The Bible

What a great topic!!! Although I don't collect "Bible on Stamps", as a collector from Israel I have several in my collections and sure this thread will be one of my favourites. Here is a small group for the beginning:

Adam and Eve - Israel, 2010:

"Jacob wrestling with the angel", by the French painter Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), Saint-Sulpice, Paris, engraved by Pierre Gandon and issued by France on March 2, 1963:

David, by Michelangelo, Gallery of the Academy of Florence (Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze), Florence, Italy, designed by G. Komlev - USSR, 1975:

King David, by Marc Chagall - Israel, 1969:

"Abraham", by Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874–1925) - Israel, 1977
The inscription of the tab:"…I will multiply thy seeds as the stars of the heaven", Genesis, 22, 17:

Several stamps about Samson:

Samson and Fox, issued by Israel on August 21, 1961, as one of a set of three stamps depicting "Heroes of Israel".
The Bible tells that when Samson fought the Philistines, he caught three hundred foxes, tied tail to tail and put a burning torch in the middle between two tails. Then he released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burned up the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves.

The Opera "Samson and Delilah" by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), the Israeli Opera - Israel, 1971:

Delilah cut the hair of Samson, painting by Michele Rocca (1671-died after 1751) - Hungary, 1970:

A bit of artistic license in that last stamp. According to the Bible, Delilah did not cut Samson's locks of hair. She got a man to do it for her.

Thanks your comment, 22crows. Here is the phrase from Judgements 16:19:

"And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and had the seven locks of his head shaven off; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him"

In English, it could be interpreted as the man did it. But in Hebrew, a language in which there is a difference between masculine and feminine words, the verb "cut' is written in feminine form. So, it could be that Delilah did it with the help of the man, or the man did it under Delilah order.

Any way, most paintings I know show Delilah cut the hair of Samson, and Michele Rocca painting is one of them.

The six days of creation, issued by Israel in 1965:

Day 1 - "And God said, Let there be light: And there was light..."

Day 2 -"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters..."

Day 3 - "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth..."

Day 4 - "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night..."

Day 5 - "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven..."

Day 6 - "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over..."

Visit of Queen of Sheba to King Solomon in Jerusalem - Kingdom of Yemen, 1967:

Wadmalatz already posted part of this set in 2012 and I hope no one object I post the complete set.

The book of Kings (chapter 10) tells that the Queen of Sheba, came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" as those she gave to Solomon, King of Israel. She came to prove King Solomon with hard questions, which Solomon answered to her satisfaction. They exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land.

Meeting of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon:

Queen of Sheba's Canopy:

Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel. In Arabic, Queen of Sheba's name is Bilqis:

Modern historians identify Sheba with the South Arabian kingdom of Saba in present-day Yemen. Yemen was one of the colonies of ancient Ethiopia, before the fall of the Axum Empire:

Queen of Sheba Convoy to Israel:

King Solomon's Judgement, by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665):

The following stamp entitled "Solomon's Wall" but it actually depicting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a remnant of the Jewish temple and the most sacred place to the Jewish people. This stamp was never issued:

Adam and Eve, by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) - Rwanda, 1971:

Eve, detail from the painting "Adam and Eve" by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) - Liberia, 1985:

Adam and Eve - Israel,

According to the Hebrew Bible the tabernacle, also known as the Tent of the Congregation, was the portable earthly dwelling place of God used by the tribes of Israel from the Exodus, when they were in the desert, until they entered the land of Israel.

This set shows the utensils used in the tabernacle - Israel, 1985:

After 440 years, The first Temple in Jerusalem superseded the tabernacle as the dwelling-place of God. It was built by Solomon, King of Israel, son of King David:

Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and the high priest - Israel, 2012:

King Solomon's Temple - Israel, 1998:

The Solomon's temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon, after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE. The Israelite were sent to exile in Babylon. Here is a stamp shows a painting by Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874–1925) depicting the phrase from Psalms, 137, 1: "By the Rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion" - Israel, 1977:

The temple was subsequently replaced with the Second Temple in year 516 BCE. I will write about it other time.

Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it "for their great wickedness is come up before me," but Jonah instead attempts to flee from "the presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa, and sailing to Tarshish. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame.Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they are eventually forced to throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms. Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a large fish, in whose belly he spends three days and three nights. While in the great fish, Jonah prays to God in his affliction and commits to giving thanks and to paying what he has vowed. God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out. (Wikipedia):

Jonah and the Fish - Israel, 1963:



Jonah and the Fish - Israel, 2010:

Johah, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling - Italy, 1961:

Adam and Eve, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling - Italy, 1961:

New stamps by Israel issued December 15, 2020 about "Meeting of Peace" show Biblical Hebrew leaders creating ties of peace with leaders of foreign countries:

Meeting of Abraham and Abimelech, King of Gerar (Genesis, chapter 21):

King Hiram of Tyre sending envoys to David, king of Israel to build his palace (Samuel II, chapter 5):

King Hezekiah and the King of Babylon's Envoys (Kings II, chapter 20):

Meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Kings I, chapter 10):

Two stamps show paintings of Biblical scenes, issued by Rwanda on May 8, 1967:

Rebecca and Eliezer, painting by Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo (1618-1682):

Job is visited by his friends, painting by Mattia Preti (1613-1699):

Denmark

Church wall paintings (frescos) of the Middle Ages
November 28, 1973 (Michel #551-554; #550 is missing)

Queen Esther and King Xerxes (ca. 1400)

The escape to Egypt (1474)

Crowning of thorns and carrying of the cross (ca. 1400)

The creation of Eve (ca. 1480)

Moses defending the daughters of Jethro, by Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665), designed and engraved by Pierre Albuisson and issued by France on September 1, 1994 to commemorate the 400th anniversary death of the artist: