Bible Facts:The Acts of 26 Wicked Men in the Old Testament

Evil in Biblical Times

The history of all nations and all times is replete with evil men and Biblical times are no different. The temptation to give in to wicked deeds, especially by those in power, is nothing new to we who watch wars and horrible acts of cruelty perpetrated on a daily basis, across the world.

The lesson perhaps, knowing how wicked men of the Bible could act, is that it enforces that much more, the good men of the Bible, and of our modern era. These wicked men only serve to show how much greater shines the goodness and virtue of the others--those who choose to follow God rather than defy Him.

The Old Testament forms a translated (from the Hebrew) account of the people Israel, the Jewish nation; the texts telling of the various trials and tribulations as they--the Jewish People--moved from creation to slavery to exile to Eretez Israel and on into exile and slavery and back again in the end, to Jerusalem. Writers of the Old Testament (said originally to have been Moses for the first five books) sometimes outline the wicked acts committed by, specifically, those who disobeyed God and committed crimes against the law of Moses and were inevitably seen to suffer punishment for worship of alien gods, acts of adultery and other sins against the tradition. Sources describe many such men in the Old Testament, named and identified by their role in acts of darkness and actions against rabbinic doctrine as it was understood in such books as Leviticus and others.

1. Cain

 Cain, murderer of his righteous brother Abel

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. " Gen. 4:8

2. Bera,

Bera, king of the perverted city of Sodom

Bera (Heb.: ברע) is the king of Sodom (סדם) in Genesis 14. There is no mention of this monarch outside this biblical passage, and no trace of the city of Sodom has ever been found. In the story, Bera joins other Canaanite city kings in rebelling against Chedorlaomer, an Elamite king who rules a vast empire. The huge imperial forces plunder Sodom, taking many people captive and also much plunder. The people and possessions are rescued by Abram. Bera comes---he had escaped the battle by hiding in a hole---and tells Abram he can keep all the material wealth if only he'll give him back his people. Abram generously replies that he will not take as much as a shoelace from Sodom.

Gen. 14:2, 21

3. Esau

 Esau, materialistic and fornicating son of Isaac and brother of Jacob

"Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

Gen. 27:41; Heb.

4. Pharaoh Thutmose I

Pharaoh Thutmose I, Egyptian king Exod. 1:8 who enslaved Israel

⁸Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

⁹And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

"Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

¹¹Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

5. Pharaoh Thutmose III

Pharaoh Thutmose III, Egyptian king Exod. 2:15 who attempted to kill Moses

When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

6. Amenhotep II

 Amenhotep II, Egyptian king during Exod. 5-14 the ten plagues

7. Korah

Korah, Israelite who organized a Num. 16:l revolt against Moses

Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

8. Abimelech

 Abimelech, bloody son of Gideon Judg. 9:1-6 who murdered 70 of his brothers in an
attempt to become king

9. Nahash

Nahash, cruel Ammonite king who 1 Sam. 11:2 threatened to destroy the right eye of
all Israelites living in Jabesh-gilead

10. Saul

 Saul, Israel's first king, who l Sam. 13:13-14 attempted to kill David and ordered
the slaughter of 85 godly priests at Nob

11. Doeg

Doeg, Edomite soldier who carried l Sam. 22:18 out Saul's bloody order to slay 85
priests at Nob

Then the king said to Doeg, "You do it." So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments.

12. Absalom

 Absalom, David's favorite son who led a revolt against his own father

2 Samuel 15-18

Shimei

13. Shimei

Shimei, descendant of Saul who cursed David during the revolt led by Absalom

2 Samuel 15 5-8

14. Joab

Joab, David's army commander who killed Abner, Absalom, and others in cold blood

1 Kings 2-5

"Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me--what he did to the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.

15. Rehoboam

 Rehoboam, Solomon's son whose insensitivity triggered the Israelite civil war

1 Kings 12 8-11

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

16. Jeroboam,

 Jeroboam, first king of northern Israel, who led the ten tribes astray by constructing idols

Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon

17. Ahab

Ahab, weak and greedy husband of Jezebel who allowed Naboth to be murdered to possess his vineyard

1 Kings 16:33

18. Menahem

 Menahem, Israel's brutal ruler who 2 Kings 15:14-22 ripped open the wombs of pregnant women belonging to his enemies

19. Ahaz

 Ahaz, king of Judah who sacrificed 2 Chron. 28:1-4 his own children to idols

20. Manasseh

 Manasseh, Israel's most wicked king,

2 Chron. 33:1-9

He later repentant in captivity

21. Pashhur

Pashhur, ungodly priest who persecuted the prophet Jeremiah

Jer. 20:1-6

22. Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim, king of Judah who burned the scroll written by Jeremiah

Jer. 36

23. Sennacherib

 Sennacherib, vicious Assyrian king ( 2 Kings 19:16-37) who surrounded Jerusalem only to have his troops destroyed by the death angel

Belshazzar sees the handwriting on the wall

24. Belshazzar

Belshazzar, arrogant Babylonian king (Dan. 5) who ridiculed God and was condemned by God through the handwriting on the wall

25. Haman

  Haman, Persian prime minister who in the book of Esther 3 attempted to carry out history's first holocaust during the time of Esther

Sanballat

26. Sanballat

Sanballat, Nehemiah's enemy who did according to Neh. 4:1-3, 7-8everything possible to prevent the walls of Jerusalem from being rebuilt

Wicked Men Links to Biblical Books

King James Bible - 2 Thessalonians 3:2
>>>2 Thessalonians 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. And that we may be delivered from importunate and evil men; for all men have not faith. {From unreasonable and evil men}

In the bible what dose unreasonable and wicked men mean? - Yahoo ...
In the bible what dose unreasonable and wicked men mean? In the bible what dose unreasonable and wicked men mean? It means people that lust after evil worldly temptations and those who do not follow Jesus Christ are considered wicked men of the world, that have not repented of their sins or been saved.

Bad Bible Stories

Comments

M. Victor Kilgore on February 24, 2016:

Good job with your research.

Sagittarius 2012 from Canada on April 04, 2012:

Can we have a closer look at Esau?

You see Chesterton, except narrator's comment, there is nothing in Esau's personality what would indicate that Esau was capable to kill his brother Jacob, and never said that he will kill Jacob.

From the book of Ganasis we know that Esau was loving, forgiving, carring, honest, generous person.

In fact, Esau was reflection of Christ.

Interesting is that in His native Aramaic language Christ was called Isa, and Esau is also called Isa.

ruffridyer from Dayton, ohio on October 20, 2011:

Is it any wonder so many prophets decreed bloodshed upon the nations.

Chesterton Wilde (author) from Quebec on April 12, 2011:

Jhangora: Thanks for reading. I find these men a wide range of types from downright criminals and murderers to 'good men gone bad' type. I may write more in depth about some of them in future.

Dinesh Mohan Raturi from Dehradun on April 11, 2011:

Would love to know more about these Men.