Aaron
Biblical patriarch and elder brother of Moses, first high-priest of the Israelites and said to be the founder of the priesthood. He was spokesman for Moses to the Egyptian pharoah in his attempts to lead their people out of Egypt.
Abraham
Revered in the Old Testament as the father of the Hebrew people. According to Genesis he came from Ur in modern Iraq and migrated with his family and flocks to the 'Promised Land' of Canaan where he settled at Shechem (modern Nablus). He was the father of Isaac, Jacob and Lot.
Adam
The first man according to Genesis formed from the dust of the ground into which God breathed the breath of life. He named the animals and birds.
Herod Agrippa (27-100AD)
Ruler of Palestine in Roman times. He spent great sums in adorning Jerusalem and did all in his power to dissuade the Jews from rebelling. When Jerusalem was taken by the Jews he went to Rome, where he became praetor. It was before him that Paul made his defence (Acts 25-26).
Ahasuerus
Biblical king in the books of Ezra and Esther, possibly identical with Xerxes, king of Persia.
Athaliah (d. 837BC)
Daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and wife of Jehoram, king of Judah. She secured the throne of Judah for herself after the death of her son by slaughtering all the royal children except her grandson Joash.
David
(Hebrew 'beloved) The first king of the Judean dynasty of Bethlehem. After he distinguished himself by slaying the Philistine Goliath, Saul annointed him to a military command and gave him his daughter Michal as a wife, but he subsequently had to flee from the king's jealousy. After the death of Saul and Jonathan he ruled for several years over the tribe of Judah, before all Israel chose him as king on the death of Ishboseth, Saul's son. He established Jerusalem as the religious and political centre of his kingdom.
Dionysius the Areopagite
Greek or Syrian churchman, one of the few Athenians converted by St. Paul (Acts 17 v.34). Tradition makes him the first bishop of Athens and a martyr. The Greek writings bearing his name were not written by him, but probably an unknown Alexandrian in the early 6th century AD. They include treatises On the Heavenly and Ecclesiastical Hierarchies, On Divine Names and On Mystical Theology.
Enoch
A direct descendent of Adam through his son Seth, who according to Genesis lived 365 years and was father of Methuselah.
Eve
The first woman according to Genesis formed from Adam's rib.
Isaac
The son of Abraham and Sarah, who as a boy was demanded by God as a sacrifice but was reprieved to become the father of Jacob and Esau.
Job
In the Old Testament a man 'perfect and upright' whose faith remained constant despite the loss of health, wealth and children, as described in the book of Job.
Moses
Old Testament Hebrew prophet and lawgiver. As a child in Egypt he was saved from the slaughter of all male Jewish children by being hidden in bulrushes in the Nile, where he was found and raised by the pharoh's daughter. Later he led the people of Israel out of Egypt by way of Sinai, Kadesh and Moab (where he died) towards the Promised Land. On Mount Sinai he was given the Ten Commandments by Jehovah.
Nebuchadnezzar (d. 562BC)
Succeeded his father as king of Babylon in 605BC. During his long reign he restored the glory of Babylon. In 597 he captured Jerusalem and in 586 destroyed the city, removing most of the inhabitants to Chaldea.
Noah
Great-grandson of Enoch and father of Shem, Ham and Japheth, who according to Genesis was warned by God to build an ark and preserve his family and the animals and birds of the earth when the great flood wiped out the rest of mankind. In medieval Europe all men were believed to have descended from the sons of Noah.
Samuel
Old Testament ruler and first of the Hebrew prophets. Next to Moses he was the greatest figure in the early history of Israel. The story in 1 Samuel 7-16 combines two differing accounts of his career.
Saul
Old Testament ruler, the first king elected by the Israelites. David was his son-in-law and ultimately his successor.
Solomon (c1015-977BC)
King of Israel, the second son of David and Bathsheba. In his reign the kingdom attained its widest limit, but taxation required by the luxury of the court bred discontent that was to disrupt the next reign. His alliance with heathen courts and his idolatrous queens and concubines also upset the prophetic party. There is no reason to suppose that the historical Solomon had anything to do with any of the works to which his name has been attached: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and, in the Apocrypha, the Wisdom of Solomon.