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Bible facts: May
A fact for each day of May, as the app shows it as «Fact of the day» in 2026, with its verse in the Berean Standard Bible.
- May 1
Moses’ mother set him by the Nile in a basket of gome, papyrus in Hebrew — the same marsh plant Egyptians made into paper, rope and even boats.
Exod 2:3But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
- May 2
After the king of Egypt carried off the gold shields Solomon had made, King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place.
2 Chr 12:9–10Read the articleSo King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
- May 3
Two tiny silver scrolls found in a burial cave at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem in 1979 carry a form of this blessing — the oldest known copy of words found in the Bible, from about 600 BC.
Num 6:24–26‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
- May 4
Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to the scribe Baruch, who wrote them in ink on a scroll.
Jer 36:18“It was at his dictation,” Baruch replied. “He recited all these words to me and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”
- May 5
Each person was to gather a set measure of manna a day: in Hebrew an omer, a tenth of an ephah — about 2 liters.
Exod 16:16Read the articleThis is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
- May 6
Levites retired from the work of the sanctuary at 50; after that they could still help their brothers on duty, but not do the work themselves.
Num 8:25Read the articleBut at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve.
- May 7
Solomon built a fleet at Ezion-geber on the Red Sea, near today’s Eilat and Aqaba — about 250 km south of Jerusalem in a straight line — and King Hiram sent sailors who knew the sea.
1 Kgs 9:26–27See the placeKing Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. And Hiram sent his servants, men who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.
- May 8
The small creature that Proverbs says makes its home in the rocks, Hebrew shafan, is usually taken to be the rock hyrax — rabbit-sized, yet a relative of elephants and sea cows.
Prov 30:26the rock badgers are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the rocks;
- May 9
Ezekiel lists the care a newborn was given: the cord cut, a wash in water, a rubbing with salt and wrapping in cloths.
Ezek 16:4Read the articleOn the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
- May 10
When the Book of the Law was found in the temple, King Josiah’s officials went to consult a woman prophet, Huldah, who lived in Jerusalem.
2 Kgs 22:14So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
- May 11
Chronicles ends and Ezra begins with the same decree of King Cyrus of Persia, allowing the exiles to go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the LORD.
2 Chr 36:22–23In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”
- May 12
The Gezer Calendar, an inscription of about the 10th century BC, lists the farming year month by month: olive harvest, sowing, late planting, flax, barley, harvest, vine pruning and summer fruit.
Gen 8:22Topic: Summer and winterAs long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
- May 13
In the original Aramaic, three of the instruments played before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue have names borrowed from Greek: kitharis, psaltērion and symphōnia.
Dan 3:5Read the articleAs soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
- May 14
A stretch of city wall about 7 meters thick, from the time of King Hezekiah, was uncovered in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter in 1970. Its excavator named it the Broad Wall, after this verse.
Neh 3:8Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs, and next to him, Hananiah son of the perfumer made repairs. They fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
- May 15
Five times Paul received forty lashes minus one. The Law of Moses allowed no more than 40.
2 Cor 11:24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
- May 16
Pearls came from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean and were among the costliest jewels. The merchant in Jesus’ parable sells all he has for a single one.
Matt 13:45–46Read the articleAgain, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.
- May 17
Tamar’s twin Perez was born first, though his brother Zerah had already put out his hand; the name Perez means “breach.”
Gen 38:29–30But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez. Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.
- May 18
Philippi was a Roman colony: after the battle fought there in 42 BC, Roman veterans were settled in it. The Via Egnatia, the great road across Macedonia, ran through the city.
Acts 16:12From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
- May 19
The tree Zacchaeus climbed, in Greek a sykomorea, was the sycamore-fig, a relative of the fig with a short, thick trunk and wide, low branches — easy to climb.
Luke 19:4Read the articleSo he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.
- May 20
The exiles returning from Babylon included 4,289 priests but only 74 Levites; later Ezra found no Levites at all in his group and had to send for some.
Ezra 2:36–40Read the articleThe priests: The descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973; the descendants of Immer, 1,052; the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247; and the descendants of Harim, 1,017. The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.
- May 21
Barnabas was a name the apostles gave to a Levite called Joseph; the text explains it as “son of encouragement.”
Acts 4:36Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement),
- May 22
The Books of Kings again and again send readers to “the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel” and of Judah — royal records that have not survived.
1 Kgs 14:19As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
- May 23
Naaman set out for Israel with 10 talents of silver — some 300 kilograms — along with 6,000 pieces of gold and 10 sets of clothing.
2 Kgs 5:5“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
- May 24
So much was given for building the tabernacle that Moses had it announced through the camp that no one should bring anything more.
Exod 36:6–7Read the articleAfter Moses had given an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing more, since what they already had was more than enough to perform all the work.
- May 25
“From Dan to Beersheba” was the Bible’s way of saying the whole land, from north to south — about 235 km in a straight line.
Judg 20:1See the placeThen all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- May 26
The net Peter dragged ashore held 153 large fish, and even with so many it did not tear.
John 21:11Read the articleSo Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn.
- May 27
The gold earrings Gideon collected from the spoil of Midian weighed 1,700 shekels — about 19 kilograms — not counting the crescent ornaments and pendants.
Judg 8:26Read the articleThe weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.
- May 28
Ruth, a woman from Moab, became the great-grandmother of King David.
Ruth 4:17The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
- May 29
Hezekiah’s officials asked the Assyrian envoy to speak Aramaic, the language of diplomats, so that the people listening on the city wall would not understand.
2 Kgs 18:26Read the articleThen Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
- May 30
No one knows which flower Jesus meant by the “lilies of the field”; one common suggestion is the red crown anemone that covers the hills of Galilee in spring.
Matt 6:28–29Topic: Lilies and grassAnd why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
- May 31
King Uzziah equipped his whole army with shields, spears and helmets, and set devices on Jerusalem’s towers to shoot arrows and hurl large stones.
2 Chr 26:14–15Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously so that he became powerful.
Sources
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain