דמויות תנכיות

Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob (also known as Israel) are the patriarchs (or forefathers) of the Jewish people. In Genesis 12, God makes a covenant with Abraham and promises him that he will be a great nation through whom the nations will be blessed and that his children will inherit the land of Canaan. Throughout the rabbinic tradition, the concept of the merit of the patriarchs, zekhut avot, is invoked, typically as an appeal to God's covenant with the forefathers for the forgiveness of their descendants, the Jewish people.

Adam and Eve feature in the beginning of the book of Genesis. They were the first people, and the ancestors of all humanity.

Bilhah is a biblical character first introduced in Genesis 29:29 as Laban's maidservant, whom he gives to his daughter Rachel upon Rachel's marriage to Jacob. When Rachel cannot bear children, she gives Bilhah to Jacob so that Bilhah can bear children. Bilhah gives birth to two sons, Dan and Naftali.

Betzalel is a biblical character who features in the book of Exodus. He was the artisan charged with building the mishkan (Tabernacle), its vessels, and the priestly garments, assisted by Oholiav and other workers. The Torah describes how God filled Betzalel with "with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."

Bezalel is a biblical character who features in the Book of Exodus. He was the artisan charged with building the mishkan (tabernacle), its vessels, and the priestly garments, assisted by Oholiav and other workers. The Torah describes how God filled Bezalel with "with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."

The twelve spies feature in the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. They were a group of leaders - one from each tribe - sent by Moses to scout the land of Canaan ahead of the Israelites arrival there. They came back reporting that the land was good, but that it was filled with giants and fearsome enemies. This prompted the Israelites to cry and complain that they did not want to enter the land. Two of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb, attempted to assuage their fears and remind the people of God’s commitment that the Israelites’ would enter the land.

Zilpah is a biblical character first introduced in Genesis 29:24 as Laban's maidservant, whom he gives to his daughter Leah upon Leah's marriage to Jacob. When Leah sees that she has stopped bearing children, she gives Zilpah to Jacob so that Zilpah can bear children. Zilpah gives birth to two sons, Gad and Asher.

Huldah was a prophetess in the Southern Kingdom of Judah in the late seventh century BCE. King Josiah consults her when he finds a scroll of the law in the Temple, which she then authenticated.

This king of Judah, whose name means "the Lord will establish" is known in Tanakh by the name Jeconiah (Yekhoniah). He was one of the last kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and only reigned for three months before he was taken into Babylonian exile in 597 BCE by the Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

Yokheved is a figure in the book of Exodus and the mother of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses. Fearing Pharaoh’s decree to throw all Israelite baby boys into the river, she hides her infant son, Moses. When that is no longer feasible, she places him in a basket on the Nile river, where he would be found by a maidservant to Pharaoh's daughter.

Yefet, known as Japheth in English, is a biblical character first mentioned in Genesis 6:10, where he is listed as the third of Noah’s three sons. Together with his brother Shem, he covers his father’s nakedness when Noah gets drunk after emerging from the ark. For this, Noah blesses him. He is described as having seven sons, among them Yavan, considered to be the father of the Greeks.

Yishai

The High Priest was the head priest of the Israelites, beginning with the biblical Aaron and continuing through the Second Temple period. The High Priest had a special role in the Mishkan and Temple service, and wore unique garments detailed in the book of Exodus.

Laban is a biblical character who features in the Book of Genesis. He is the brother of Rebecca, father of Rachel and Leah, and father-in-law of Jacob. His actions are marked by trickery, as he deceptively marries Leah off to Jacob rather than Rachel, and later mistreats Jacob as an employee.

Micah son of Imlah, also known as Micaiah or Mikhah in Hebrew, prophesied the death of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Mikhal was a daughter of King Saul who also becomes the wife of King David. When her father seeks to kill her husband, she helps David escape. According to rabbinic midrash, she only gave birth to a child on the day of her death, suggesting she died in childbirth.

The Queen of Sheba appears briefly in 1 Kings, where she meets King Solomon. This short, lightly narrated encounter has inspired many imaginative, interpretive elaborations to fill in the biblical account's sparse detail.

Navot (Naboth in English) owned a vineyard adjacent to the property of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom. Ahab covets Navot's property and schemes to take ownership of it, which he ultimately did and for which he is properly chastised by the prophet Elijah.

Na'aman was the commander of the army of Aram.

Nephilim are biblical figures that appear twice in the Torah: first, in Genesis 6:4, in a verse that describes the unions of “bnei elohim” and “daughters of men,” and then in Numbers 13:33, when 12 spies report that they saw nephilim in the land of Canaan. Nephilim also appear once in the book of Ezekiel according to some understandings, and in several instances throughout works of Apocrypha. In the Jewish textual tradition, these creatures are understood to be angels, the offspring of angels, giants, or the offspring of noble people.

Efron was the Hittite property owner, from whom Abraham about the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, which become the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Abraham buried his wife Sarah, and where Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were later buried.

Potiphar is a biblical character who features primarily in Genesis 39. An officer of Pharaoh, Potiphar purchases Joseph as a slave and subsequently appoints him to oversee the household. When Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph and Joseph refuses, she accuses Joseph of trying to sleep with her, and Potiphar imprisons Joseph.

The "Concubine of Givah" was a woman from Bethlehem in Judah who married a Levite husband, whom she sought to leave and return to her father's house. Her husband comes to retrieve her. Tragedy and civil war that nearly destroy the tribe of Benjamin ensues. The story begins in Judges 19.

Tzipporah is a biblical character mentioned in the book of Exodus as the wife of Moses and one of seven daughters of the Midianite priest Yitro. She is mentioned only a few times in the Bible, but the rabbis further explored her character in midrashic literature.