Top 10 Obscure Characters In the Bible You Should Know

the Bible is filled with mysterious characters many of whom drop in for just a cameo never to be heard from again some are merely extras but some have a contextual presence that begs further examination and some are well just strange here are 10 obscure characters in The Bible you should know 10 Cain's wife according to the Book of Genesis Cain the first human ever born infamously killed his younger brother Abel in a fit of jealousy because God Favored Abel's meat offering over Cain's fruit offering as a consequence God marked Cain and cursed the land he

cultivated leading him to live a nomadic fugitive existence while this part of the narrative is quite familiar it becomes intriguing when we learn that Cain eventually settled in the Land of Nod and suddenly has a wife remarkably no further details are provided about this mysterious woman and her Origins remain undisclosed this Enigma surrounding Cain's wife has puzzled many inquisitive young minds in Sunday schools for Generations various theories have been proposed to address this question with some suggesting the existence of another possibly post Adam and Eve tribe of people however the prevailing interpretation suggests that Adam

and Eve had numerous other Sons and Daughters to populate the Earth in this scenario the continuity of the human race would have depended on intermarriage among siblings nieces nephews and cousins as they were seemingly the sole inhabitants of the world at that time nine Onan onan's brief appearance in the Bible has left a lasting Legacy giving rise to a term associated with a particular action to provide some context Onan was the Second Son of Judah a prominent figure in the lineage of the 12 tribes of Israel and the grandson of Abraham his older brother a

met an untimely end for reasons undisclosed in the scripture remaining a mystery following Tradition at the time he's Widow Tamar was expected to Wed Onin and bear Offspring to continue the family line however Onin seemed less than enthusiastic about this obligation perhaps due to the impending responsibilities of fatherhood or a lack of affection for Tamar taking matters into his own hands he committed what is now the first recorded instance of Kus interruptus as poetically described in Genesis 389 and Onan knew that the seed should not be his and it came to pass when he went

in unto his brother's wife that he spilled It On The Ground lest that he should give seed to his brother God's displeasure with this act resulted in onan's demise The Narrative becomes even more intricate as Onan had a younger brother named Shayla who would typically have been next in line to fulfill the duty of impregnating Tamar however their father Judah intervened and forbade this Union instead of accepting a life of forced spinsterhood Tamar took matters into her own hands by seducing Judah leading to her pregnancy Judah then fathered twins Zarah and Perez with Tamar is

notably listed as an ancestor of Joseph who served as Jesus's Earthly father according to the gospel of Matthew Beyond its historical context the term onanism subsequently became a euphemism for sexual self-gratification during that era some individuals interpreted God's disapproval of onan's actions as a condemnation of contraception or even a warning that sex was solely intended for Reproductive purposes not for pleasure however it is now widely accepted that God's displeasure with Onan stemmed from his disobedience in refusing to impregnate Tamar number eight King OG this was a particularly interesting figure though his name appears more than

20 times in the Bible we know little about King OG he was part of the Nephilim a race of violent Giants that lived in the pre flood world at the same time as Humanity the scripture in Genesis 6 part2 says there were giants in the earth in those days when the sons of God Fallen Angels Came in unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them the same became Mighty Men which were of old men of renown Goliath the most popular Giant in the Bible was thought to have been one of the last

few descendants of the Nephilim the Nephilim evolved and became known by other names like the RAF I and frequently battled humans for land and power Genesis 14:5 the most storied of them was OG the king of Bashan The Book of Amos 2.9 refers to OG as the Amorite whose height was like the height of the Cedars and whose strength was like that of the Oaks for context Goliath's height is given in the earliest manuscripts as 275 CM 9 ft that's hardly as awe inspiring as augs who measured according to Deuteronomy 400 CM 13.6 ft do

you recall when 10 of the spies dispatched by Moses to scout the promised land reported the presence of giants in the land these were the Nephilim as described in numbers 3113 which reads we are not able to go up against the people because they are too strong for us and all the people whom we saw are people of great stature we also saw the Nephilim there and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight this shows you how enormous the Nephilim Were King OG was killed along with his entire Army and his kingdom was ransacked

by the Israelites A's destruction is told in Psalms 13511 and Psalm 13620 as one of many great victories for the nation of Israel all survivors regardless of age or gender were put to death effectively eradicating the most robust and influential lineage of Nephilim descendants as recounted in numbers 21 3335 some other Nephilim Bloodlines continued to fight battles with the Israelites though they were becoming less powerful and dying out One Tribe the anakim however Allied themselves with the human tribes in philistia biblically descendants of the Nephilim could not have survived the flood even though OG and

other Giants are postf flood figures some biblical literalists have attributed their later existence to the descendants of Noah's family intermingling with fallen angels as well Jewish tradition gets deeper into information about the Nephilim and their descendants going against the grain of the biblical account it tells of OG booking passage on the Ark by promising to act as a slave to Noah and his family but who really knows number seven the Beloved disciple in the Gospel of John we encounter multiple mentions of the disciple whom Jesus loved as found in John 22 this particular disciple holds

a special place being present at significant moments such as the Last Supper the crucifixion and the events following the Resurrection the author of The Gospel of John even asserts that the testimony of this disciple forms the foundation for the text found in John 212 24 which reads this is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down we know that his testimony is true however a considerable debate surrounds the identity of this enigmatic figure one of the most apparent candidates is John the Apostle himself who was among Christ's Inner Circle of 12

disciples and the namesake of the Gospel nevertheless the absence of any of the 12 apostles at the crucifixion rules him out Lazarus the individual miraculously raised from the dead by Jesus is also considered he appears to have been present during the events mentioned and is specifically referred to as he whom thou lovest in John 113 which adds to the Intrigue various other candidates including Mary Magdalene Judas Jesus's brother James and even an unnamed disciple possibly with ties to the Roman or govern governmental authorities have been proposed yet the true identity of the disciple whom Jesus

loved remains shrouded in mystery leaving us with a question mark number six Simon the Zealot among Christ's 12 disciples one figure stands out for his enigmatic identity Simon the Zealot his name was assigned to distinguish him from Simon Peter and has for some sparked the belief that he was associ ated with a similarly named political movement advocating Jewish resistance against Roman rule some even speculate that within Christ's Inner Circle Simon may have served as a political adviser however the reality is far less Sensational the Zealot movement did not emerge until long after the time when

Christ would have bestowed the name upon Simon and there exists no substantial evidence to support the idea that Simon despite the designation held radical political views it is more probable that Simon's name was attributed to signify his fervent spiritual devotion rather than any extremist political stance nevertheless the exact truth remains elusive little else is known about Simon at least with any degree of certainty the Catholic encyclopedia suggests the possibility of him being a brother or cousin of Jesus though such claims lack concrete biblical evidence once again the Mysteries surrounding Simon's background leave us with unanswered

questions number five balum and the talking donkey balum the prophet is perhaps most famously remembered for an unusual encounter involving a talking donkey as recounted in Numbers 22 he had been commissioned by baac the king of Moab to pronounce curses upon the people of Israel however God had different plans for balam instead of delivering curses God instructed him to bestow blessings upon Israel and not to return to balac despite this Divine command balam chose to disregard the Lord's guidance and headed back to king balak during this return Journey while riding his donkey balam unexpectedly found

himself confronted by an Angel of the Lord ironically it was the donkey that could perceive the Angel's presence while balum a prophet also known as a sear remained obl I the donkey understandably became frightened upon encountering the angel of the Lord along the road causing it to Halt on multiple occasions convinced that his donkey had gone mad balum responded by striking the animal it was only when God miraculously allowed the donkey to speak asking why have you beaten me these three times that balam's eyes were finally opened to the presence of the Angel of the

Lord and his own Disobedience number four David Mighty Men David had a select group of individuals an elite core known as David's Mighty Men or the Mighty Men of David they are also referred to as the 30 Chiefs in 1st Chronicles 11:15 and the 30 in 1st Chronicles 12:4 these extraordinary Warriors formed a Cadre of David's toughest military soldiers renowned for their heroic Deeds among these 30 there was an exceptional subset of three considered the finest of the finest adino The eite Who astonishingly used his spear to simultaneously slay 800 men elazar the son of

Dodo The aoit Who displayed unparalleled Courage by single-handedly engaging the enemy in a battle when everyone else had fled when they returned he had defeated the enemy and his hand was stuck to his sword shamama the son of AI The harite Who valiantly held his ground against the Philistine forces achieving a momentous victory for the Lord While others retreated these three men each achieved remarkable Feats individually defeating entire armies yet their stories remain relatively unknown another noteworthy figure is bayah renowned for his daring acts such as entering a pit on a snowy day to Vanquish

a lion and defeating a formidable Egyptian opponent with the man's own spear as recounted in 2 Samuel 23: 20-21 bayah also served as the leader of David's personal bodyguards David's Mighty Men possessed remarkable military prowess and enjoyed the favor of God they played a crucial role in safeguarding The King and fighting for the freedom of their Nation the land of Israel number three Methuselah Genesis 5 introduces us to Methuselah the son of the righteous Enoch Enoch holds the distinction of being one of only three individuals in scripture who did not experience death but were instead

miraculously transported into heaven as described in Genesis 5 verse 24 Methuselah holds a unique place in human history as he achieved the longest recorded lifespan living to the remarkable age of 969 years Methuselah was the father of lamech who in turn was the father of Noah as documented in Genesis 5: 26-29 making Methuselah Noah's grandfather an intriguing aspect of their family history is that both lamech and Methuselah were alive during the construction of the Ark though regrettably they both passed away before the onset of the great flood some Scholars have proposed the theory that Methuselah

may have died just a week before the flood's commencement this notion is is derived from the fact that God instructed Noah and his family to enter the ark 7 days before the Reigns began as stated in Genesis 7: 1 and 10 some speculate that this 7-Day period might have served as a time of mourning for Methuselah a practice known to be common in the early history of humanity as indicated in Genesis 50:4 and 2 Samuel 11:27 number two the witch of Endor King Saul was at his Wit's End and trembling with fear the entire Philistine

Army had gathered to attack Israel's smaller and weaker troops Saul moaned if only Samuel were here he would tell me what to do but the great prophet of Israel had died a few years earlier the Aged Monarch tried desperately to find some advice or guidance from other prophets or priests but the Lord would not speak to him as a Young Man Saul had been close to God but after ascending the throne he became cruel and rebelled against God's word once he even had a whole village of priests murdered King Saul had persistently refused to listen

to the Lord and now in his distress God would not answer him 1 Samuel 28:7 reads then said Saul unto his servants seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit that I may go to her and inquire of her God had clearly commanded his people never to consult a witch or medium in The Book of Leviticus but Saul Now had little regard for God's implicit instruction upon finding a woman in Endor who claimed to consult with the Dead the king disguised himself and went to see her he said to the witch bring me up

Samuel the witch went through her spells and enchantments until an apparition claiming to be Samuel the prophet appeared and gave the king an utterly hopeless message it predicted predicted that Saul and his three sons would die in battle the next day the following day Saul's Sons were slain by the Philistines and afterward the wounded and discouraged King fell on his sword and took his own life as depicted in 1 Samuel 31: 2 to 4 was it actually the spirit of Samuel that spoke to Saul most likely not but who knows number one Josiah we really

don't expect much out of kids but God can Josiah ruled the kingdom of Judah at the tender age of 8 quick refresher on the timeline of the Kings there was King Solan David's son the king who started off really strong but then fell into idol worship after being influenced by his hundreds of wives after Solomon died the kingdom split into two opposing Nations the Northern Kingdom Israel and the southern Kingdom Judah 16 Kings later Josiah makes it on to the scene to rule Judah after his father Aon was killed despite his tender age Josiah's Reign

stood out as exceptional when compared to the majority of kings in the history of Israel and Judah somehow during his rule some of the books of the law that were originally composed during the time of Moses had been misplaced and forgotten Josiah rediscovered these scriptures read them and initiated a Reformation within his kingdom the Bible records Josiah's deep grief and anger upon realizing how his ancestors had disregarded God's laws at this juncture he was around 27 years old guiding the people of Judah back to their true identity as the people of [Music] God