List of names for the Biblical nameless

Hebrew Bible

Cain's wife

Name: Awan

Source: the apocryphal Book of Jubilees

Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 4:17

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.

Noah's wife

See note at Cain's wife, above.

Potiphar's wife

Name: Zuleika

Source: Jewish folklore

Appears in the Bible at: Genesis 39:12

Potiphar's wife tempted Joseph in Egypt.

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: Jewish folklore

Appears in the Bible at: Book of Job

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.

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.

The Witch of Endor

Name: Sedecla

Source: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum

Appears in the Bible at: 1 Samuel 28

Architect of the Temple of Solomon

Name: Hiram Abiff

Source: The traditional lore of Freemasonry

Appears in the Bible at: 2 Chronicles 2; 1 Kings 7:13-14

New Testament

The Magi

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; 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 José

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

Source: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus

Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 14

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 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.

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.

Pontius Pilate's wife

Name: Claudia, Procla, or Perpetua

Source: European folklore

Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27:19

Thieves crucified with Christ

Names: Zoatham and Canna

Source: Old Latin Gospel text

Names: Dismas and Gestas

Source: Acts of Pilate

Appears in the Bible at: 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 Spear of Longinus, also known as the Spear of Destiny, is supposedly preserved as a relic, and various magical powers are ascribed to it.

Man who offered Jesus vinegar

Name: Stephaton

Source: Codex Egberti, tenth century

Appears in the Bible at: Matthew 27:48

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

The Gospel text is unclear as to whether there was one guard, or more than one. It seems unlikely that large numbers of Jewish soldiers were enlisted in the Roman army under Pontius Pilate's command.

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.

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