3 Strange Characters from Bible Stories

There are 3,237 different people mentioned in the bible, so the odds are good that you haven’t heard of all of them! Even if you grew up in the church, some of those side characters have likely slipped your mind, and a lot of their stories are pretty bizarre. 

For example, everyone knows the story of Moses in the bible, but do you know Og, Beelzebub, and Balaam? These three off-beat figures come from somewhat more obscure stories of the bible. Some of them appear in bible stories for adults, which might be why your Sunday school teacher forgot to bring them up!

You don’t have to go pouring through the good book to learn about some of the weirdest stories in the bible. We’ve collected three of our favorites here for you! Keep reading to meet three strange biblical figures from the world’s most popular book!

The Story of Og

In this strange bible story, our familiar friend Moses is on his way to the promised land. What you might have forgotten is that a race of giants inhabited the promised land at the time. Og was the king of these giants, and we wonder how much he influenced fantasy naming conventions for years to come!

We don’t learn much about Og in the bible, except the exact dimensions of his bed…which are 13 feet by 6 feet, if you’re curious. That sounds sufficiently giant to us!

The Story of Balaam

In this tale, Balaam is on his way to a meeting on the back of his trusty donkey when an angel crosses his path. Balaam can’t see the angel, but the donkey can, and it proceeds to lie down on the road. 

Balaam, confused by this behavior, proceeds to beat the donkey. It’s only then that the angel appears, revealing that, if the donkey had not stopped, she would have killed Balaam. The angel thoroughly chastises Balaam for beating his steed, and they continue on their journey. 

The Story of Beelzebub

Who is Beelzebub? If you’re not clear about the story of this biblical character, it may be because the answer isn’t always clear. Many people use it as another name for Satan, but that isn’t the case.

Beelzebub was a pagan deity, a “false god,” worshiped in the city of Ekron. After King Ahaziah falls and becomes injured, he asks after Beelzebub instead of asking for the word of God. The king ultimately succumbs to his injuries. 

The weirdest part? Beelzebub literally translates to “Lord of the Flies.” 

Strange Figures From Obscure Bible Stories

The bible is an old book, so it makes sense that some of the weirder bible stories aren’t exactly relatable today. It can be fun to look back at how our priorities have changed over time. While the story of Job in the bible might never go out of style, Og and friends might be okay fading into obscurity!

If that wasn’t weird enough for you, check out the rest of the blog. It’s packed with strange and spectacular posts about every topic you can think of. 

The post 3 Strange Characters from Bible Stories first appeared on Weirdomatic. Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?