Answer: Jacob and Esau
Insight: Expecting a bloody ambush from Esau’s 400 men, Jacob was met instead with radical forgiveness, a powerful reminder of God softening an enemy’s heart.
Bible Stumpers
Enemies Turned Allies
Enemies became friends.
Brothers who feared each other for years wept in each other’s arms. A hostile king sought out the man he had driven away. A jailer washed the wounds of the very prisoners he had locked in stocks.
Some of Scripture’s most surprising bonds formed between people who started as bitter enemies.
Rivals laid down their hostility, outsiders crossed over to God’s people, and old grudges gave way to peace.
Below are 10 questions about unexpected friendships and alliances in the Bible. How many can you get before checking?
1. After years of fear, deception, and threats of violence, these two brothers unexpectedly embraced and wept when they finally met again on the road, reconciling before parting ways in peace. Who were they?
2. This king quarreled with Abraham over wells and later drove Isaac away out of jealousy. Yet he eventually sought Isaac out to establish a peace treaty, admitting, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you.” Who was he?
Answer: Abimelech
Insight: Despite hostility over wells and territory, the pagan king recognized God’s blessing on Isaac and chose peace over conflict.
3. When Israel's spies infiltrated Jericho, this local resident flipped her allegiance to Israel, harboring the scouts and securing safety for her entire family before the city fell. Who was she?
Answer: Rahab
Insight: Rahab’s bold defection not only saved her family but earned her a place in the direct lineage of King David and Jesus Christ.
4. During the conquest of Bethel, the spies of Joseph encountered a local man leaving the city and promised him mercy if he did what?
Answer: He showed them the entrance into the city.
Insight: The man was spared, later moved to the land of the Hittites, and built a new city which he named Luz.
5. Though David had killed Goliath, this Philistine king later trusted him so completely that he gave him the city of Ziklag as a refuge from Saul. Who was the king?
Answer: Achish
Insight: In a classic “enemy of my enemy is my friend” scenario, Achish trusted David so completely that he even appointed him as his personal bodyguard.
6. This foreign commander of Israel’s enemy Aram was healed of leprosy through Elisha. He returned to the prophet declaring loyalty to Israel’s God, even asking for dirt to take home for worship. Who was he?
Answer: Naaman
Insight: Naaman went from leading armies against Israel to becoming a believer in Yahweh within the Aramean royal court.
7. This Roman centurion belonged to the occupying army that the Jewish people deeply hated. Yet he helped build the local synagogue, loved the Jewish nation, and allied with them so thoroughly that Jewish elders begged Jesus to heal his servant. Who was he?
Answer: The Centurion of Capernaum
Insight: Jesus marveled at this Roman soldier’s faith, noting that He had not found such great faith even within Israel itself.
8. A Pharisee and member of the very council that opposed Jesus, this man first came to Jesus secretly at night. Later he defended Jesus before his fellow leaders and helped bury His body with about seventy-five pounds of spices. Who was he?
Answer: Nicodemus
Insight: A man who began in the shadows of a hostile ruling class ended in the open, honoring Jesus in death when most of the disciples had scattered.
9. This man had fastened Paul and Silas's feet in stocks in the inner prison. Hours later, after an earthquake, he washed their wounds, brought them into his home, and was baptized with his whole household. Who was he?
Answer: The Philippian jailer
Insight: The captor who guarded the missionaries in prison became their host and fellow believer before the night was over.
10. These two rulers in Roman-era Judea, one a Roman governor and the other a Galilean tetrarch, had long been bitter political enemies. Yet on the very day they each took part in examining Jesus, their hostility gave way to friendship. Who were they?
Answer: Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas
Insight: Luke specifically notes that their shared handling of Jesus ended their hostility, showing how political rivals can unite against a common threat.
Bonus: In his letter to Philemon, Paul advocates for a runaway slave. After converting to Christianity, this former fugitive returned not as a deserter, but as a beloved brother and ally in faith. What was the slave's name?
Answer: Onesimus
Insight: Paul cleverly noted that while Onesimus, whose name means “useful,” had once been useless to Philemon, he had now become truly useful to both of them.
Again and again in Scripture, God turned suspicion into trust, rivals into allies, and enemies into friends, and He still does.
