Major Figures of the Bible

Explanation: Noah builds the ark by divine order. Genesis even specifies its dimensions, about 137 m long, which matches the size of a 19th-century ocean liner. Not bad for someone who had never seen a boat.

Explanation: Eve (Hava in Hebrew) means "living one". The rib story actually comes from the second creation account in Genesis, the first describing the simultaneous creation of man and woman. Scholars see two distinct traditions assembled together.

Explanation: Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream of seven fat cows and seven lean cows, predicting seven years of famine. His multicolored coat given by his father Jacob, a translation popularized by the 1968 musical, comes from an obscure Hebrew word that specialists today rather translate as "long-sleeved tunic".

Explanation: Samson draws his strength from his Nazirite vow, which forbids cutting one's hair. Betrayed by Delilah (who is paid 1100 silver pieces by the Philistines), he ends up blinded and then makes a temple collapse on his enemies. Cecil B. DeMille made a cult biblical epic out of it in 1949.

Explanation: Esther marries King Ahasuerus (identified with Xerxes I) without revealing her Jewish origins. When her cousin Mordecai refuses to bow before the minister Haman, the latter obtains an extermination decree. Esther intervenes and reverses the situation. Her feast, Purim, is celebrated each year with costumes and noise to cover Haman's name.

Explanation: Mary receives the announcement from the angel Gabriel and conceives Jesus by the Holy Spirit, according to Luke and Matthew. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is surprisingly recent: it was only proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX. Islam also mentions her: sura 19 of the Quran bears her name (Maryam).

Explanation: John the Baptist is executed by Herod Antipas at the request of Salome, who demands his head on a platter. Flavius Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian, mentions him independently of the Gospels. He is one of the few New Testament figures confirmed by an outside source.

Explanation: Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, is a Roman citizen and Pharisee. His conversion around 35 marks a turning point: he becomes the apostle to the Gentiles. His letters to communities (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, etc.) are the oldest texts of the New Testament, even predating the Gospels.

Explanation: Elijah is taken alive into heaven according to the second book of Kings. Jewish tradition made him an expected figure who must return before the Messiah. Even today, at every Passover seder, a cup of wine is left for him on the table and the door is opened briefly so that he can enter.

Explanation: Job (Iyov in Hebrew) is the archetype of the righteous person who suffers without reason. His book poses the central theological question of evil: why do good people suffer? God's answer, basically: you cannot understand. It is one of the most uncomfortable texts in the Bible.

Explanation: Ruth pronounces one of the most beautiful declarations of loyalty in the Bible: "Where you go, I will go. Your people shall be my people." Her book is read during the feast of Shavuot. She becomes David's great-grandmother, making her the foreign (Moabite) ancestor integrated into the royal line.

Explanation: Mary Magdalene (Mary of Magdala) is often confused with the anonymous sinner or with Mary of Bethany, a confusion popularized by Pope Gregory in 591. The Vatican corrected this mistaken identification in 1969. Nicknamed "apostle to the apostles", she is the main witness to the resurrection.

Explanation: Judas Iscariot hands Jesus over to the Jewish authorities with a kiss. The fate reserved for him varies depending on the source: hanged in Matthew, died by bursting in the Acts of the Apostles. An apocryphal gospel discovered in 2006, the Gospel of Judas, even presents him as a hero who would have obeyed a divine plan.

Explanation: Solomon, son of David, is famous for his wisdom. The judgment between the two women fighting over a baby has become proverbial. According to the First Book of Kings, he is said to have reigned 40 years (that symbolic number again) and built the First Temple of Jerusalem, destroyed in 587 BCE by the Babylonians.

Explanation: Peter (Simon Peter) is the one to whom Jesus says, according to Matthew, "you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church". The Catholic Church makes him its first bishop of Rome. According to tradition, he is said to have been crucified upside down around year 64, not judging himself worthy of dying in the same position as his master.