Bible Trivia

(In a later post I’ll give out the correct answers, and explain what this is all about.  But for now just see how many of these you know the answer to.  All quotations are from the Today’s English Version.)

1. Besides David, who else killed Goliath?

2. In Deuteronomy 25, God commands the Israelites to “be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them anymore. Do not forget!” Who finally fulfilled God’s command to kill all the Amalekites? For a bonus point how are the Israelites related to the Amalekites?

3. In order to deflect attention from himself, Paul exploits a secretarian division among his Jewish persecutors to get them fighting among themselves instead. What two Jewish groups did Paul manage to pit against each other, and what doctrines did they disagree on?

4. In military confrontations with the Israelites, the Philistines enjoyed an advantage because they had a technology that the Israelites did not. What technological advance did the Philistines have?

5. Jephthah made a deal with God to sacrifice something in return for victory over the Ammonites. God accepts the bargain and gave him victory. What did Jephthah have to sacrifice in return?

6. When was Jesus crucified in relation to the Passover meal?

7. In Deuteronomy 23, Moses says: “No Ammonite or Moabite—or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation—may be included among the Lord’s people.” In Nehemiah 13, the same prohibition against Moabites and Ammonites is repeated. When meeting Jewish men who had married women from Moab or Ammon and had children with them, Nehemiah called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. And yet there is at least one Bible story which contradicts this prohibition against mixing with Moabites. Which story is it?

8. Laban agrees to give Jacob only the goats that are speckled or spotted for Jacob’s wages. How does Jacob then manage to breed streaked, speckled, and spotted goats? For a bonus point, how might this contradict current scientific gene theory?

9. Before Saul, who was the first person to be declared King of Israel?

10.  God commands Moses to go back to Egypt from Midian and talk to Pharaoh. Moses agrees. At a camping place on the way to Egypt Moses meets someone who tries (unsuccessfully) to kill him.  Who tried to kill Moses at the camping place?

11.  When Jesus was near the city of Tyre, a woman asked him to cure her daughter from demon possession.  Jesus refused to help the woman or even talk to her until his disciples intervened because she was making too much noise.  Why did Jesus initially refuse to help the woman? For a bonus point, what animal did he compare her to?

12.  Smiting. The Old Testament God is famous for smiting people, while the New Testament God is generally seen as kinder and gentler. However some people were still killed by New Testament God. How many people did God kill in the New Testament, and who were they?

13. The prophet Samuel tells King Saul, “Because you rejected the Lord’s command, he has rejected you as king.” Some centuries later, an unnamed prophet tells King Ahab, because you did this, “you will pay for it with your life.” Both Saul and Ahab committed the same sin. What was it?

14. God ordered the Israelites to attack the Midianites. All the Midianite men were killed, but the women and children were taken prisoners. Moses was furious when he found out that his commanders had spared the woman and children. What was done with the captured Midianite women and children?

15. The chief angel Michael and the Devil quarreled with each other for possession of whose dead body? For a bonus point, where is this in the Bible and why does it cause canonical problems Christians?

16.  In the creation story, in what order were animals, man, and woman created in relation to each other?

17. Which book of the Bible never mentions God once, nor makes any references to worshipping God?

18.  Who were swallowed up by the earth and went down to the land of the dead while they were still living? For a bonus point, how might the location of the land of the dead as described by the Bible contradict modern geology?

19. It has been Christian tradition to portray angels as asexual, but what Bible verse indicates that the heavenly beings had a sexual interest in human women?

20. After Jesus rose from the dead, where did he first meet his disciples?

21. Who was the world’s first conqueror whose kingdom included Babylon, Erech and Accad and who built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen?

22. According to Paul, what is a disgraceful thing for a woman to do in a church meeting?

23. Paul writes, “when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong.” Paul also writes, “The other Jewish brothers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action.” Why was Paul so upset with Peter? For a bonus point, how does Paul’s account of this argument contradict the story in the book of Acts?

(That’s all for now.  Although if you have any interesting questions of your own, leave them in the comments section and I’ll have a go at them.)

Link of the Day

‘Assad Is Facing Assassination No Matter What Happens’