Who's that?
22 Mar 2017 • Articles
Who's that?
A few of the Bible’s more obscure characters
Aeneus
Aeneus was a sick man, bedridden for eight years, who Peter cured during a visit to Lydda (Acts 9.32-35).
Athaliah
The daughter of King Ahab of Israel, she was Ahaziah’s mother and, on the death of her son, sought to exterminate the rest of the family. But Ahaziah’s sister hid his son, Joash (Jehoash) and ‘he remained with her for six years, hidden in the house of the Lord while Athaliah reigned over the land’ (2 Kings 11.1-3). After six years, the priest Jehoiada had Joash proclaimed king and anointed. The captains of the guard were instructed to put Athaliah to death with the sword.
Dorcas
A disciple whom Peter restored to life after he had been told about her acts of charity (Acts 9.36-43).
Eutychus
He fell asleep while Paul talked at some length, and promptly fell to the ground out of a window. Paul revived him (Acts 24.22-27).
Nicodemus
A Parisee and ‘a leader of the Jews’ (John 1.45,46) and, perhaps, on the fringes of those who followed Jesus. It was he who assisted Joseph of Arimathea with the burying of Jesus in the sepulchre and provided ‘a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds’ (John 19.39).
Og
The king of Bashan who was defeated by the Israelites after they had defeated and taken the lands of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Numbers 21.33-35).
Sheba
This was the Queen of Sheba rather than the name of the queen. This is no agreement as to the precise whereabouts of Sheba from which its queen visited King Solomon. (1 Kings 14.25-28)