Q: #638. How many people from the Old Testament did Jesus mention?
A: As I mentioned in the previous question, while on earth, Jesus quoted the Old Testament approximately 60 times, and also mentioned dozens more people and events from the Old Testament.
The primary reason why this is important is because of a growing movement today to invalidate or ignore the Old Testament, and instead focus on the New Testament alone, and in particular the words of Jesus (I discuss the problems with this here). However, in studying the words of Jesus in the Gospels, we see that He considers the people, events, and words found in the Old Testament to be vitally important. There is an old saying, attributed to St. Augustine, which says: “The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” In other words, the Old Testament and the New Testament are intertwined, and cannot be divorced from each other. And, of course, virtually all of the Old Testament points to Jesus in some way.
It should also be noted that numerous Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus (some listed here), and Jesus also personally appeared in the Old Testament.
Having said this, I have made a chart listing 21 people from the Old Testament that Jesus mentioned in the Gospels, and what verses He mentioned them in.
| OT People Mentioned | Verses Where Mentioned |
| Abel | (Mt 23:35)(Lk 11:51) |
| Abiathar | (Mk 2:26) |
| Abraham | (Mt 8:11)(Mt 22:32)(Mk 12:26)(Lk 13:16,28)(Lk 16:22,23,24,25,29,30)(Lk 19:9)(Lk 20:37)(Jn 8:39,40,56,57,58) |
| Daniel | (Mt 24:15)(Mk 13:14) |
| David | (Mt 12:3)(Mt 22:43,45)(Mk 2:25)(Mk 12:35,36,37)(Lk 6:3)(Lk 20:41,42,44) |
| Elijah | (Mt 11:14)(Mt 17:11,12)(Mk 9:12,13)(Lk 4:25,26) |
| Elisha | (Lk 4:27) |
| Isaac | (Mt 8:11)(Mt 22:32)(Mk 12:26)(Lk 13:28) |
| Isaiah | (Mt 13:14) |
| Jacob | (Mt 8:11)(Mt 22:32)(Mk 12:26)(Lk 13:28) |
| Jonah | (Mt 12:39,40,41)(Mt 16:4)(Lk 11:30,32) |
| Lot | (Lk 17:29) |
| Lot’s Wife | (Lk 17:32) |
| Moses | (Mt 8:4)(Mt 19:8)(Mt 23:2)(Mk 7:10)(Mk 10:3)(Lk 5:14)(Lk 16:29,31)(Lk 20:37)(Jn 6:32)(Jn 7:19,22,23) |
| Naaman The Syrian | (Lk 4:27) |
| Noah | (Mt 24:37,38)(Lk 17:26,27) |
| Queen Of The South (Sheba) | (Mt 12:42)(Lk 11:31) |
| Satan | (Mt 4:10)(Mt 12:26)(Mt 16:23)(Mk 3:23,26)(Mk 4:15)(Mk 8:33)(Lk 4:8)(Lk 10:18)(Lk 11:18)(Lk 13:16)(Lk 22:31) |
| Solomon | (Mt 6:29)(Mt 12:42)(Lk 11:31)(Lk 12:27) |
| Widow Of Zarephath | (Lk 4:26) |
| Zechariah (Son of Berechiah) | (Mt 23:35)(Lk 11:51) |