The Most Famous
RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Israel
This page contains a list of the greatest Israeli Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 3,187 Religious Figures, 58 of which were born in Israel. This makes Israel the birth place of the 11th most number of Religious Figures behind Saudi Arabia, and India.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Israeli Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Israeli Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Israeli Religious Figures.
1. Jesus (-4 - 33)
With an HPI of 96.04, Jesus is the most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 265 different languages on wikipedia.
Jesus (c. 6 to 4 BC – AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most Christians believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited messiah, the Christ that is prophesied in the Old Testament. Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically. Accounts of Jesus' life are contained in the Gospels, especially the four canonical Gospels in the New Testament. Academic research has yielded various views on the historical reliability of the Gospels and how closely they reflect the historical Jesus. Jesus was circumcised at eight days old, was baptized by John the Baptist as a young adult, and after 40 days and nights of fasting in the wilderness, began his own ministry. Being an itinerant teacher, he was often referred to as "rabbi". Jesus often debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables, and gathered followers, among whom twelve were his primary disciples. He was arrested in Jerusalem and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned over to the Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea. After his death, his followers became convinced that he rose from the dead, and following his ascension, the community they formed eventually became the early Christian Church that expanded as a worldwide movement. Accounts of his teachings and life were initially conserved by oral transmission, which was the source of the written Gospels.Christian theology includes the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Christian Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where he will return. Commonly, Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead, either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology. The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three prosopons of the Trinity. The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually, generally on 25 December, as Christmas. His crucifixion is honoured on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. The world's most widely used calendar era—in which the current year is AD 2024 (or 2024 CE)—is based on the approximate birthdate of Jesus.Jesus is also revered in Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and the Druze Faith. In Islam, Jesus (often referred to by his Quranic name ʿĪsā) is considered the penultimate prophet of God and the messiah, who will return before the Day of Judgement. Muslims believe Jesus was born of the virgin Mary but was neither God nor a son of God. Most Muslims do not believe that he was killed or crucified but that God raised him into Heaven while he was still alive. In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill messianic prophecies, was not lawfully anointed and was neither divine nor resurrected.
2. Mary, mother of Jesus (-100 - 100)
With an HPI of 90.47, Mary, mother of Jesus is the 2nd most famous Israeli Religious Figure. Her biography has been translated into 146 different languages.
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is a central figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God. Other Protestant views on Mary vary, with some holding her to have lesser status. She has the highest position in Islam among all women and is mentioned numerous times in the Quran, including in a chapter named after her. The synoptic Gospels name Mary as the mother of Jesus. The gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Mary as a virgin who was chosen by God to conceive Jesus through the Holy Spirit. After giving birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, she raised him in the city of Nazareth in Galilee, and was in Jerusalem at his crucifixion and with the apostles after his ascension. Although her later life is not accounted in the Bible—Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestant traditions believe that her body was raised into heaven at the end of her earthly life, which is known in Western Christianity as the Assumption of Mary and in Eastern Christianity as the Dormition of the Mother of God. Mary has been venerated since early Christianity, and is often considered to be the holiest and greatest saint. There is a certain diversity in the Mariology and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her Immaculate Conception and her bodily Assumption into heaven. Many Protestants hold less exalted views of Mary's role, often based on a perceived lack of biblical support for many traditional Christian dogmas pertaining to her.The multiple forms of Marian devotions include various prayers and hymns, the celebration of several Marian feast days in liturgy, the veneration of images and relics, the construction of churches dedicated to her and pilgrimages to Marian shrines. Many Marian apparitions and miracles attributed to her intercession have been reported by believers over the centuries. She has been a traditional subject in arts, notably in Byzantine art, medieval art and Renaissance art.
3. Saint Joseph (-100 - 100)
With an HPI of 87.14, Saint Joseph is the 3rd most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 85 different languages.
Joseph (Hebrew: יוסף, romanized: Yosef; Greek: Ἰωσήφ, romanized: Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglicanism and Lutheranism. In Catholic traditions, Joseph is regarded as the patron saint of workers and is associated with various feast days. The month of March is dedicated to Saint Joseph. Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his patronages of the sick and of a happy death, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. Joseph has become patron of various dioceses and places. Being a patron saint of virgins, he is venerated as "most chaste". A specific veneration is tributed to the most chaste and pure heart of Saint Joseph.Several venerated images of Saint Joseph have been granted a decree of canonical coronation by a pontiff. Religious iconography often depicts him with lilies or spikenard. With the present-day growth of Mariology, the theological field of Josephology has also grown and since the 1950s centers for studying it have been formed.
4. John the Baptist (-20 - 31)
With an HPI of 86.59, John the Baptist is the 4th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 106 different languages.
John the Baptist (c. 1st century BC – c. AD 30) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early 1st century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christian traditions, Saint John by certain Catholic churches, and Prophet Yahya in Islam. He is sometimes alternatively referred to as John the Baptiser.John is mentioned by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus and he is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí faith, the Druze faith, and Mandaeism, the latter in which he is considered to be the final and most vital prophet. He is considered to be a prophet of God by all of the aforementioned faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations. According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself, and the Gospels portray John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus himself identifies John as "Elijah who is to come", which is a direct reference to the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4:5), as confirmed by the angel who announced John's birth to his father, Zechariah. According to the Gospel of Luke, John and Jesus were relatives. Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practised ritual baptism. John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his pre-messianic movement. Most biblical scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus's early followers had previously been followers of John. According to the New Testament, John was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded by Herod Antipas around AD 30 after John rebuked him for divorcing his wife Phasaelis and then unlawfully wedding Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. Josephus also mentions John in the Antiquities of the Jews and states that he was executed by order of Herod Antipas in the fortress at Machaerus.Followers of John existed well into the 2nd century AD, and some proclaimed him to be the Messiah awaited by Jews. In modern times, the followers of John the Baptist are the Mandaeans, an ancient ethnoreligious group who believe that he is their greatest and final prophet. In the Roman martyrology, apart from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, John is the only saint whose birth and death are both commemorated.
5. Isaac (-1900 - -1533)
With an HPI of 83.04, Isaac is the 5th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 92 different languages.
Isaac is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Isaac first appears in the Book of Genesis, later adopted by the Hebrew tradition of the Torah, in which he is considered to be the son of Abraham and Sarah, the father of Jacob and Esau, and the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel. Isaac's name means "he will laugh", reflecting the laughter, in disbelief, of Abraham and Sarah, when told by God that they would have a child. He is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan. According to the narrative, he died aged 180, the longest-lived of the three patriarchs.
6. Elijah (-1000 - -900)
With an HPI of 83.04, Elijah is the 6th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 82 different languages.
Elijah ( il-EYE-jə; Hebrew: אֵלִיָּהוּ, romanized: ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias il-EYE-əs) was, according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC). In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection, bringing fire down from the sky, and entering heaven alive "by fire." He is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets." Following his ascension, Elisha, his disciple and most devoted assistant, took over his role as leader of this school. The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD," making him a harbinger of the Messiah and of the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. References to Elijah appear in Sirach, the New Testament, the Mishnah and Talmud, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and Baháʼí writings. In Judaism, Elijah's name is invoked at the weekly Havdalah rite that marks the end of Shabbat, and Elijah is invoked in other Jewish customs, among them the Passover Seder and the brit milah (ritual circumcision). He appears in numerous stories and references in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud. According to some Jewish interpretations, Elijah will return during the End of Times.The Christian New Testament notes that some people thought that Jesus was, in some sense, Elijah, but it also makes clear that John the Baptist is "the Elijah" who was promised to come in Malachi 3:1; 4:5. According to accounts in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, Elijah appeared with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus. Elijah in Islam appears in the Quran as a prophet and messenger of God, where his biblical narrative of preaching against the worshipers of Baal is recounted in a concise form.Due to his importance to Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, Elijah has been venerated as the patron saint of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1752.
7. Samson (-1118 - -1078)
With an HPI of 81.74, Samson is the 7th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 69 different languages.
Samson (; Hebrew: שִׁמְשׁוֹן Šīmšōn "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered as an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Enkidu, as well as the Greek Heracles. Samson was given superhuman powers by God in the form of extreme strength. The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and (after offending groomsmen at his wedding to a Philistine), massacring a Philistine army with a donkey's jawbone. The cutting of Samson's long hair would violate his Nazirite vow and nullify his ability.Samson is betrayed by his lover Delilah, who, sent by Philistine officials to entice him, orders a servant to cut his hair while he is sleeping and turns him over to the Philistines, who gouge out his eyes and force him to mill grain at Gaza City. While there, his hair begins to grow again. When the Philistines take Samson into their temple of Dagon, Samson asks to rest against one of the support pillars. After being granted permission, he prays to God and miraculously recovers his strength, allowing him to bring down the columns – collapsing the temple and killing both himself and the Philistines. In some Jewish traditions, Samson is believed to have been buried in Zorah in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley (also considered his birthplace).Samson has been the subject of rabbinic, Christian, and Islamic commentary, with some Christians viewing him as a type of Jesus, based on similarities between their lives. Notable depictions of Samson include John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes and Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 Hollywood film Samson and Delilah. Samson also plays a major role in Western art and traditions.
8. Mary Magdalene (-10 - 100)
With an HPI of 81.53, Mary Magdalene is the 8th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. Her biography has been translated into 88 different languages.
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene, Magdalena or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be a toponymic surname, meaning that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea. The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who travelled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, a statement which is repeated from Mark 16. In all four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels, she is also present at his burial. All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women, as the first to witness the empty tomb, and, either alone or as a member of a group, as the first to witness Jesus's resurrection.Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran denominations. In 2016, Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast, and for her to be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles". Other Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions.
9. Matthew the Apostle (10 - 74)
With an HPI of 81.50, Matthew the Apostle is the 9th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 86 different languages.
Matthew the Apostle (Saint Matthew) is named in the New Testament as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. The claim of his gospel authorship is rejected by most biblical scholars, though the "traditional authorship still has its defenders." The New Testament records that as a disciple, he followed Jesus. Church Fathers, such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, claim that Matthew preached the gospel to the Jewish community in Judea before going to other countries.
10. Jonah (-850 - -810)
With an HPI of 80.46, Jonah is the 10th most famous Israeli Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 61 different languages.
Jonah or Jonas (Hebrew: יוֹנָה Yōnā, lit. 'dove') is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible hailing from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, which details his reluctance in delivering the judgment of Yahweh to the city of Nineveh (near present-day Mosul) in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. After he is swallowed by a large sea creature (Hebrew: דג גדול, romanized: dāḡ gāḏol, lit. 'large fish') and then released, he returns to the divine mission. In Judaism, the story of Jonah represents the teaching of repentance in Judaism, the ability to repent to God for forgiveness. In the New Testament of Christianity, Jesus calls himself "greater than Jonah" and promises the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah" when referring to his resurrection. Early Christian interpreters viewed Jonah as the type of Jesus. Jonah in Islam is regarded as a prophet and the narrative of Jonah appears in a surah of the Quran named after him, Yūnus. Modern Bible scholars are divided on whether the Book of Jonah is fictional, and often at least partially satirical. The character of Jonah son of Amittai may have been based on the historical prophet of the same name who prophesied during the reign of King Amaziah of Judah, as mentioned in 2 Kings.Although the creature that swallowed Jonah is often depicted in art and culture as a whale, the Hebrew text uses the phrase "large fish". In the 17th century and early 18th century, the species of the fish that swallowed Jonah was the subject of speculation by naturalists, who interpreted the story as an account of a historical incident. Some modern scholars of folklore, on the other hand, note similarities between Jonah and other legendary religious figures, like the Indian yogi Matsyendranatha "Lord of the Fishes", the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, and the Greek hero Jason.
People
Pantheon has 56 people classified as Israeli religious figures born between 1900 BC and 1937. Of these 56, 1 (1.79%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Israeli religious figures include Michel Sabbah. The most famous deceased Israeli religious figures include Jesus, Mary, mother of Jesus, and Saint Joseph. As of April 2024, 2 new Israeli religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Matthias the Apostle, and Narcissus of Jerusalem.
Living Israeli Religious Figures
Go to all Rankings
Deceased Israeli Religious Figures
Go to all Rankings
Jesus
4 BC - 33
HPI: 96.04
Mary, mother of Jesus
100 BC - 100
HPI: 90.47
Saint Joseph
100 BC - 100
HPI: 87.14
John the Baptist
20 BC - 31
HPI: 86.59
Isaac
1900 BC - 1533 BC
HPI: 83.04
Elijah
1000 BC - 900 BC
HPI: 83.04
Samson
1118 BC - 1078 BC
HPI: 81.74
Mary Magdalene
10 BC - 100
HPI: 81.53
Matthew the Apostle
10 - 74
HPI: 81.50
Jonah
850 BC - 810 BC
HPI: 80.46
Isaiah
800 BC - 700 BC
HPI: 79.93
Saul
1079 BC - 1010 BC
HPI: 79.87
