshua in urging Israel to take Canaan, and the two of them were the only members of the Exodus generation to enter the Promised Land.
Ruth
[People]Ruth is a Moabite woman and the central figure of the Old Testament Book of Ruth. She followed her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, married Boaz, and became the great-grandmother of King David.
Naomi
[People]Naomi is a woman from Bethlehem who appears in the Old Testament Book of Ruth. After losing her husband and two sons in Moab, she returned to her homeland with her daughter-in-law Ruth, and through her grandson Obed her story is linked to the house of David.
Hannah
[People]Hannah is a woman in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, the wife of Elkanah and the mother of the prophet Samuel. She is known for the prayer and vow she made at the sanctuary in Shiloh while she was childless, and for the "Song of Hannah."
Boaz
[People]Boaz is a man of Bethlehem who appears in the Book of Ruth. He married Ruth, a Moabite woman, and fathered Obed. He was the great-grandfather of David and is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.
Bathsheba
[People]Bathsheba is a woman in the Old Testament books of 2 Samuel and 1 Kings. Originally the wife of Uriah the Hittite, she later became the wife of David and was the mother of Solomon.
Ahab and Jezebel
[People]Ahab was a king of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the ninth century BC, and Jezebel, a native of Sidon, was his queen. The books of Kings record them as the rulers who introduced Baal worship and opposed the prophet Elijah.
Nathan (Prophet)
[People]Nathan was a prophet of Israel during the reigns of King David and King Solomon. He delivered the promise that David's dynasty would endure forever, used a parable to confront David with his sin after the Bathsheba affair, and played a part in Solomon's accession to the throne.
Josiah
[People]Josiah was a king of Judah in the Old Testament. Scripture records that, prompted by the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple, he led a religious reform that removed idols and restored the Passover.
Hezekiah
[People]Hezekiah was a king of the southern kingdom of Judah who reigned from the late eighth to the early seventh century BC. Scripture presents him as a king who removed idols and restored temple worship. He is widely known for the accounts of the Assyrian invasion and of his prayer during his illness.
Elisha
[People]Elisha was a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel who appears in the Old Testament books of Kings. He succeeded Elijah and is recorded as having performed many miracles.
Zerubbabel
[People]Zerubbabel was a descendant of the royal house of David who led the people of Judah home from the Babylonian exile. He served as governor of Judah during the Persian period and, together with the high priest Jeshua, led the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
Ezra (Scribe)
[People]Ezra was a priest and scribe of Judah in the Persian period who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and taught the law of Moses. He appears in Ezra 7–10, Nehemiah 8, and elsewhere.
Zechariah and Elizabeth
[People]Zechariah and Elizabeth were a priestly couple in Luke 1 who remained childless into old age. As the angel Gabriel had foretold, they became the parents of John the Baptist.
Daniel (Prophet)
[People]Daniel was a man of Judah who, according to the Bible, served in the royal court during the Babylonian exile. He is the central figure of the Book of Daniel and is widely known for interpreting dreams and for his deliverance from the lions' den.