List of names for the Biblical nameless
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.
Wives of the antediluvian patriarchs
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.
A literal reading of
Genesis leads readers to wonder where Cain got his 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.
: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.
Ham's wife
:Name:
Egyptus:Source:
Abraham 1:23
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.
:Name:
Semiramis:Source:
The Two Babylons by
Alexander Hislop (considered an unreliable source)A large body of legend has attached itself to Nimrod, whose brief mention in
Genesis merely makes him "a mighty hunter before the L
ORD". 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.
: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.
Pharaoh's daughter
:Name: Bathya:Source:
Jewish tradition:Appears in the bible at:
Exodus 2
Pharoh's daughter, who drew
Moses out of the water, is known as Bathya in Jewish tradition.
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.
Job's wife
:Names:
Sitis,
Dinah:Source: The apocryphal
Testament of Job [
2]
:Appears in the Bible at:
Book of JobJewish 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.
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.
:Name:
Zephaniah:Source:
Rabbinical
midrashName:
Sedecla:Source:
Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum:Appears in the Bible at: 1
Samuel 28
According to the Rabbinical 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)
:Name:
Makeda:Source: Traditional
Ethiopian lore surrounding Emperor
Menelik I: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.
:Names:
Balthasar, Melchior, and Caspar (or Gaspar):Source:
European folklore
Names:
Hor, Basanater, and Karsudan:Source: The
Book of Adam, an apocryphal
Ethiopian text
Names:
Larvandad, Hormisdas, and Gushnasaph:Source:
Syrian
Christian folklore
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.
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.
Herodias' daughter
:Name:
Salomé (sometimes: Salome):Source: The
Jewish Antiquities of
Josephus:Appears in the Bible at:
Matthew 14,
Mark 6
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.
Hæmorrhaging woman
:Name:
Berenice:Source: The apocryphal
Acts of PilateName:
Veronica:Source: Latin translation of the
Acts of PilateAppears in the Bible at:
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.
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.
Damned rich man
:Name:
Nineveh:Source:
Coptic folklore
Name:
Phineas:Source: Pseudo-
Cyprian,
De pascha computusName:
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.
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.
:Name:
Claudia,
Procla,
Procula,
Perpetua or
Claudia Procles:Source: European folklore;
Visions of
Anne Catherine Emmerich (as "Claudia Procles"):Appears in the Bible at:
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:
Dismas and
Gestas (or,
Gesmas):Source:
Acts of PilateAppears in the Bible at: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23
Dismas is revered as a saint under that name by
Roman Catholics.
Soldier who pierced Jesus with a spear
:Name:
Longinus:Source:
Acts of Pilate:Appears in the Bible at:
John 19:34
The
Lance of Longinus, also known as the
Spear of Destiny, is supposedly preserved as a
relic, and various miracles are worked through it.
Man who offered Jesus vinegar
:Name:
Stephaton:Source:
Codex Egberti,
tenth century:Appears in the Bible at:
Guard(s) at Jesus' tomb
:Name:
Petronius:Source: Apocryphal
Gospel of PeterNames:
Issachar, Gad, Matthias, Barnabas, Simon:Source:
The Book of the BeeAppears in the Bible at:
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.
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.
*
Lost books of the Old Testament*
Lost books of the New Testament* "Names for the Nameless", in
The Oxford Companion to the Bible,
Bruce M. Metzger and
Michael D. Coogan, editors. ISBN 0195046455
