Dorcas (Tabitha)

Dorcas was a Christian woman who lived in Joppa of Judea. People knew her for her acts of charity (Acts 9:36–41). Acts 9:36 calls Dorcas a disciple. This is the only time in the New Testament where the writer uses the feminine form of the word "disciple" in the original Greek text. We do not know if she was Jewish or Greek, since both Jews and Greeks commonly used her Greek name "Dorcas." Her Aramaic name was "Tabitha," which meant "gazelle."

When Dorcas died, the apostle Peter was staying in a nearby town called Lydda. People had heard about how Peter healed others there, so they sent two men to bring Peter to Joppa. When Peter arrived, others had already prepared Dorcas's body for burial and placed it in an upper room. Peter asked all the mourners to leave the room. Then he knelt down to pray and raised Dorcas back to life. This miracle of bringing someone back to life became the first one an apostle had performed.