50 Fun Facts About Bible Characters

Which man in the Bible built an ark to survive a great flood, then planted a vineyard and got drunk?

Noah lay uncovered in his tent after the wine. A 4th-century archbishop defended him: as the first person ever to taste wine, he could not have known what it would do.

Which Hebrew baby was hidden among the bulrushes of the Nile and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter?

Moses owes his name to the princess who found him. She said, "I drew him out of the water", a play on the Hebrew verb for drawing out.

Which youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem played the lyre to soothe a tormented King Saul?

David joined the royal court as a musician and armour-bearer, long before he wore the crown. Scripture later calls him "the sweet psalmist of Israel".

Which Philistine champion from Gath was felled by a single stone from a shepherd boy's sling?

Goliath stands "six cubits and a span", about 9 feet 9 inches, in the standard Hebrew text. The Dead Sea Scrolls give a more human 6 feet 9.

Which judge of Israel killed a lion with his bare hands but lost his strength when his hair was cut?

Samson was a Nazirite from birth, so the haircut broke a lifelong vow. His hair had begun to grow back in prison when he pulled down a Philistine temple.

Which prophet spent three days and nights inside a great fish after fleeing a mission to Nineveh?

Jonah had boarded a ship bound for Tarshish to escape the task, and was cast into the sea in a storm. Nineveh, the city he dodged, lay near present-day Mosul.

Which Jewish exile, raised to high office by Darius the Mede, survived a night in a den of lions?

Daniel was trapped by jealous rivals, who tricked the king into banning prayer to anyone but himself for thirty days. They were thrown to the lions in his place.

Which woman in the Garden of Eden ate the forbidden fruit after listening to a serpent?

Eve is a name meaning "living one" or "source of life". She had not yet been created when God first gave the command about the tree.

Which disciple identified Jesus to an arresting party with a kiss, for thirty pieces of silver?

Judas Iscariot also kept the disciples' money bag and, by one Gospel's account, helped himself to it. Matthias was later chosen to fill the empty place among the Twelve.

Which fisherman from Bethsaida denied knowing Jesus three times before a rooster crowed?

Peter was born Simon; Jesus renamed him Cephas, from an Aramaic word for rock or stone. Tradition says he was later crucified upside down in Rome.

Which disciple, whose name means "the twin", refused to believe Jesus had risen without touching the wounds?

Thomas answered the sight with "My Lord and my God", yet the nickname "doubting" stuck for good. Tradition sends him on to India, where he is honoured as a patron saint.

Which young woman of Nazareth was told by the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus?

Mary received the news in an event known as the Annunciation. Churches keep its feast on 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas.

Which farmer, the firstborn of Adam, killed his shepherd brother and then asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Cain was given a protective mark by God so that nobody would kill him in revenge. He then settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden, and built a city.

Which favourite son of Jacob was given a coat of many colours, then sold by his brothers to passing merchants?

Joseph rose from slave to second-in-command of Egypt by interpreting Pharaoh's dreams. The brothers had dipped the coat in goat's blood to fake his death.

Which king of Israel settled two women's claim to one baby by ordering the child cut in half?

Solomon never had to use the sword. One woman begged him to give the baby to her rival rather than see it die, and he declared her the true mother.

Which man from Bethany did Jesus call out of a tomb four days after his burial?

Lazarus still names his home town: Bethany is today Al-Eizariya, which translates as "the place of Lazarus". His story also holds the famous line "Jesus wept."

Which man fled the destruction of Sodom with his daughters while his wife was turned into a pillar of salt?

Lot escaped, but his wife looked back at the burning city. She is never named in the Bible, though some Jewish traditions call her Ado or Edith.

Which righteous man from the land of Uz lost his wealth, his children and his health in a test of faith?

Job ends his story better off than he began it. God rebukes the three friends who kept insisting he must have sinned, and restores his fortunes.

Which persecutor from Tarsus was struck blind for three days on the road to Damascus and became an apostle?

Paul had to be led by the hand into Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias restored his sight. He later paid his own way as a tent maker.

Which patriarch from Ur was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac until an angel stopped him?

Abraham offered a ram caught nearby in place of the boy. He is counted as forefather of the Jewish people through Isaac and of the Arab people through Ishmael.

Which short chief tax collector at Jericho climbed a sycamore tree to get a view of Jesus?

Zacchaeus shocked the crowd by hosting Jesus at his house, since a tax collector counted as a sinner. He responded by giving away half of all he possessed.

Which man is credited with the longest lifespan recorded in the Bible, a full 969 years?

Methuselah has become a byword for long life. By the Bible's own arithmetic, his 969 years run out in the very year of the great flood.

Which Roman governor of Judaea publicly washed his hands at the trial of Jesus to disown the death sentence?

Pontius Pilate is the best-attested Roman governor of Judaea, yet the famous hand-washing scene appears in only one of the four Gospels, Matthew's.

Which preacher in the Judaean wilderness wore camel's hair and lived on locusts and wild honey?

John the Baptist was later beheaded by Herod Antipas, after rebuking the ruler for marrying Herodias, the wife of his own brother.

Which Jewish queen of Persia exposed the plot of the vizier Haman to wipe out her people?

Esther is first introduced under her Hebrew name, Hadassah, which means "myrtle tree". Her people's escape is still celebrated every year at the feast of Purim.

Which Moabite widow told her mother-in-law Naomi, "Where you go I will go", and followed her to Judah?

Ruth went on to marry a wealthy relative of the family named Boaz. The Bible counts her as the great-grandmother of Israel's most celebrated king.

Which prophet challenged 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and was later carried up in a whirlwind?

Elijah never dies in the Bible's telling: a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear, and he is swept up to heaven. Earlier, ravens had fed him beside a brook.

Which woman of Sorek was offered 1,100 silver coins by each Philistine lord to betray her strongman lover?

Delilah failed three times, sent away with a false answer on each try, before she coaxed out the truth. She then had a servant do the cutting while her lover slept.

Which Israelite commander marched his army around Jericho for seven days until the city walls fell?

Joshua had priests blow horns on every circuit, and on the seventh day the people marched around seven times and shouted. Only one household in the city was spared.

Which hairy twin brother of Jacob sold his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew?

Esau came home famished from the fields and traded away his rights as firstborn on the spot. His other name, Edom, means "red", like the stew.

Which Phoenician princess, wife of King Ahab of Israel, was thrown from a window and eaten by dogs?

Jezebel met her killers in style: she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and taunted the new king Jehu from her window, before her own servants threw her out.

Which prisoner, jailed over a deadly riot, did the Jerusalem crowd choose to have released instead of Jesus?

Barabbas has a name meaning "son of the father". Scholars have long noted the irony, since the man the crowd turned down was called the Son of God.

Which first high priest of Israel made a golden calf at Mount Sinai from the people's earrings?

Aaron gave in to the crowd while their leader was away on the mountain for weeks. He then built an altar in front of the idol and announced a feast.

Which woman in Genesis laughed at the tent door when a visitor promised her a son at ninety?

Sarah's laughter stuck: her son was called Isaac, a name meaning "he will laugh". She had begun life as Sarai before God renamed her.

Which king of Babylon had three Jewish men thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow to his image?

Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. Looking in, he counted four figures walking unharmed in the flames instead of three.

Which deacon of the Jerusalem church was stoned to death and is honoured as the first Christian martyr?

Stephen has his feast on 26 December. That is the "Feast of Stephen" on which Good King Wenceslas looks out in the Christmas carol.

Which woman of Bethany complained to Jesus that her sister sat listening while she did all the serving?

Martha was told she was "worried and upset about many things" when only one was needed. Fittingly for a hostess, her name comes from the Aramaic for "the mistress" or "the lady".

Which judge asked God for a sign with a fleece, then routed a Midianite army with only 300 men?

Gideon picked his few by watching them drink: he kept the men who lapped water from their hands and sent home those who knelt. He was also called Jerubbaal.

Which rebellious prince of Israel was caught by his head in an oak tree as his mule ran on?

Absalom was renowned for his beauty and his long hair, which later tradition blamed for snagging him. His father the king wept, "O my son Absalom!"

Which woman of Jericho hid two Israelite spies under flax on her roof and marked her window with a red cord?

Rahab and her family were the only people of the city promised safety when it fell. The Gospel of Matthew later lists her among the ancestors of Jesus.

Which prophetess, the only female judge named in the Hebrew Bible, held court beneath a palm tree?

Deborah sent the general Barak into battle against the Canaanite commander Sisera. Her victory song is commonly counted among the oldest texts in the Bible.

Which prophet, hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel, was rebuked by his own talking donkey?

Balaam had struck the animal three times for stopping, unaware that it could see an armed angel blocking the road. He ended up blessing Israel instead.

Which Babylonian ruler saw a hand write on the wall as he feasted from looted Temple vessels?

Belshazzar was killed that very night. The words on the plaster, read for him by a Jewish exile, said that he had been weighed and found wanting.

Which Pharisee visited Jesus secretly by night and was told that a person must be born again?

Nicodemus came back after the crucifixion with about a hundred Roman pounds of myrrh and aloes, and helped prepare the body for burial.

Which man in Genesis lived 365 years, "walked with God", and was no more because "God took him"?

Enoch is read in some Jewish and Christian traditions as entering heaven alive. His 365 years are short for his family: the other patriarchs before the flood all passed 700.

Which king of Salem, a priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine in Genesis 14?

Melchizedek fills just three verses of Genesis, yet the Letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus a high priest "in the order of Melchizedek".

Which woman gave the fleeing general Sisera milk, then drove a tent peg through his head as he slept?

Jael had been asked only for a drink of water. Far from condemning her, the victory song that follows the story calls her "most blessed of women".

Which left-handed judge from the tribe of Benjamin hid a sword on his right thigh to kill King Eglon?

Ehud delivered Israel's tribute, then turned back and asked for a private audience to pass on a secret message. Nobody expected a blade on the right side.

Which young man in Troas dozed off during a long sermon and fell from a third-storey window?

Eutychus was revived on the spot by the preacher, and the gathering then ate and talked on until dawn. His name means "fortunate" in Greek.

Which seller of purple cloth from Thyatira is counted as the first Christian convert in Europe?

Lydia was living in Philippi, in modern Greek Macedonia, when she was baptised with her household. She then insisted that the missionaries come and stay at her house.