Figures named in the text, with the fields the source records. All claims are labelled by type and confidence; "not stated" where the text is silent.
Profiles · 11 figures
Mattityahu(Matthias)
MeaningHebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityahu), "gift of YHWH"; Greek Μαθθίας (Maththias) — the same Hebrew root as Mattityahu (Matthew) the apostle, but a different man (the TT glosses "(Matthias)" to distinguish them)
OriginOne of the wider circle of disciples who had accompanied Yeshua (Jesus) "all the time… beginning from the immersion of Yochanan (John) until the day he was taken up" (1:21-22)
Familiar nameMatthias
ProfessionDisciple, then apostle — chosen to restore the Twelve (1:26)
Hometownnot stated
First mentionActs 1:23
Mentioned inActs 1:23, 26
Key events in Acts 1–3Put forward, with Yosef Barsabbas (Joseph Barsabbas), as one of two candidates who met the apostolic criteria — firsthand companionship through Yeshua's ministry and witness to the resurrection (1:21-23); after the community's prayer to "the Lord, knower of hearts," lots were cast, the lot fell on him, and he was "numbered with the eleven apostles" (1:24-26), reconstituting the Twelve.
Spouse(s)not stated
Childrennot stated
Archaeological evidenceNo direct archaeological evidence for the individual.
Extra-biblical mentionsNot attested in Josephus or other contemporary sources; later traditions (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.12.3, listing him among the Seventy; varied apocryphal acts and martyrdom legends) are unreliable and mutually inconsistent.
Historicity statusUNCERTAIN
Books appearing inActs
Character arcNamed only at his election; he never speaks and is not mentioned again in the NT. His significance is structural — his selection completes the Twelve before Pentecost, signaling the reconstitution of Israel's tribal number ahead of the Spirit's outpouring.
NoteCasting lots (1:26) is the Hebrew Bible mode of discerning God's choice (Prov 16:33; the priestly lots; the division of the land) and is the last such instance in Acts — after Pentecost the wind/spirit guides directly. The name Μαθθίας shares the root of Μαθθαῖος (Matthew); the two are distinct people, disambiguated by the gloss "(Matthias)."
Yosef Barsabbas / Justus(Joseph Barsabbas (Justus))
MeaningYosef — Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yosef), "he adds / may he add" (Gen 30:24); Barsabbas — Aramaic בַּר־שַׁבָּא (bar-Shabba), "son of the sabbath" (or "son of the elder"); Justus — Latin cognomen Iustus, "upright, just"
OriginOne of the wider circle who had accompanied Yeshua (Jesus) from the immersion of Yochanan (John) to the ascension (1:21-23)
Familiar nameJoseph Barsabbas (Justus)
ProfessionDisciple; one of the two nominees for the vacant apostolic office (1:23)
Hometownnot stated
First mentionActs 1:23
Mentioned inActs 1:23
Key events in Acts 1–3Proposed alongside Mattityahu (Matthias) as a candidate qualified by long companionship with Yeshua and witness to the resurrection (1:21-23); the lot did not fall on him (1:26). He is not mentioned again.
Spouse(s)not stated
Childrennot stated
Archaeological evidenceNo direct archaeological evidence for the individual.
Extra-biblical mentionsNot securely attested outside the NT; Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 3.39.9), citing Papias, reports a tradition that a Justus Barsabbas drank poison without harm — the identification with this figure is uncertain. Possibly, but not certainly, the "Yehudah called Barsabbas" of Acts 15:22 is a relative.
Historicity statusUNCERTAIN
Books appearing inActs
Character arcNamed only as the candidate not chosen; he embodies the qualified witness whom the lot passed over, underscoring that the choice was attributed to God rather than to the community's preference.
NoteHe bears three names — a Hebrew given name (Yosef), an Aramaic patronymic/byname (Barsabbas), and a Latin cognomen (Justus) — a common trilingual pattern for Jews of the Greco-Roman diaspora. The Latin Justus ("the just") recurs for other figures in Acts (Acts 18:7; Col 4:11).
Theophilos(Theophilus)
MeaningGreek Θεόφιλος (Theophilos), "friend of God" or "beloved of God" (from theos + philos)
OriginNot stated; the named dedicatee of both Luke and Acts
Familiar nameTheophilus
Professionnot stated — possibly a patron, a Roman official, or an interested inquirer; in Luke 1:3 addressed as "most excellent" (kratiste), a title of rank
Hometownnot stated
First mentionActs 1:1 (cf. Luke 1:3)
Mentioned inActs 1:1
Key events in Acts 1–3Addressed in the opening dedication as the recipient of "the first account" (the Gospel of Luke) and now of its sequel (1:1) — the literary addressee who binds the two volumes into one work.
Spouse(s)not stated
Childrennot stated
Archaeological evidenceNo direct archaeological evidence for the individual.
Extra-biblical mentionsNot independently attested. Scholarly proposals range from a real patron or convert to a symbolic "every friend of God" (the name's literal sense); the address "most excellent" in Luke 1:3 favors a real person of some standing, but this is not certain.
Historicity statusUNCERTAIN
Books appearing inLuke; Acts
Character arcA purely framing figure — the dedicatee to whom Luke addresses the whole two-volume work; he has no narrative role beyond the dedication.
NoteThe address is brief by design. Whether Theophilos is an individual patron or an idealized "friend of God" is debated; the TT renders the name and does not resolve the question. The unfinished men/de construction of 1:1 ("the first account… on the one hand") signals the Gospel as volume one and Acts as its continuation.
The man lame from birth(none (unnamed))
Meaningunnamed — designated only by his condition, "lame from his mother's womb" (3:2)
OriginA Jerusalem beggar, carried daily to the temple gate called Beautiful to ask alms (3:2)
Familiar namenone (unnamed)
ProfessionBeggar at the temple gate (3:2-3)
HometownYerushalayim (Jerusalem) — present daily at the temple
First mentionActs 3:2
Mentioned inActs 3:2-11 (his healing recalled in Acts 4:9-10, 14, 22, where his age is given as over forty)
Key events in Acts 1–3Lame from birth, set each day at the gate called Beautiful, he asks Kefa (Peter) and Yochanan (John) for alms (3:2-3); Kefa, having no silver or gold, heals him "in the name of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus) the Nazarene" (3:6); taken by the right hand and raised up, his feet and ankles are "made firm," and he enters the temple "walking and leaping and praising God" (3:7-8) — fulfilling Isaiah 35:6 ("then the lame will leap like a deer"); the astonished crowd that recognizes him becomes the audience for Kefa's second sermon (3:9-11).
Spouse(s)not stated
Childrennot stated
Archaeological evidenceNo direct archaeological evidence for the individual; the "gate called Beautiful" is otherwise unattested by that name (possibly the Nicanor Gate).
Extra-biblical mentionsNot attested outside Acts.
Historicity statusUNCERTAIN
Books appearing inActs
Character arcFrom lifelong dependence at the temple's threshold to entering its courts on his own feet — his public, undeniable cure (a man known to all as the gate's beggar) is the sign that occasions the second apostolic sermon and demonstrates that the power is "the name," not the apostles' own (3:12, 16).
NoteHis lameness "from his mother's womb" (3:2) and his age "over forty years" (4:22) make the cure unmistakable. The verb "made firm" (estereōthēsan, 3:7) is echoed when Kefa says "his name made him firm" (3:16) — the physical firmness and the firmness given by the name are verbally linked.
The Twelve(reconstituted)
Meaning"the Twelve" (οἱ δώδεκα) — the apostolic college matching the number of Israel's tribes
OriginThe eleven surviving apostles named at 1:13, completed by the election of Mattityahu (Matthias) (1:26)
Roster (1:13)Kefa (Peter), Yochanan (John), Ya'aqov (James son of Zavdai), Andreas (Andrew), Philippos (Philip), Thomas, Bartholomaios (Bartholomew), Mattityahu (Matthew), Ya'aqov son of Halfai (James son of Alphaeus), Shimon the Zealot, and Yehudah son of Ya'aqov (Judas son of James) — eleven, with Yehudah Iscariot's place vacant until 1:26.
First mentionActs 1:13 (the eleven); the Twelve restored at 1:26
Mentioned inActs 1:13, 26; "the eleven" (2:14); "the apostles" throughout (2:37, 42-43; 3:1 names Kefa and Yochanan acting as the pair)
Key events in Acts 1–3The eleven gather in the upper room and persevere in prayer (1:13-14); they set the criteria for and oversee the replacement of Yehudah Iscariot (1:15-26); Kefa "standing with the eleven" preaches at Pentecost (2:14), and the community devotes itself to "the teaching of the apostles" (2:42); Kefa and Yochanan, the recurring pair, heal at the temple (3:1-11).
Historicity statusthe existence of an inner circle of twelve named apostles around Yeshua is PROBABLE (independently rooted in the gospel and Pauline traditions, 1 Cor 15:5); individual biographies vary in attestation.
Books appearing inActs; the gospels (rosters at Mark 3:16-19; Matt 10:2-4; Luke 6:14-16)
Note (collective entry)This is a brief collective note; the individual apostles carry their entries in the gospel PEOPLE files (see the cross-book stubs below and the Mark roster). Restoring the Twelve to its full number before Pentecost is a deliberate restoration of Israel's tribal structure (cf. Num 1; the choice by lot, 1 Sam 10:20-21) — the people of God reconstituted ahead of the Spirit's outpouring (ch. 2).
Kefa(Peter)
See full bio inMark
In ActsThe leader and chief spokesman of the apostles throughout chapters 1–3. He stands among the ~120 and directs the reconstitution of the Twelve, addressing Yehudah (Judas Iscariot)'s defection and death from the Psalms (1:15-22). At Pentecost, "standing with the eleven," he preaches the first apostolic sermon — reading the Spirit's coming through Yoel (Joel 2), proclaiming Yeshua (Jesus)'s death, resurrection, and exaltation through Psalms 16 and 110, and calling the crowd to change of mind and immersion; about three thousand are added (2:14-41). With Yochanan (John) he heals the man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate "in the name of Yeshua the Nazarene" (3:1-10) and preaches the second sermon at Solomon's portico, deflecting all credit from the apostles to God and the name (3:11-26). The canonical bio fields (Galilean fisherman, family, the renaming Kefa/Peter, later tradition) live in mark/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role.
Yochanan(John)
See full bio inMark
In ActsThe apostle Yochanan (John son of Zavdai), Kefa (Peter)'s companion. He is named in the upper-room roster of the eleven (1:13) and appears as the silent partner alongside Kefa at the temple: the two go up together at the hour of prayer, jointly heal the man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate (3:1-11), and are held onto by the healed man as the crowd gathers. He does not speak in chapters 1–3. The canonical bio fields (son of Zavdai, the inner circle, later tradition) live in mark/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role. (Distinct from Yochanan the Immerser/John the Baptist, whose immersion is named as the start of the apostolic-witness span at 1:22; that figure's entry is in matthew/PEOPLE.md.)
Ya'aqov(James son of Zavdai)
See full bio inMark
In ActsNamed third in the upper-room roster of the eleven (1:13), among those persevering in prayer before Pentecost. He has no individual speaking role in chapters 1–3 (his execution by Herod Agrippa I comes later, Acts 12:2). The canonical bio fields live in mark/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role. (Distinct both from Ya'aqov son of Halfai/James son of Alphaeus, also in the roster of 1:13, and from Ya'aqov the brother of Yeshua, present in the upper room at 1:14 — see the cross-book note below.)
Miryam(Mary)
See full bio inMatthew
In ActsHer final appearance in the NT narrative. She is in the upper room with the eleven, the women, and Yeshua (Jesus)'s brothers, "persevering with one accord in prayer" before Pentecost (1:14). She is named as "Miryam (Mary) the mother of Yeshua" but does not speak or act independently. The canonical bio fields live in matthew/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role.
Yehudah(Judas Iscariot)
See full bio inMark
In ActsReferenced, not present — his place among the Twelve is vacant, and his defection and death are the subject of Kefa (Peter)'s address at 1:16-20. Kefa reads Yehudah's role ("a guide to those who arrested Yeshua") as the fulfillment of scripture spoken by the holy wind/spirit "through the mouth of David" (1:16); a parenthesis reports that he "acquired a field from the wages of unrighteousness" and died there — falling headlong and bursting open (1:18-19) — so the field was called Hakeldama, "Field of Blood." The Psalm citations (Ps 69:25; 109:8) ground the call to fill his vacant "overseership," leading to the election of Mattityahu (Matthias) (1:20-26). The canonical bio fields live in mark/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role. Note (crux): the account of Judas's death here differs from Matthew 27:3-10; per the Prime Directive (Rule 3) the TT renders Acts on its own terms and does not harmonize the two — see Acts 1 §18 and docs/editorial-log/acts.md.
Yeshua(Jesus)
See full bio inMatthew
In ActsThe risen, ascended Lord and the subject of the apostolic witness. Over forty days after his suffering he presents himself "living… by many proofs," teaching "the things concerning the kingdom of God," and promising the holy wind/spirit (1:3-8); his direct first-person speech (1:4-5, 7-8) is marked as divine speech (Rule 30). He is "taken up" in a cloud (1:9), with the promise of a like return (1:11). He is the content of Kefa (Peter)'s preaching — "demonstrated to you to be from God," handed over "by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God" yet killed by lawless hands, raised because death could not hold him, exalted to God's right hand, and "made… both Lord and Messiah" (2:22-36); healing comes "in the name of Yeshua the Nazarene" (3:6, 16), and he is the glorified "servant" (pais), the "Author of life," and the prophet-like-Moses (3:13-26). The canonical bio fields (birth, parents, ministry, death by crucifixion) live in matthew/PEOPLE.md; this entry adds the Acts-specific role.
Sources consulted
• PRIMARY — Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed. (NA28). All Greek citations follow this edition; note the Alexandrian/Western (Codex Bezae D) divergence flagged in the INTRODUCTION.
• PRIMARY — Septuaginta (Rahlfs-Hanhart) for the LXX forms of the cited texts (Joel 2; Psalms 16, 110; Genesis 22; Deuteronomy 18); Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) for Hebrew name etymologies.
• PRIMARY — Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae and Bellum Judaicum (Niese), and Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, for the (unreliable) later traditions about Mattityahu (Matthias) and Yosef Barsabbas (Justus).
• PEER-REVIEWED (lexicon) — BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed.; HALOT, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.
• PEER-REVIEWED (commentary) — Barrett, C.K., The Acts of the Apostles (ICC, 1994); Fitzmyer, J.A., The Acts of the Apostles (AB, 1998); Bock, D.L., Acts (BECNT, 2007).
Editorial provenance: Drafted by Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) on 2026-06-24. Not yet reviewed. This file is a provisional scholarly resource governed by TT Rule 29. Cross-references to matthew/PEOPLE.md and mark/PEOPLE.md link to existing entries rather than duplicating content; the Judas death divergence from Matthew is flagged for Hellenist review (Rule 13). There is no genealogy table — Acts 1–3 contains none.
• PRIMARY — Septuaginta (Rahlfs-Hanhart) for the LXX forms of the cited texts (Joel 2; Psalms 16, 110; Genesis 22; Deuteronomy 18); Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) for Hebrew name etymologies.
• PRIMARY — Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae and Bellum Judaicum (Niese), and Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, for the (unreliable) later traditions about Mattityahu (Matthias) and Yosef Barsabbas (Justus).
• PEER-REVIEWED (lexicon) — BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed.; HALOT, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.
• PEER-REVIEWED (commentary) — Barrett, C.K., The Acts of the Apostles (ICC, 1994); Fitzmyer, J.A., The Acts of the Apostles (AB, 1998); Bock, D.L., Acts (BECNT, 2007).
Editorial provenance: Drafted by Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) on 2026-06-24. Not yet reviewed. This file is a provisional scholarly resource governed by TT Rule 29. Cross-references to matthew/PEOPLE.md and mark/PEOPLE.md link to existing entries rather than duplicating content; the Judas death divergence from Matthew is flagged for Hellenist review (Rule 13). There is no genealogy table — Acts 1–3 contains none.