What's in a Name?
The Old Testament King James Bible books named after their author are Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
Other books named after their author include all twelve of the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).
The Old Testament books, however, referenced by a person's name who was NOT the author include Joshua and Ruth (written by Samuel) along with 1 and 2 Samuel (penned by Isaiah). Interestingly, even though Samuel did not write the books named after him, he did write Joshua, Judges and Ruth!
Most of the New Testament books named after a person (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, as well as Jude) were also authored by them. The four exceptions are 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon which were letters recorded by the Apostle Paul.
Weirdest Offering to God
One of the oddest trivia facts in the Bible revolves around the Philistines. God, after Israel's fiercest and longest enemy captured the Ark of the Covenant, plagued them with painful hemorrhoids.
But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod (the Philistines), and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof (1Samuel 5:6, KJV).
Emerods, derived from the Hebrew ophel (Strong's #H6076), can mean a tumor or hemorrhoid (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions).
Realizing their possession and mistreatment of the Ark brought the painful condition, the Philistines wisely decided to give the Ark back to Israel. The Bible then records that when they returned home they made the rather weird offering to God of pure gold shaped in the form of both hemorrhoids and mice (1Samuel 6:5, 11)!
Lust of the Dead
Here's another bit of weird Bible trivia you probably were not aware of. Moses, before he died, reminded ancient Israel of its history when he stated, ". . . and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the Lord to anger" (Deuteronomy 9:22, HBFV). What were the graves of LUST?
The location in question is called Kibroth-hattaavah in the Bible. It is where a plague was sent among the Israelites for their sin of lusting after meat after God miraculously provided manna for them (Numbers 11:31 - 35).
Circumcision Hill
The largest collection of men, according to the Bible, who were circumcised at one time were all those destined to enter the Promised Land under Joshua (see Joshua 5). Although those who left Egypt forty years prior were circumcised, their children (who were the ones God allowed in Canaan) were not (Joshua 5:4 - 6).
Although it may seem a bit weird, all the circumcisions of Joshua 5 occurred at the same time. They were also performed by anyone (not just priests or elders) who wanted to do so.
More than 600,000+ males left Egyptian slavery under Moses (Numbers 1:46). At least as many, and likely more of them, were alive when the Israelites entered into their inheritance. The place where the men were circumcised or had their trimmed parts buried (or both) was called "the hill of the foreskins" (Joshua 5:3).
Left-handed Killers
There are only two references in the Bible to people who were known to be left-handed. Ehud was a left-handed warrior used by God to save the Israelites from being oppressed. He would ultimately serve as Israel's Judge for eighty years, the longest of anyone who served in such a capacity (Judges 3:14 - 30).
The Israelite tribe of Benjamin seems to have produced an unusually large number of left-handed individuals. Some of them were so skilled at slinging stones that the Bible reveals, "Every one could sling stones at a hair’s breadth, and not miss" (Judges 20:16).
Faster Than a Chariot
Who is the fastest person in the Bible? Both King Ahab and Elijah were at the foot of Mount Carmel after the prophet had all the false priests of Baal slain (1Kings 18:1 - 40). Elijah tells the king that he needs to get on his chariot and rush to Jezreel (16+ miles or 25.7 kilometers away) before a drought-ending downpour makes it impossible to travel.
God, after Ahab left, empowered Elijah with the superhuman ability to outrun the monarch's speedy chariot and arrive at Jezreel before him!
And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel (1Kings 18:45 - 46).
The Circumcision Group
Our last weird Bible trivia fact relates to the sometimes humorous topic of circumcision.
Scripture refers, by name, to ten individuals or groups of men who were circumcised. In the Old Testament, they were Ishmael, Abraham, Isaac, the men in the city of Shechem, Moses' son, and every uncircumcised male to enter the Promised Land. In the New Testament, they were John the Baptist, Jesus, Timothy and the Apostle Paul.