17 Lesser-Known Bible Characters You May Know (But You Should!)
The Bible is full of amazing stories we know, but here are 17 lesser-known Bible characters with obscure stories of faith and courage.
I am one person in a sea of nearly eight billion people.
There’s nothing special about me to make me stand out. In a large group (or maybe even a small one), you probably wouldn’t even see me.
When you think about the size of the world and the sheer number of individuals in it, it won’t take long to feel invisible.
I’m just a mom and homemaker. I live in a little town that has one gas station and a post office.
I spend my days homeschooling, cleaning and refereeing fights between my two sons.
If you step back and take a look at my life, you probably won’t see anything impressive.
What role does one single person play in God’s great plan?
Does God truly have a purpose for each one of us?
Can one, small, insignificant person make much of a difference in the kingdom of God?
The Unlikely Heroes of the Bible
The pages of Scripture are full of great stories with characters we all know. Moses, Noah, David, and Jonah.
We know the impact their lives had on eternity.
But what about those lesser-known Bible characters like Ehud, Jethro, Epaphroditus, and Rhoda?
What about Dodo’s son, and the amazing things he did?
The Bible is also full of characters who have no names. In their lifetimes, they may never have been noticed for their contributions to the faith.
These unlikely heroes have valuable lessons to teach us about faith, courage, and God’s power in the lives of ordinary people.
It’s no secret that some parts of the Bible are more interesting and even easier to read than others.
The story of the Israelites’ rescue from Egypt can hold your attention a lot better than reading through the list of names in 1 and 2 Chronicles.
Every part of God’s Word is important, even if we don’t understand why.
We need to read the story of creation, Noah’s Ark, and Paul’s conversion experience. They contain powerful lessons for strengthening our faith.
But there are a lot of Bible characters whose names are mentioned only once, or perhaps they aren’t named at all, only referenced.
These lesser-known characters are all vitally important. In fact, some of them played a pivotal role in God’s plan.
For instance, do you know that one woman saved the entire kingdom of Judah when she stole a child and hid him for six years?
Yep, that really happened, right in the middle of the Old Testament. The story is tucked into the book of 2 Kings, and it’s easy to miss.
What other stories that you may not have noticed are “hidden” in the pages of the Bible?
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17 Lesser-Known Bible Characters to Remember
A left-handed judge who saved the children of Israel from an evil king.
A woman who killed an evil general with a tent peg.
Three men who each defeated an entire army.
A little girl who saved the life of a general.
Each of these is an obscure Bible character you may not have heard about in Sunday school.
But they all have amazing stories that can change the way you see God’s incredible story play out over the generations.
Jethro
Most people probably don’t know the father-in-law of Moses, but Jethro played an important role for the people of Israel.
As they journeyed toward the promised land, the large group of people had a lot of issues. They had disagreements, arguments, and property disputes–the same as we often do today.
Jethro noticed that every little problem was brought to Moses to judge.
Can you imagine how exhausting that would be? He sat every day and listened to every person’s problems and judged who was right and wrong.
Moses’ leadership was greatly respected by the people, but this was not a great use of his time.
His father-in-law recommended that he choose some wise men, teach them God’s laws, and delegate responsibility for judging the people.
Jethro’s wise suggestion changed the way the nation of Israel operated and made it much more efficient.
Read about Jethro and his wise advice in Exodus 18.
Balaam
As the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan, the bordering nations were often afraid of them.
One such nation was Moab, and their king, Balak, asked a man named Balaam to come and curse God’s people.
God told Balaam not to go, but he went anyways.
As he traveled to King Balak, an angel of the Lord stood in the way with a sword to stop him, but Balamm didn’t see it.
Twice his donkey stepped out of the path to prevent the angel from killing Balaam.
After the third time, Balaam began to curse his donkey and beat her.
What did she do? She spoke to him and said, “What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?”
The shocking part of this story is that Balaam didn’t seem surprised at all, but he answered his donkey!
Balaam continued on his journey, but God would not let him curse the people of Israel, and he gave them a blessing instead.
Read all about the talking donkey guy and the blessing he gave in Numbers 22-23.
Ehud
When the children of Israel arrived in the promised land, their troubles weren’t over.
For many years they went through cycles of disobedience, judgment, and rescue. We read these stories in the book of Judges.
In Judges 3, we read how God strengthened the king of Moab, Eglon, and he ruled over them for 18 years.
The people of God grew tired of the oppressive rule of Eglon, and cried out to Him. God raised up Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin.
Ehud went to visit Eglon and take him a present.
He asked everyone to leave while he gave Eglon a message from God.
Then, he pulled a hidden dagger from under his robe and thrust it into the belly of the grossly-overweight king.
He slipped out, and no one discovered what he had done for hours.
You can read the story of Ehud in Judges 3.
Deborah
The children of Israel didn’t learn much, and Judges 4 finds them turning back to sin.
This time God delivered them into the hands of the King of Canaan.
This king had an army with nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
At that time, Israel was judged by a woman.
Her name was Deborah and she judged the people from under a palm tree.
God told her to deliver a message to Barak to go to war against Sisera, the general of the army of Canaan.
Barak was afraid and told Deborah he would only go if she went with him. Deborah said she would go, but because of Barak’s lack of faith, he would not be credited with winning the battle against Sisera.
That honor would go to a woman. (Keep reading to find out who!)
Read all about Deborah in Judges 4-5.
Jael
When the battle got hard, and it was obvious he would lose, Sisera ran away and found a hiding place in the tent of Heber.
Heber’s wife, Jael, said, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not.” And she hid him under a blanket.
He asked her for a drink of water, but Jael gave him some milk.
Soon, Sisera was asleep under the blanket.
Jael grabbed a tent peg, went in the tent, and drove the peg right into his temple.
This woman is credited with killing one of the greatest generals in the Old Testament with no military training or even using a weapon!
Find out more about Jael in Judges 4.
David’s Mighty Men
You may have read about these great heroes without even realizing it.
Their names are only mentioned once, and if you’re not careful, you’ll scan right past what they did.
David was a great man of war from the time he was young.
The ladies in Bethlehem sang a song that proclaimed, “Saul has slain thousands, but David has slain tens of thousands.”
He had his own army of mighty men, but there were three who stood out above the rest.
Adino the Eznite–used his spear to kill eight hundred men at once.
Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite–fought alone in a battle after everyone else ran away. When they returned, he had defeated the enemy, and his hand was stuck to his sword.
Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite–stood his ground against the Philistines and won a great victory for the Lord when everyone else retreated.
Three men who each single-handedly defeated an army, but we hardly know anything about them.
Read more about David’s mighty men in 2 Samuel 23.
The Little Maid of Israel
The story of Naaman in the Old Testament is an amazing story of healing.
You know the one where the prophet Elisha told him to go and dip seven times in the Jordan and he came up healed from his leprosy?
But how did this general, who was an enemy of the children of Israel know that the prophet could heal him?
A little servant girl told him.
But she wasn’t just a servant. She was a slave who had been taken captive from her homeland by Naaman’s army.
But instead of being bitter and angry, she offered her master the greatest gift when she shared the news about the prophet with him.
It’s a powerful lesson of forgiveness we can all learn from.
Read about Naaman and his little maid in 2 Kings 5.
Jehosheba
When Ahaziah, the king of Judah, was killed in battle, his mother, Athaliah took action.
She killed all of the royal seed and set herself up as queen.
But Jehosheba took one little baby–Ahaziah’s son, Joash, and hid him from the wicked queen.
She hid with him in the house of the Lord for seven years.
Then, Jehoiada, the high priest called together some loyal servants of the Lord and crowned Jehoash as the rightful king of Judah.
He was only seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years.
He was a great king who did what was right and repaired the house of the Lord.
Even though her role seems small, and her name was only mentioned once, Jehosheba’s quick actions saved an entire kingdom.
Read more about Athaliah, Jehosheba, and Jehoash in 2 Kings 11-12.
Jabez
We don’t know much about Jabez, except that he was of the tribe of Judah and his name meant sorrowful.
But the Word of God does include this prayer that he prayed:
Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!
The Bible says that God granted him the request he asked for.
Now, there is no special power in praying the prayer of Jabez.
But it is a powerful reminder that God hears and answers our prayers when we bring our requests to Him.
Read about Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4.
Related: How to Pray More with a Written Prayer List
Mordecai
Most of us know the story of the beautiful Queen Esther, and how she stood up for the oppressed people of God.
But the story of Mordecai isn’t as well-known.
Mordecai was Esther’s cousin, and he raised her as a child. When he learned that the wicked Haman had plotted to kill the Jewish people, he sent a message to Esther.
He told her that she must go to the king to save her people.
Esther told Mordecai that she would only go if he and all of their people prayed for her. Mordecai gave Esther the courage to stand up to the king.
Mordecai reminded Esther that her life was in God’s hands, and He had chosen her for this job.
“and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
Read Mordecai’s and Esther’s stories in the book of Esther.
Nicodemus
While many common people followed Jesus, most of the ruling class hated Him–especially the religious leaders.
But one powerful man was curious about Jesus, and he came secretly to talk to Him at night.
Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, a powerful religious group in Israel.
He was well-versed in the laws of God from the Old Testament.
But the teachings of Jesus were different from what he had studied his entire life.
He had many questions which Jesus answered.
John 3:16 is probably the most popular verse in the Holy Bible, and Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus.
You can read Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3.
Rhoda
Rhoda is one of my personal favorite female characters in the New Testament.
When Peter was in prison, the members of the early church met together in a house to pray for him.
While they prayed, God miraculously delivered Peter from prison, and he knocked on the door of the house!
Only Rhoda seems to have heard the knock.
When she went to answer the door, she was shocked when the person on the other side announced he was Peter who had come from prison!
Rhoda was so excited, she left the apostle standing on the porch and ran inside to tell the others!
They refused to believe her (talk about faith!), but Peter kept knocking until they finally opened the door and let him in.
Read all about Peter’s exit from prison in Acts 12.
Dorcas
The story of Dorcas is found in the book of Acts, which tells us her name was also translated to Tabitha.
She did many good works and helped widows and orphans. When she got sick and died, they were heartbroken.
Peter was nearby, and the church leaders sent for him and asked him to visit them.
When he arrived, he found the widows crying and they showed him the many clothes Dorcas had made for them.
Peter sent them out of the room and kneeled down to pray.
Then, he stood up and said, “Tabitha, arise.”
And she opened her eyes and lived again!
You can read the story of Dorcas in Acts 9.
Onesimus
We don’t have a lot of information about Onesimus, but a lot can be assumed about his life from the letter Apostle Paul wrote to Philemon.
It seems that Onesimus used to be a slave to Philemon. He had somehow brought harm to his master and most likely run away.
But now he had turned to Christ and become a helper to Paul.
Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus and receive him as a brother instead of a slave.
Paul told Philemon that he would pay whatever debts Onesimus had left behind.
Read Paul’s personal letter and appeal for Onesimus in Philemon.
Epaphroditus
The Apostle Paul wrote 17 books in the New Testament, but Biblical history tells us that he probably suffered an issue with his eyes.
The verses of Scripture written by Paul were often dictated and written by someone else.
Epaphroditus was the writer of the book Philippians, and it seems that Paul also sent him to deliver the letter to the Christian leaders.
Epaphroditus was a faithful servant and helper to Paul, but he had been very sick–in fact, he had nearly died.
But God was merciful to Epaphroditus and healed him. Instead of going back home (like I probably would’ve done!) he stayed to continue helping Paul.
Because of his faithfulness, we have the wonderful book of Philippians to encourage us to live a godly life.
Read about Epaphroditus in Philippians.
Minor Bible Characters with Major Lessons to Teach
Every part of God’s Word is important, and if He took the time to write about the seemingly minor characters, there is a reason.
In the eyes of the Lord, every one of us has an important job to do.
These lesser-known Bible characters might seem like they don’t have a lot to offer, but they are all a part of the big story of God.
They teach us invaluable lessons like the importance of forgiveness, never giving up, and how one brave person can make a difference in a whole kingdom.
But more than that, these obscure Bible characters show us God sees every little thing we do, and He cares.
Even if you think you’re job isn’t important, don’t give it up. God has a plan for your life and you never know how He might use you!
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