# Leviathan — Character guide

> Key figures in Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

- [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jesus_christ.md): Hobbes reads Christ's threefold office — redeemer, teacher, and future king — as a timeline that keeps the kingdom of God strictly in the future, not in the present Church. That single move dismantles the Pope's claim to
- [Moses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/moses.md): In Hobbes's reading, Moses is not merely a prophet but a civil ruler whose word from God was the law, and whose seventy elders prophesied only by a spirit subordinate to his. The Sinai boundary — approach to behold, but 
- [St. Paul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/st_paul.md): Hobbes leans on Paul's letter to Titus to argue that Israel was God's "peculiar" people not by power alone but by their own covenant, making the kingdom of God a political institution rather than a mystical one. Paul als
- [Peter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/peter.md): Hobbes cites Peter to insist the kingdom of God is a civil commonwealth where God reigns by a vicar, and that immortality comes by promise rather than by nature. Peter's name also anchors the book's long excavation of th
- [Abraham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/abraham.md): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses believed God himself; later Christians, Hobbes argues, believe only the pastors and sovereigns who recommend the Scriptures to them. That distinction lets Hobbes locate the authority to d
- [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/adam.md): Hobbes uses Adam's fall to argue that death entered the world by sin, yet God could justly have afflicted even a sinless Adam — a subtle move that keeps divine sovereignty grounded in nature, not merely in punishment. Fr
- [David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/david.md): David matters less as a psalmist than as a precedent: Hobbes argues that God's kingdom was a real civil kingdom, and that Israel's demand for a king in Samuel's day interrupted it. When Gabriel promises Christ 'the thron
- [Joshua](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/joshua.md): Successor to Moses who led the Israelites into the Promised Land.
- [Aaron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/aaron.md): Brother of Moses and first high priest of the Israelites.
- [Saul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/saul.md): First king of Israel, later rejected by God for disobedience.
- [Job](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/job.md): Righteous man tested by Satan with suffering, known for his patience and faith.
- [Samuel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/samuel.md): Prophet and last judge of Israel who anointed both Saul and David as kings.
- [John the Evangelist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/john_evangelist.md): Apostle and author of the Gospel of John, Revelation, and epistles.
- [Solomon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/solomon.md): Wise king of Israel who built the Temple in Jerusalem.
- [Aristotle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/aristotle.md): Hobbes inherits Aristotle's vocabulary of causes, motion, and the first mover, then quietly rewrites it: the endless chain of causes leads to one eternal cause, but fear and ignorance are what actually breed the gods men
- [St. Matthew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/st_matthew.md): Apostle and author of the Gospel of Matthew, formerly a tax collector.
- [Satan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/satan.md): Adversary and tempter, often discussed in the context of evil and temptation.
- [Cardinal Bellarmine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/cardinal_bellarmine.md): Bellarmine defended the papacy's claim to indirect temporal power, the position Hobbes treats as the great rival to sovereign authority. Hobbes's counter-move is to redefine the kingdom of God as a civil kingdom, restore
- [Julius Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/julius_caesar.md): Roman general and dictator, used as an example of sovereign power.
- [Naaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/naaman.md): Syrian commander healed of leprosy by the prophet Elisha.
- [Timothy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/timothy.md): Companion and protégé of St. Paul, recipient of two New Testament epistles.
- [Luke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/luke.md): Physician and evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts.
- [Marcus Brutus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/marcus_brutus.md): Roman senator and assassin of Julius Caesar, discussed in political context.
- [Josiah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/josiah.md): King of Judah who instituted religious reforms and rediscovered the Book of the Law.
- [Augustus Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/augustus_caesar.md): First Roman emperor, used as an example of sovereign authority.
- [Cicero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/cicero.md): Roman orator and philosopher, cited for political and legal theories.
- [Constantine the Great](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/constantine.md): First Christian Roman emperor, who legalized Christianity.
- [Micaiah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/micaiah.md): Prophet who foretold disaster for King Ahab.
- [Antichrist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/antichrist.md): Figure of evil and deception, opposing Christ in eschatology.
- [Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/plato.md): Greek philosopher, founder of the Academy, frequently referenced in political theory.
- [Judas Iscariot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/judas_iscariot.md): Apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver.
- [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jupiter.md): Chief Roman god, used as an example of pagan religion.
- [Holy Ghost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/holy_ghost.md): Third person of the Trinity, often discussed in theological contexts.
- [William the Conqueror](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/william_conqueror.md): Norman king who conquered England in 1066, used as a historical example.
- [Ptolomaeus Philadelphus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/ptolomaeus_philadelphus.md): Ptolemaic king of Egypt who commissioned the Septuagint translation.
- [Elijah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/elijah.md): Prophet who performed miracles and was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
- [Pilate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/pilate.md): Roman governor who presided over the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
- [Uriah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/uriah.md): Hittite soldier whose wife Bathsheba was taken by King David.
- [Alexander the Great](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/alexander.md): Macedonian conqueror who built a vast empire, used as a historical example.
- [Mercury](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/mercury.md): Roman messenger god, sometimes identified with Paul in Lystra.
- [St. Jerome](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/st_jerome.md): Church father who translated the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate).
- [Homer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/homer.md): Ancient Greek poet, author of the Iliad and Odyssey, cited as an authority.
- [Pope Zachary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/pope_zachary.md): Pope who corresponded with Boniface and sanctioned the deposition of Childeric III.
- [Jephtha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jephtha.md): Judge of Israel who made a rash vow to sacrifice his daughter.
- [Eleazar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/eleazar.md): Son of Aaron who succeeded him as high priest of Israel.
- [Levi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/levi.md): Third son of Jacob and Leah, ancestor of the priestly tribe of Levi.
- [Noah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/noah.md): Righteous man who built the ark and survived the great flood.
- [Pope Innocent III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/pope_innocent_third.md): Powerful medieval pope who asserted papal supremacy over secular rulers.
- [Sir Edward Coke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/coke.md): English jurist and politician, known for his legal writings and common law.
- [Pontifex Maximus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/pontifex_maximus.md): Title for the chief priest of ancient Rome, later used by the Pope.
- [Pope Adrian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/pope_adrian.md): Pope who sent a crown to King John and asserted papal authority.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters