People & power

Two questions the text almost never stops to answer: who is this person descended from, and who was ruling over them at the time. The ruler entries name the inscription, chronicle or coinage that attests each figure outside the Bible.

Family lines

The patriarchal line

From Abraham to the twelve tribes, as the narrative traces it.

Terah
- Abraham
  with Sarah, and Hagar
  - Ishmael
    by Hagar; twelve princes
  - Isaac
    by Sarah
    - Esau
      Edom
    - Jacob / Israel
      - Leah's sons
        Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun
      - Rachel's sons
        Joseph, Benjamin
      - Bilhah's sons
        Dan, Naphtali
      - Zilpah's sons
        Gad, Asher
- Nahor
  grandfather of Rebekah
- Haran
  father of Lot

The house of David

The Judean dynasty, named as a house on a ninth-century Aramaic stele.

Jesse
- David
  reigned c. 1010-970 BC
  - Absalom
    revolted
  - Adonijah
  - Solomon
    - Rehoboam
      the kingdom divides
      - Judean kings
        Abijah through Zedekiah, 586 BC
  - Nathan
    the line followed in Luke's genealogy

The Herodian family

The client dynasty that rules through the whole New Testament period.

Antipater the Idumean
- Herod the Great
  37-4 BC; rebuilt the temple
  - Archelaus
    Judea, 4 BC - AD 6; deposed by Rome
  - Herod Antipas
    Galilee; executed John the Baptist
  - Philip the Tetrarch
    the north-east; built Caesarea Philippi
  - Aristobulus
    - Herod Agrippa I
      AD 41-44; died at Caesarea
      - Herod Agrippa II
        heard Paul's defence
      - Bernice
      - Drusilla
        wife of the governor Felix

Who held power

Assyrian and Babylonian kings

The powers that deported Israel and Judah.

Shalmaneser III
858-824 BC · Assyria
Fought Ahab at Qarqar; received tribute from Jehu.
Named in: Kurkh Monolith; Black Obelisk
Tiglath-Pileser III
745-727 BC · Assyria
Annexed Galilee and Gilead; took tribute from Ahaz.
Named in: Annals and tribute lists
Sargon II
722-705 BC · Assyria
Completed the deportation of Samaria.
Named in: Nimrud prism; Khorsabad annals
Sennacherib
705-681 BC · Assyria
Took Lachish; shut Hezekiah up 'like a bird in a cage'.
Named in: Sennacherib Prism; Lachish reliefs
Nebuchadnezzar II
605-562 BC · Babylon
Took Jerusalem twice; burned the temple.
Named in: Babylonian Chronicle; Ishtar Gate bricks
Nabonidus
556-539 BC · Babylon
Absent at Teima; his son Belshazzar held Babylon.
Named in: Nabonidus Chronicle; Verse Account

Persian and Greek rulers

The empires of the return, the second temple and the Maccabean crisis.

Cyrus II
559-530 BC · Persia
Permitted exiled peoples to return home and rebuild.
Named in: Cyrus Cylinder
Darius I
522-486 BC · Persia
The temple is finished in his sixth year.
Named in: Behistun inscription
Xerxes I
486-465 BC · Persia
The Ahasuerus of Esther's setting.
Named in: Persepolis reliefs and tablets
Artaxerxes I
465-424 BC · Persia
Sends Ezra and Nehemiah to Jerusalem.
Named in: Elephantine papyri
Alexander III
336-323 BC · Macedon
Ends Persian rule over the Levant.
Named in: Coin issues; Tyre siege mole
Antiochus IV
175-164 BC · Seleucid
Desecrated the temple; the revolt follows.
Named in: Seleucid coinage; Akra remains

Rome over Judea

Emperors and prefects named in the New Testament.

Augustus
27 BC - AD 14 · Emperor
The census decree of the nativity narrative.
Named in: Res Gestae; provincial census records
Tiberius
AD 14-37 · Emperor
Reigning through the ministry and crucifixion.
Named in: Tribute penny (denarius) issues
Pontius Pilate
AD 26-36 · Prefect of Judea
Named on a dedication stone at Caesarea.
Named in: Pilate Stone
Claudius
AD 41-54 · Emperor
Expelled Jews from Rome; famine in his reign.
Named in: Suetonius, Claudius 25; Delphi inscription
Nero
AD 54-68 · Emperor
Paul's appeal to Caesar; persecution after the fire.
Named in: Tacitus, Annals 15.44
Vespasian and Titus
AD 69-81 · Emperors
Put down the revolt; destroyed the temple.
Named in: Arch of Titus; Judaea Capta coins