68 Fun Facts About Bible Heroes

Which judge of Israel killed a thousand Philistines with the fresh jawbone of a donkey?

Samson then grew so thirsty he feared he would die, until God split open a hollow place and water came out.

God told which judge of Israel to keep only the men who lapped water like dogs, and send the rest home?

Gideon's small band then surrounded the Midianite camp at night with trumpets, jars and torches, and the enemy army fled.

Which Philistine champion did the shepherd boy strike in the forehead with a stone from his sling?

Goliath fell face down, and because David carried no sword, he cut off the giant's head with Goliath's own sword.

Who told King Darius that God had sent an angel to shut the lions' mouths?

Daniel came out unharmed, and the king had the men who had accused him thrown into the same den, with their wives and children.

Which prophet's Mount Carmel sacrifice was consumed by fire from heaven that even licked up the trench water?

Elijah had the altar soaked with water three times, and after the fire fell he had the prophets of Baal seized and killed at the brook Kishon.

Which queen of the Bible was asked whether she had come to the kingdom 'for such a time as this'?

Esther then risked death by going to the king unsummoned, after asking the Jews of Susa to fast for three days.

Who was told to build a ship 300 cubits long, 50 wide and 30 high?

Noah found favour with God, who was grieved by human wickedness and had resolved to wipe out life on earth with a flood.

Which patriarch, about to sacrifice his son, saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket?

Abraham sacrificed the ram in Isaac's place, and an angel then promised to bless his offspring because he had obeyed.

Which former prisoner did Pharaoh set 'over all the land of Egypt'?

Joseph had read Pharaoh's dreams of fat and lean cows as years of plenty followed by famine, and he went on to save Egypt during that famine.

Who said to her mother-in-law, 'Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay'?

Ruth said it after her sister-in-law Orpah went back to her own people, choosing to follow Naomi to Judah instead.

Which prophet spent three days and three nights inside a great fish?

Jonah had fled God's order to preach in Nineveh, and when the city repented and was spared, he grew angry enough to want to die.

Which royal cupbearer asked the Persian king to send him to rebuild the city of his fathers' tombs?

Nehemiah went on to rebuild Jerusalem's walls in defiance of Sanballat the Horonite and other hostile neighbours.

Who drove a tent peg through the temple of the sleeping general Sisera?

Jael had welcomed Sisera into her tent and given him milk when he asked for water, then killed him as he slept.

Which woman of Jericho hid the two spies that Joshua sent to view the land?

Rahab let the spies down through her window in the city wall, and the scarlet cord she tied there later spared her family.

Which prophetess judged Israel from beneath a palm tree?

Deborah summoned Barak to fight Sisera, and went into battle with him when he refused to go without her.

Which left-handed judge hid a sword on his right thigh and killed King Eglon of Moab?

Ehud locked the doors on his way out, and Eglon's servants, assuming the king was relieving himself, waited so long that Ehud escaped.

Who wrestled all night with a mysterious man and was then renamed Israel?

Jacob came away with an injured hip, which is why Jewish law forbids eating the sciatic nerve.

Which judge of Israel vowed to sacrifice whatever came out of his door first if he defeated the Ammonites?

Jephthah's only child, his daughter, came out dancing to meet him, and the daughters of Israel honoured her memory four days every year.

Which of the twelve spies said 'Let us go up at once, and possess it'?

Caleb and Joshua were the only spies spared when the other ten died of a plague, and Joshua later gave Caleb Hebron.

Which boy answered God's call in the night with 'Speak; for your servant hears'?

Samuel was then serving the priest Eli, and he grew up to anoint both Saul and David as kings.

Which sister of Aaron led the women in dancing with tambourines after the crossing of the Red Sea?

Miriam was later struck with a skin disease and shut out of the camp for seven days after she and Aaron spoke against Moses.

Which farmer, called while plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, became a prophet's successor?

Elisha slaughtered the oxen, boiled their meat over the ploughing gear and fed the people before following his new master.

What creatures fed a prophet bread and meat, morning and evening, beside the brook Cherith?

Ravens fed him there until the brook dried up in a drought, and God then sent him to a widow in Zarephath.

What separated a prophet from his successor just before the prophet was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind?

A chariot and horses of fire came between them, and the successor who watched it received a double portion of the prophet's spirit.

Which Syrian army commander was cured of leprosy by dipping seven times in the Jordan?

Naaman at first stormed off in anger at such a simple order, until his servants persuaded him to try it.

Who is traditionally called the first Christian martyr, stoned while praying 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'?

Stephen's last words asked God not to hold the sin against his killers, who had laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Who heard 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me' after falling to the ground on the road to Damascus?

Paul was left blind for three days, until Ananias laid hands on him and his sight returned.

Which disciple stepped out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus?

Peter began to sink when he saw the wind and grew afraid, and Jesus caught him, asking why he had doubted.

Which Levite from Cyprus did the apostles nickname 'Son of Encouragement'?

Barnabas sold his land and gave the money to the apostles, and later introduced the newly converted Saul to them.

Which tentmaking couple, expelled from Rome by Claudius, hosted the apostle to the Gentiles in Corinth?

Priscilla and Aquila later took the eloquent preacher Apollos aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

Which young disciple from Lystra, son of a Jewish mother and Greek father, is addressed in two New Testament letters?

Timothy was circumcised so the Jews they would preach to would accept him, before he joined the apostle's travels.

Whose soul was 'knit with the soul of David' so that he loved him as his own soul?

Jonathan, King Saul's eldest son, warned David of his father's plots against him and helped him flee.

Which king of Judah began to reign at the age of eight?

Josiah took the throne after his father Amon was assassinated, and later tore down the altars of Baal across Jerusalem and Judah.

Which king of Judah smashed the bronze serpent that Moses had made?

Hezekiah destroyed it because the Israelites had been making offerings to it.

Which king of Judah had singers praise God before a battle in which his enemies destroyed each other?

Jehoshaphat's troops never had to fight, and were left only to gather the spoils from the dead.

Which man 'walked with God' until God took him away?

Enoch was the father of Methuselah, and the Letter to the Hebrews says God took him so that he would not see death.

After a Jewish exile interpreted his dream, Nebuchadnezzar praised the exile's God as a 'revealer of' what?

Secrets, or 'mysteries' in many translations: the grateful king then made the exile ruler over the whole province of Babylon.

Which of David's mighty men went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion?

Benaiah later executed Solomon's enemies, including Joab, and took Joab's place as commander of Solomon's army.

Which intelligent and beautiful woman talked David out of slaughtering Nabal's household?

Abigail told her husband Nabal what she had done, God struck him dead soon after, and David then married her.

What did David cut off from King Saul in the cave, rather than kill him?

While Saul relieved himself in the cave, David cut off the corner of his robe, then showed him the piece to prove he meant no harm.

Which scribe 'skilled in the law of Moses' led a group of exiles home from Babylon?

Ezra later read the Law of Moses aloud to the gathered people, and they went on to keep the Feast of Booths.

Who adopted his orphaned cousin Hadassah as his own daughter?

Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, yet Haman was later made to lead him through the city on the king's own horse.

Which woman, mistaken for a drunk by the priest Eli, named her son 'because I have asked him of Yahweh'?

Once the boy was weaned, Hannah brought him to the sanctuary at Shiloh and left him there in Eli's care.

Who married the Moabite widow after acting as her kinsman-redeemer, becoming great-grandfather of David?

Boaz could marry her only after a closer relative gave up his right to redeem, sealing it by handing over his sandal.

Who held up the heavy hands of Moses so that Israel would keep winning against Amalek?

Aaron and Hur sat Moses on a stone and held up his hands until sunset, while Joshua's troops defeated Amalek.

What 'stood still' and 'stayed' in the sky during Israel's battle at Gibeon?

The sun and the moon halted when Joshua called on them, and the text says it showed God himself fighting for Israel.

After an angel freed an apostle from Herod's prison, which servant girl left him standing at the gate?

Rhoda was so overjoyed at his voice that she ran to tell the others without opening the gate, but no one believed her.

In Babylon, a young Jewish captive refused to defile himself with what?

Refusing the king's food and wine, he and three friends lived on vegetables and water and came out looking healthier than the rest.

Which prophet confronted King David with a parable about a rich man who took a poor man's only lamb?

When David angrily condemned the rich man, Nathan turned the story on him, exposing his sin with Bathsheba.

Which prophet saw six-winged seraphim around God's throne and answered, 'Here am I; send me'?

Isaiah had called his own people a people of unclean lips, a remark rabbinic legend says God rebuked him for.

Which follower of Jesus mistook him for the gardener outside his empty tomb?

Mary Magdalene recognised him only when he spoke her name, and she cried out 'Rabboni', meaning teacher.

What did Delilah's lover lose when she had his hair shaved off?

His strength left him, and the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and set him grinding grain in a Gaza prison.

What did the workers rebuilding Jerusalem's walls keep with them as they worked?

A weapon: hostile neighbours were plotting to attack Jerusalem and stop the work, so the workers kept their arms close at hand.

The brothers dipped the coat of many colours in what to fool their father?

Goat's blood on the coat made their father believe a wild animal had devoured his son, and he tore his clothes and refused to be comforted.

Which man lost his flocks, his herds and all his children, yet still worshipped God?

Job fell to the ground and said, 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'

What did Nebuchadnezzar say the fourth man in the fiery furnace looked like?

'A son of the gods' in many translations, or 'the Son of God' in the King James Version; the three came out with no smell of fire on them.

How did Solomon propose to settle two women's claim to the same baby?

Solomon's order to divide the living child in two made the real mother beg him to give the baby away rather than let it die.

What did the dove bring back to the ark to show the floodwaters had gone down?

A freshly plucked olive leaf, and a dove bearing an olive branch went on to become a lasting symbol of peace.

How many days and nights did it rain during the Flood?

Forty days of rain fell as the fountains of the great deep burst open, yet the waters went on flooding the earth for 150 days.

What appeared on the palace wall during Belshazzar's feast?

The fingers of a man's hand, writing 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', appeared at his feast, and Belshazzar was killed that same night.

Which sign did the judge who routed Midian ask for as proof God would save Israel?

Dew on the fleece, dry ground came first, and the next night he asked for the reverse, a dry fleece on wet ground, and got that too.

Which queen did Jehu order thrown from a palace window at Jezreel?

Jezebel had painted her eyes and taunted Jehu from the window, and her body was later eaten by dogs, as a prophet had foretold.

Moses' assistant and successor as leader of the Israelites was the son of which man?

Nun's son was first named Hoshea, until Moses renamed him Joshua, and he went on to lead the Israelites after Moses died.

Which Assyrian king invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem?

Sennacherib never took the city: the Bible credits an angel who struck down his army, while his own records say Judah's king paid tribute.

What did the youths of Bethel mock about a prophet before two bears mauled them?

His baldness was what they jeered at, and after the prophet cursed them in the Lord's name, two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of them.

After Jericho fell, which small city routed the Israelite troops Joshua sent to take it?

Ai's victory was blamed on Achan, who had kept plunder from Jericho for himself, and he was stoned to death for it.

Which prophetess confirmed the authenticity of the Book of the Law found during Temple repairs?

Huldah warned that the disaster the book described would fall on Judah because its people had abandoned God.

Which woman, barren and past child-bearing age, gave birth to John the Baptist?

Elizabeth's husband Zechariah had been struck mute for doubting the angel's news, and spoke again only after writing 'His name is John'.