Originally, a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is termed patriarchy.

The patriarchs were the fathers of the Jewish faith whose stories we find in the Old Testament. One of their primary roles and responsibilities was to pass on the covenantal blessings of God, those blessings that God had promised to His people. Every Jewish child longed for a blessing.

A patriarch, in general, is a male leader of a tribe or a family. The meaning is essentially the same in the Bible, except that there is additional significance. The Patriarchs of the Bible (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) are seen as the founders of monotheism and the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam).