How well do you really know the Bible? As you read on, some surprising facts about the Bible that you may not have known will be presented to you. Some of these facts may even seem strange, but the location of these facts will be presented to you as well in order for you to look them up yourself. This presentation is not meant to scold you if you did not know these facts, neither is it made to criticize your spiritual relationship with God through the Bible if you did not know. This piece of writing is specifically made for your own entertainment and knowledge source of the Holy Word.

1. Mary and Joseph had other children besides Jesus.

In church we are taught that Mary and Joseph are Jesus’ parents, but the aspect that Jesus actually had “siblings” is never really talked about. Of course, these siblings were not the children of God like Jesus is God’s son. These siblings were only the children of Joseph and Mary. These siblings are only briefly mentioned in Matthew 12:16-17, Matthew 13:55-56, Mark 3:31-32, and Mark 6:3.

2. The Seven Deadly Sins do not exist.

Seven types of sin are not deadlier than other sins. Each sin is just as bad in God’s eyes. Romans 6:23 states “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Notice how the verse says sin as a whole and not just certain types of sin. This verse is displaying that God is stating that all sin is bad in the same way: lying is just as bad as murdering somebody. Each sin is punishable by death, but God found a way to give us forgiveness and eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ.

3. A woman in the Bible gets chopped into twelve pieces.

Judges chapter 19 is about a Levite who married a concubine. As the couple traveled to a city, they stayed the night at a man’s house. During this time a group of men surrounded the house and demanded the Levite be brought out so that they would have sex with him. The owner of the house brought out the Levite’s wife (the concubine) to them instead. The men raped her until she died. When the Levite found his wife dead, he chopped her up into twelve pieces and sent them to the twelve tribes of Israel.

4. One of the men who was crucified alongside of Jesus was sent to heaven.

On the cross there were two men who were crucified alongside of Jesus. One of them humbled himself before Jesus and went to heaven; the other did not humble himself (he actually mocked Jesus) and was sent to Hell. This is mentioned in Luke 23: 39-43.

5. There is a Bible Verse on tattoos.

Leviticus 19:28 states “Ye shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.” This verse may pertain to tattoos.

6. The Bible does mention what God thinks of suicide.

Several people in the Bible committed suicide such as Samuel, Judas, etc. God says that he does not approve of suicide. Jesus is the one who chooses when we are born and when we die. Ecclesiastes 7:17 speaks specifically about life: “Be ye not over much wicked, neither be ye foolish: why should ye die before your time?”

7. One of the books of the Bible is a set of love poems or letters.

The book of Solomon’s Song of Songs is a collection of love songs. This book contains two speakers, a man and a woman, whom love each other a lot which is quite obvious based on the words that are written. It is unclear why this collection is in the Bible, but it could be God’s way of showing us an example of love between man and woman.

8. The mark 666 is the sign of the beast.

The number 666 is the sign of the beast in the Bible, which is mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

9. One of the stories in the Bible contains a talking donkey.

Numbers 22:21-39 is a story about a donkey that talks to his master named Balaam. In this story, only the donkey could see an angel with the sword. The donkey would veer away from the angel, but Balaam could not see the angel and therefore beat the donkey. After three times, the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey to speak to Balaam. After this the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes so he could finally see the angel, and the Lord instructed Balaam to turn back and prophesy to the people.

10. Gay/lesbian/homosexuality was mentioned as one of the reasons why two cities were destroyed.

Genesis chapter 19 contains a story about two places called Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities were destroyed by God because of their wicked sin-homosexuality was one of them. Genesis 19:4 talks specifically about a group of men whom surrounded Lot’s house because they wanted to have sex with the men who were staying there. God’s angels stopped these men. Verses 6-17 continue with God instructing Lot and his family to escape before he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for its wicked sin.

11. The book of Esther does not mention the word “God.”

This book of the Bible is of definite importance to how God works. However, it is so strange that this book does not mention God by name. This could be to show the purpose that God works in the world, even when he is not acknowledged. It could also serve as a purpose of letting us recognize the work of God when He is not mentioned directly, that He is everywhere.

12. Moses never entered the Promised Land.

Everyone knows the story of Moses, Egypt, the plagues, etc. However, not many people pay attention to what the Israelites and Moses do after they escape Egypt. God had Moses lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. Many trials happened before the Israelites even made it to the Promised Land. Moses was ever faithful to God, but he disobeyed God directly. Numbers 20:7-8 states: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.” Numbers 20: 11-12 states: “And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

I pray this article answers a few questions you may have had, or that you learned something about Jesus through this article. I would like to end with a reminder that this article was not made to criticize or judge anybody. Jesus lead me to write this article, and I pray that His will be done.