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Bible facts: January
A fact for each day of January, as the app shows it as «Fact of the day» in 2026, with its verse in the Berean Standard Bible.
- January 1
Goliath’s coat of mail weighed 5,000 shekels — about 57 kilograms, more than many grown men weigh.
1 Sam 17:5Read the articleand he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,
- January 2
In Ezekiel’s temple the priests on duty wore only linen — linen turbans, linen undergarments and linen garments — and nothing made of wool.
Ezek 44:17–18Read the articleWhen they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.
- January 3
Ehud of the tribe of Benjamin made himself a short double-edged blade and strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes, before taking tribute to the king of Moab.
Judg 3:16Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak
- January 4
In the middle of the Hebrew text of Jeremiah stands a single verse in Aramaic — a message for the nations about gods who did not make the heavens and the earth.
Jer 10:11Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
- January 5
The almond is the first tree to blossom in Israel, in late winter. In the Hebrew of Jeremiah’s vision its name, shaqed, sounds like shoqed, “watching.”
Jer 1:11–12And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”
- January 6
Nebuchadnezzar’s army built a siege wall around Jerusalem and kept it there from King Zedekiah’s ninth year into his eleventh, until the city had no food left.
2 Kgs 25:1–3Read the articleSo in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
- January 7
In 2004 workers repairing a sewer pipe in Jerusalem uncovered the stone steps of a large pool in use in Jesus’ time, which its excavators identified as the Pool of Siloam.
John 9:7See the placeThen He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
- January 8
One of the shortest verses in the Bible says simply that Jesus wept, on his way to the tomb of his friend Lazarus.
John 11:35Jesus wept.
- January 9
In Jesus’ parable one servant owed 10,000 talents and his fellow servant owed him 100 denarii. A talent was 6,000 denarii, so the first debt was 600,000 times larger.
Matt 18:24Read the articleAs he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents.
- January 10
To collect money for temple repairs, the priest Jehoiada bored a hole in the lid of a chest and set it on the right side as people entered the temple.
2 Kgs 12:9Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the LORD.
- January 11
From Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, where Joseph went to be registered, is about 110 km in a straight line.
Luke 2:4See the placeSo Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
- January 12
In his later years Job owned exactly twice the herds he had at first: 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.
Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- January 13
In the wilderness the Israelites remembered the food of Egypt: fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.
Num 11:5Read the articleWe remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
- January 14
Elijah tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of King Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel.
1 Kgs 18:46And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
- January 15
David’s song of thanks for rescue from his enemies appears twice: once near the end of the history of his reign and again, with small differences, in the Book of Psalms.
2 Sam 22:2–3He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
- January 16
Jesus’ hearers knew their weather: a cloud rising in the west, from the sea, meant rain, and a south wind from the desert meant heat. Both still hold true in Israel.
Luke 12:54–55Topic: WindsThen Jesus said to the crowds, “As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot,’ and it is.
- January 17
The temple’s trained singers numbered 288, and they cast lots for their turns of duty — young and old, teacher and pupil alike.
1 Chr 25:7–8Read the articleTogether with their relatives, who were all trained and skillful in the songs of the LORD, they numbered 288. They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil.
- January 18
A letter of the emperor Claudius carved in stone at Delphi names Gallio as proconsul and dates his year in office to about AD 51–52 — one of the firmest dates in Paul’s life.
Acts 18:12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.
- January 19
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed to the same man, Theophilus, and Acts calls the earlier one “my first book.”
Acts 1:1In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,
- January 20
The iron point of Goliath’s spear alone weighed 600 shekels — nearly 7 kilograms — on a shaft like a weaver’s beam.
1 Sam 17:7Read the articleThe shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
- January 21
Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born, and Sarah was about 90.
Gen 21:5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
- January 22
Paul writes that he had preached the gospel from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic — roughly 2,000 km away in a straight line.
Rom 15:19by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
- January 23
The bronze snake made by Moses was kept for centuries and even had a name, Nehushtan, until King Hezekiah broke it up because people burned incense to it.
2 Kgs 18:4Read the articleHe removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
- January 24
In Saul’s day there was no blacksmith in all Israel, and on the day of battle only Saul and his son Jonathan had a sword or spear.
1 Sam 13:22Read the articleSo on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.
- January 25
Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector in Jericho and a rich man, was too short to see Jesus over the crowd.
Luke 19:3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature.
- January 26
Paul asks the Colossians to pass his letter on to nearby Laodicea and to read “the letter from Laodicea” in turn. No letter by that name is in the Bible.
Col 4:16After this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
- January 27
Two of the four rivers of Eden still bear their names: the Euphrates and the Tigris, Hebrew Hiddekel. The Pishon and the Gihon have never been identified with certainty.
Gen 2:14See the placeThe name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- January 28
After the exile, people built booths of branches on their rooftops, in courtyards and in Jerusalem’s squares, and kept the feast as Israel had not since Joshua’s day.
Neh 8:16–17Read the articleAnd the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the court of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim. The whole assembly who had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.
- January 29
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho drops about 1,000 meters: Jerusalem lies some 750 meters above sea level and Jericho about 250 below, only 22 km away in a straight line.
Luke 10:30See the placeJesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
- January 30
Methuselah is the longest-lived person the Bible names: 969 years.
Gen 5:27So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
- January 31
King Mesha of Moab owned great flocks, and his tribute to the king of Israel was 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams with their wool.
2 Kgs 3:4Read the articleNow Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
Sources
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain