Know the Bible
Who is this? What is this place? What does this mean?
The people, places, objects, events, groups and ideas you meet while reading — explained in their own context first, then opened up through symbolic and personal reflection that is always labelled as reflection.
People
Who is this?
- Person
Jesus of Nazareth
A first-century Jewish teacher from Nazareth in Galilee, crucified in Jerusalem under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Christians confess him as the Messiah and the Son of God, raised from the dead. The four Gospels are the primary accounts of his life; his existence as a historical figure is also referred to by early non-Christian writers such as Tacitus and Josephus.
Remember: The teacher from Nazareth who walked toward Jerusalem and defined greatness as service.
- Person
Moses
The figure the Hebrew Bible presents as leading Israel out of slavery in Egypt, mediating the covenant at Sinai, and guiding the people through forty years in the wilderness. Jewish and Christian tradition associates him with the first five books of the Bible.
Remember: The reluctant leader who told a trapped people to stand still and watch God act.
- Person
Abraham
The figure Genesis presents as the ancestor of Israel: called to leave his homeland for a land he has not seen, promised descendants and blessing, and remembered for trusting a promise he did not live to see fulfilled. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all trace part of their story to him.
Remember: The man who left on the strength of a promise he could not verify.
- Person
Isaac
The son of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, born after long waiting, and the link in the chain of promise between Abraham and Jacob. He is the least narrated of the three patriarchs.
Remember: The quiet middle link between Abraham's promise and Jacob's struggle.
- Person
Jacob (Israel)
The son of Isaac in Genesis, remembered for deception, exile, a night of wrestling, and a new name — Israel. His twelve sons are presented as the ancestors of the twelve tribes.
Remember: The deceiver who wrestled all night and walked away renamed and limping.
- Person
Joseph (son of Jacob)
The favoured son in Genesis who is sold by his brothers, imprisoned in Egypt on a false accusation, and later rises to administer Egypt's food supply during famine — eventually receiving the brothers who betrayed him.
Remember: Betrayed, imprisoned, promoted — and he still fed the brothers who sold him.
- Person
David
Israel's second king in the biblical narrative: shepherd, musician, warrior, and a deeply flawed ruler. He is associated with Jerusalem as his capital and traditionally with many of the Psalms. An inscription from Tel Dan referring to the 'house of David' is widely read as evidence of a remembered dynasty.
Remember: The shepherd who became king, wrote prayers, and still failed badly.
- Person
Peter
A Galilean fisherman who becomes a leading disciple of Jesus, known for bold declarations, a public denial of Jesus before the crucifixion, and a central role in the early church in Jerusalem.
Remember: The disciple who failed publicly and was still given work to do.
- Person
Paul
A Pharisee who violently opposed the early Jesus movement and then became its most prolific letter-writer and traveller. Most historians accept seven letters as certainly his; several others are debated.
Remember: The persecutor who became the movement's most restless letter-writer.
How it all connects
A few short threads through the story. Only connections seeded in this library are shown — it is a map of what we have written, not of the whole Bible.
The line of promise
Genesis follows one family across four generations — and ends with them in Egypt.
From slavery to a people
The exodus is the event Israel keeps returning to when it asks who it is.
Jerusalem, temple and the last week
One city holds kingship, worship and the events at the centre of the Gospels.
Loss, exile and return
What happens to a people when the land, the temple and the king are gone.
From Galilee outward
The movement begins in fishing villages, not in the capital.
Instruction, ark and temple
Where the covenant terms were kept, and how instruction stayed at the centre of worship.
One kingdom becomes two
A king who would not listen, two kingdoms, and the long road to exile.