30 Weird Bible Verses You Probably Haven’t Heard Before
The Bible is full of wisdom, guidance, and powerful stories, but it also contains some verses that may leave you scratching your head. These weird Bible verses can seem strange or confusing when taken out of context, especially to modern readers.
From unusual laws to surprising stories, these verses remind us that the Bible was written in a different time, with different cultural norms. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most unusual and puzzling passages from the Bible, offering a glimpse into the ancient world and its complex, sometimes bizarre, teachings.
1. Deuteronomy 25:11-12 – A Hand for Grabbing
“If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.”
This verse, from the Old Testament, outlines a law for dealing with a woman who intervenes in a fight between two men by grabbing one by the genitals. The prescribed punishment—cutting off her hand—seems severe and strange by today’s standards.
This reflects the harsh legal codes of the time, aimed at maintaining strict social order. The severity of this punishment highlights how seriously certain actions were taken in ancient Israelite society, even when modern readers would consider it an overreaction.
2. Leviticus 19:19 – Mixing Fabrics Is Forbidden
“Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.”
In this verse from Leviticus, the Israelites are instructed not to wear clothes made of mixed fabrics, along with prohibitions on hybrid animals and mixed crops. To modern readers, a ban on wearing clothes made from two types of fabric (like cotton and polyester) seems unusual and irrelevant.
However, in the context of ancient Israel, this law likely had symbolic significance, representing purity, order, and separation. The emphasis on distinct boundaries in clothing, crops, and livestock reflects a broader theme of maintaining spiritual and cultural separation from surrounding nations.
3. 2 Kings 2:23-24 – Elisha and the Bears
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“From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. ‘Get out of here, baldy!’ they said. ‘Get out of here, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.”
This is one of the most shocking and bizarre stories in the Bible. After being mocked by a group of young boys for his baldness, the prophet Elisha curses them in the name of the Lord, leading to two bears attacking and killing 42 of them.
The severity of this response to what seems like childish teasing is difficult to understand in modern terms. However, in the ancient world, mocking a prophet of God was seen as an act of profound disrespect, and the incident likely reflects the seriousness of opposing God’s chosen representatives.
4. Ezekiel 4:12-13 – Bread Baked Over Human Dung
“Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.” The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”
In this passage, the prophet Ezekiel is instructed by God to bake bread using human feces as fuel for the fire. This strange and unsettling command is a symbolic act meant to show the Israelites what will happen when they are taken into exile and forced to live among foreign nations.
The use of human waste symbolizes the defilement and humiliation that the Israelites will face. After Ezekiel protests, God allows him to use cow dung instead, which was still considered a common fuel source in ancient times but less defiling than human waste.
5. Judges 3:21-22 – The Fat That Swallowed the Sword
“Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.”
This passage from the Book of Judges describes a graphic assassination. Ehud, an Israelite judge, kills the Moabite king Eglon by stabbing him in the belly with a sword. The detail that the king’s fat closed over the sword, along with the vivid description of his bowels discharging, makes this story stand out as particularly grotesque and strange.
The gory details emphasize the cunning and brutality of Ehud’s act, as well as the degradation of the Moabite oppressor. While the story is meant to celebrate Israel’s victory, its graphic nature can feel unsettling to modern readers.
6. Genesis 6:1-4 – Sons of God and the Nephilim
“When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
This cryptic and strange passage from Genesis describes a mysterious event where the “sons of God” (often interpreted as angels or divine beings) married human women and produced offspring known as the Nephilim, a race of giants. The exact identity of the “sons of God” and the nature of the Nephilim have been subjects of debate for centuries.
The supernatural nature of this story makes it feel otherworldly and bizarre, particularly when placed within the larger narrative of Genesis. This verse has fueled much speculation about the connection between humans and divine beings in ancient religious thought.
7. Numbers 22:28-30 – Balaam’s Talking Donkey
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“Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?’ Balaam answered the donkey, ‘You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.’ The donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?’”
In this surreal passage, Balaam’s donkey is given the ability to speak after Balaam repeatedly beats it for stopping on the road. The donkey, having seen an angel blocking the path, questions Balaam’s actions.
What makes this story weird is Balaam’s nonchalant response to his donkey speaking, as if it were a common occurrence. The talking donkey is a classic example of the Bible’s use of supernatural events to deliver a message, but the strangeness of the interaction still stands out to readers today.
8. Song of Solomon 4:2 – Teeth Like Sheep
“Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.”
The Song of Solomon is known for its poetic and sometimes odd descriptions of love and beauty. In this verse, the writer praises a woman’s teeth by comparing them to freshly shorn sheep.
While the imagery may seem odd or comical to modern readers, it was likely intended as a flattering comparison in ancient Hebrew poetry, where such agricultural metaphors were common. Describing beauty using the natural world was a way to express admiration in terms familiar to the culture at the time, even if it feels strange to us today.
9. Exodus 4:24-26 – The Bridegroom of Blood
“At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,’ she said. So the Lord let him alone.”
This cryptic and unsettling story occurs as Moses is traveling back to Egypt after God has commanded him to confront Pharaoh. Suddenly, God seeks to kill Moses, and it is only through the quick actions of his wife, Zipporah, who circumcises their son and touches Moses with the foreskin, that Moses is saved.
This mysterious event is difficult to understand, even for scholars, and it raises many questions about the role of circumcision and God’s sudden wrath toward Moses. The phrase “bridegroom of blood” adds to the strangeness, as its meaning is unclear in this context.
10. Mark 14:51-52 – The Naked Young Man
“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”
This odd detail appears in the Gospel of Mark during the arrest of Jesus. As the soldiers apprehend Jesus, a young man following him flees in such haste that he leaves his garment behind and runs away naked.
The identity of this young man is never explained, and the inclusion of this seemingly random event has puzzled readers for centuries. Some scholars speculate that the young man may have been Mark himself, while others see it as a symbolic reference, but its randomness makes it one of the stranger moments in the New Testament.
11. Leviticus 20:9 – Cursing Your Parents
“For anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death; because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.”
This verse prescribes the death penalty for cursing one’s parents. In the context of ancient Israel, where family honor was paramount, this law made sense in maintaining societal order. However, the severity of the punishment seems extreme today, where disrespect or rebellion is typically met with discipline rather than execution.
The verse highlights how drastically societal and legal systems have evolved since biblical times, making it one of the more strikingly harsh rules found in the Old Testament.
12. Deuteronomy 23:1 – No Man with Crushed Genitals
“No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.”
This verse forbids men with crushed or damaged genitals from entering the assembly of the Lord, a ruling that might seem irrelevant and peculiar today. In ancient Israel, bodily wholeness was often seen as a symbol of spiritual purity, and any physical imperfection or injury was considered a barrier to full participation in religious life.
This verse reflects the strict purity laws that governed access to worship in the ancient world but feels strange and exclusionary by modern standards.
13. 1 Samuel 18:25-27 – David’s Dowry of 200 Foreskins
“David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law.”
In this gruesome passage, King Saul demands 100 Philistine foreskins as a bride price for his daughter Michal’s hand in marriage, but David returns with 200 instead. The practice of collecting foreskins as proof of victory in battle is both bizarre and brutal.
This account emphasizes the violence and tribal warfare of the time, with a focus on physical mutilation as a symbol of conquest. Today, this act seems shocking, highlighting the stark contrast between ancient and modern customs surrounding marriage and honor.
14. Isaiah 20:2-3 – Isaiah Walks Naked
“At that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, ‘Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.’ And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.”
God commands the prophet Isaiah to walk around naked and barefoot for three years as a symbolic act against Egypt and Cush. This prophetic gesture is meant to foreshadow the coming humiliation and exile of these nations, but the visual of a prophet wandering naked for years is jarring.
In a time where public nudity was considered shameful, this act would have shocked onlookers, yet it was intended as a powerful message of impending doom. The bizarre nature of this command makes it one of the stranger prophetic actions in the Bible.
15. Leviticus 11:20-23 – Insects You Can Eat
“All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.”
This dietary law outlines which insects are considered clean and fit for consumption. While many modern readers might find the idea of eating insects strange or off-putting, it was a normal part of the diet in the ancient world.
The verse gives specific exceptions for locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets, which were considered clean. The focus on dietary purity, even down to insects, reflects the broader concern in Levitical law for maintaining the holiness and distinctiveness of the Israelite people.
16. Numbers 5:27 – The Bitter Water Test
“If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, it will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry.”
This passage describes a strange ritual for testing whether a woman has committed adultery. The woman is made to drink a concoction of holy water mixed with dust from the tabernacle floor, and if she is guilty, she will suffer painful physical consequences.
The ritual, known as the “bitter water test,” feels almost magical in its reliance on divine intervention to reveal guilt or innocence. The strange combination of a physical test and divine judgment seems foreign to modern readers, who might question its fairness and scientific basis.
17. Exodus 21:20-21 – Beating Servants
“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.”
In this passage, a legal distinction is made between the severity of punishment depending on whether a servant dies or recovers from a beating.
While the verse does place some limits on how far a master can go in disciplining a servant, it still highlights the harsh realities of slavery in the ancient world, where human beings were considered property. This verse reflects a legal system that condoned the physical punishment of slaves, a practice that is widely condemned today.
18. 1 Kings 22:19-23 – Lying Spirits
“And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.”
This passage recounts a heavenly council where God allows a deceiving spirit to mislead King Ahab through false prophecy, leading to his death in battle. The concept of God permitting a spirit to lie and deceive is unsettling and strange, raising complex theological questions about divine justice and the role of evil.
It suggests a level of divine orchestration in events that seems contradictory to the idea of God as wholly good, making it one of the more perplexing stories in the Bible.
19. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – Stoning a Rebellious Son
“If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town… Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.”
This severe law allows for the death penalty by stoning for a rebellious son who refuses to obey his parents. The harshness of this punishment, especially for what modern societies would consider typical adolescent behavior, feels extreme and shocking.
It reflects the strict communal norms of ancient Israel, where maintaining social order and respect for authority was crucial. Today, this law is one of the most jarring examples of how differently justice was administered in biblical times.
20. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 – Uzzah’s Instant Death
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.”
In this story, Uzzah is struck dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant to steady it when the oxen pulling it stumble. While Uzzah’s act seems instinctive and perhaps well-meaning, the severe punishment reflects the sacredness of the Ark and the strict rules regarding its handling.
The instant death of Uzzah for what seems like a small, protective gesture feels extreme, making this passage one of the more unsettling stories of divine judgment in the Bible.
21. Hosea 1:2 – Marry a Prostitute
“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.’”
In this strange command, God tells the prophet Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman (commonly interpreted as a prostitute) as a symbolic representation of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. This marriage serves as a metaphor for the relationship between God and Israel, with Hosea’s personal life becoming a living prophecy.
The idea of a prophet being told to enter into a marriage with a prostitute feels shocking and counterintuitive, yet it is meant to convey the gravity of Israel’s betrayal. This command challenges modern notions of morality and marriage, making it one of the stranger requests made by God in the Bible.
22. Numbers 21:6 – Fiery Serpents
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“Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.”
As punishment for their complaints and lack of faith, God sends venomous (or “fiery”) serpents to bite and kill many Israelites. The sudden appearance of deadly snakes as divine retribution is strange and terrifying.
The image of serpents attacking people as an act of divine punishment has resonances with other biblical symbols of sin and evil, particularly the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The strange punishment of venomous snakes highlights the severity of divine wrath in response to disobedience.
23. Leviticus 12:2-5 – Childbirth and Purification
“When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period… she will be unclean.”
In this passage, Leviticus outlines purification rituals for women after childbirth, specifying different lengths of time for recovery depending on whether the child is male or female. Women are considered “unclean” for seven days after giving birth to a boy but for two weeks after a girl.
The disparity between these two time periods has led to much debate and confusion. While these purification laws were part of the broader set of ritual purity codes in ancient Israel, they feel antiquated and strange to modern readers.
24. Exodus 4:25 – Zipporah’s Circumcision Act
“But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,’ she said. So the Lord let him alone.”
In this peculiar scene, Moses’ wife, Zipporah, circumcises their son and touches Moses’ feet with the foreskin, an act that somehow saves Moses from God’s wrath. The story is cryptic, and scholars have long debated its meaning.
The suddenness of the event, along with the strange connection between circumcision and Moses’ survival, makes this one of the more perplexing and bizarre stories in the Bible.
25. Deuteronomy 14:21 – Cooking a Goat in Its Mother’s Milk
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
This dietary restriction is repeated multiple times in the Old Testament, forbidding the cooking of a goat in its mother’s milk. The rationale behind this law is unclear, though some scholars suggest it may have been a way to prevent pagan ritual practices.
Regardless of the reasoning, the specific and seemingly arbitrary nature of the command makes it one of the Bible’s weirder dietary laws.
26. Judges 15:15 – Samson and the Jawbone
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“Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.”
In this story, Samson uses the jawbone of a donkey as a weapon to kill a thousand Philistines. The sheer brutality of the act, combined with the unusual choice of weapon, makes this passage stand out.
Samson’s superhuman strength and the casual mention of him killing so many men with such an odd tool feel both epic and bizarre, characteristic of the larger-than-life tales in the Book of Judges.
27. Revelation 16:21 – Hailstones of 100 Pounds
“From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.”
In the apocalyptic visions of the Book of Revelation, gigantic hailstones weighing about 100 pounds fall from the sky as one of the plagues on humanity. The image of such enormous hailstones causing destruction seems almost fantastical, adding to the dramatic and symbolic nature of the visions in Revelation.
This plague is part of a series of terrifying events meant to signify the end times, but the sheer scale of destruction described makes this one of the stranger natural disasters in biblical prophecy.
28. 1 Samuel 19:24 – Saul Strips Naked
“He stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night.”
In this strange episode, King Saul, overwhelmed by the Spirit of God, strips off his clothes and lies naked while prophesying. The public display of nudity seems unusual and out of place, especially for a king.
The reason for Saul’s behavior is not fully explained, and it adds to the confusion surrounding his increasingly erratic actions as he loses control over his kingdom and his own mind. The public nudity of a king adds a layer of weirdness to the story, leaving readers wondering about its symbolic or prophetic meaning.
29. Ezekiel 37:5-6 – Valley of Dry Bones
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin.”
In this famous vision, Ezekiel sees a valley filled with dry bones, which God brings back to life by attaching tendons and flesh, raising them into a living army. This striking image of resurrection and restoration is both powerful and eerie, as bones literally come to life before Ezekiel’s eyes.
The vivid detail of bones growing tendons and skin makes the scene feel surreal and unsettling, yet it carries a deep message of hope and renewal for Israel. Despite its symbolic importance, the imagery of walking skeletons makes this vision one of the Bible’s weirder moments.
30. John 9:6 – Jesus Heals with Mud
“After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam.’”
In this account of Jesus healing a blind man, Jesus spits on the ground to make mud and applies it to the man’s eyes, instructing him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
The method of healing, involving saliva and mud, feels odd and unorthodox, especially compared to Jesus’ other miracles, which often involve simple words or touch. This unusual healing technique has led to much speculation, and the strangeness of using mud as a healing agent makes this story stand out among Jesus’ miracles.
