Fidelity...Not! Trivia Quiz

Answer: His servants

Joash (or Jehoash) of Judah was bought to the people and anointed King by his great uncle, the High Priest, Jehoiada, when he was seven years of age. Joash stayed true to God while Jehoiada remained alive but on his passing he was swayed into the worship of other gods and idols.

The new High Priest Zechariah, who was the son of Jehoiada, condemned the King for his actions. Joash had, by this time, forgotten about the loyalty that had been shown to him by Zechariah's father and ordered that he (Zechariah) be stoned to death.

This incurred the wrath of God and he showed his hand by allowing the smaller Syrian army to defeat Joash's much larger force. The course of the battle saw Joash wounded severely and as he lay in his bed recovering he was killed by two of his servants, Zabad and Jehozabad.

The killing is recorded as revenge for the blood of Zechariah. Whilst Joash was laid to rest in the City of David, poignantly it was not within the royal tombs. (See 2 Kings 12.)

Answer: Thrown to the lions

Daniel is recorded as being an extraordinary man possessed of exceptional talents, among which was his ability to interpret dreams and visions. His ascension to the rank of administrator certainly created envy amongst the other administrators as well as some of the satraps (governors of provinces) over which he presided. Unable to "dig up any dirt" on Daniel they worked up a scheme to have him put to death.

They conned Darius the Mede to issue a decree that no one, apart from the king, was allowed to pray to a god or a man for a period of thirty days.

They did this with the knowledge that Daniel, without fail, said prayers to God three times a day. The moment he went into prayer he was arrested, found guilty of treason and thrown into the lion's den. Because he was prepared to show such good faith in his God an angel appeared, closed the mouths of the lions and had them greet Daniel in much the same way as a faithful dog meets his master. Darius meanwhile had become distraught with what he'd done and was relieved the next day to find that Daniel was unharmed.

He took his anger out on the conspirators and had them and their families fed to the lions in retaliation. (See Daniel 6.)

Answer: Pieces of silver

Silver seems to be the going currency in the Bible for betrayals. Judas got 30 pieces for giving up the King of Kings but Delilah was a far better negotiator. She scored a whopping 1100 pieces of silver for trading in her man. Samson was a man of divine strength (meaning his power came from God) and he was the scourge of the Philistines.

It is little wonder they feared him; he reportedly slew 1000 of them using just the jaw bone of an animal that he'd found lying on the ground. While he was happy to destroy the Philistine men, he couldn't get enough of their women.

His first wife was Philistine and that marriage ended badly. Then there was Delilah, another Philistine, whose sole mission in the relationship appeared to be to prise the secret of Samson's great strength from him. Samson lied to Delilah on three occasions (he may have loved her but it appears he didn't trust her) before Delilah's nagging got the better of him and he revealed that the secret lay in his hair.

She shaved his head, he was weakened, got captured, had his eyes gouged out for good measure and got hauled off to the temple where he was to be ridiculed. Samson repented to his God and asked as his final prayer for his strength to return.

He brought down the temple, killing himself and some 3,000 Philistines in the process. There's no further mention of Delilah in the Bible though some scholars express the view that she was among the 3,000 in the temple when the roof came down. (See Judges 16.)

Answer: Nathan (the prophet)

Not realising that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, David had his lustful way with her. All would have been fine except that Bathsheba became pregnant with David's child. Straight away David went into damage control and summoned her husband back from the battlefield.

He then instructed him to go home to be with his wife so that people would then believe that this was the moment the child was conceived. Uriah, being the loyal soldier that he was, declined the offer saying that he could not take comfort while his comrades were fighting in battle, which is where he should have been. David then sent Uriah back with a sealed message for his general, Joab.

The message was Uriah's doom as he was to be put on the front line where the fighting was at its fiercest. Uriah was killed and after an appropriate period of mourning David married Bathsheba. Once again all would have been fine except that you can't hide the truth from God. God sent Nathan to reveal to David that he knew and that he would punish David accordingly. David admitted to his God that he did have sexual relations with that woman and he repented with all his heart. God was heartened by this but still took the life of Bathsheba's child with David.

Whilst this, in some quarters, is seen as an unfair punishment on an innocent (the child) in others it is seen as mercy as the child would have been invested with a painful life, living with the disgrace of being illegitimate. (See 2 Samuel 11-12.)

Answer: Amnon had raped his sister Tamar

Amnon was King David's eldest son who had fallen so deeply in love with his (half) sister, Tamar, a virgin, that he struggled to eat and sleep. Under the counsel of his advisor, Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah, he contrived an illness as a means to have Tamar tend to him. Once alone he failed to control his lust and had his way with her.

He was then struck with a deep hatred for her, far greater than his initial love, and he cast her from his house in broad daylight so that she could not hide her shame. Absalom met his sister, comforted her and then allowed her to live under his roof. For the next two years he harboured a hate for Amnon that he managed to hide from everyone else.

He then set about preparing a large feast to which he invited all of the King's sons, insisting on Amnon's attendance. Once Amnon became intoxicated Absalom ordered his staff to kill him.

He then fled to Geshur where he stayed for three years. (See 2 Samuel 13.)

Answer: Doeg was the executioner

David had made King Saul both jealous and angry so, fearing for his life, he fled to Nob where the High Priest, Ahimelech, lived. Sensing that the truth would put Ahimelech in a position where he (the High Priest) would have to make a choice between he and Saul, David told Ahimelech that he was on a secret mission for the King. Ahimelech took him in, fed him with the holy bread and presented him with the sword of Goliath. Doeg was in the chambers and witnessed the entire exchange and then answered the call from Saul when the King was searching for David. Doeg's betrayal was not as simple of identifying the priests being an aid to David; he also withheld the information about David's deception that would have shown to Saul that the priests were under the misconception that they were working for the King. Saul ordered the priests to be struck down but his soldiers refused to harm the workers of God. Saul then ordered Doeg to take up the sword and kill the priests, which he did without hesitation. (See 1 Samuel 21-22.)

Answer: Jezebel

Joram was wounded during the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead and returned to Jezreel in a bid to recover from his injuries. While he was gone the prophet Elisha sent one of his students to the camp where he took aside Jehu, poured oil on his head and anointed him king. Jehu then selected a band of loyal followers and made speed to Jezreel where he killed Joram by his own hand, putting an arrow through his heart. He then orders that Joram's body to be thrown to rot onto a plot of land that was once owned by a man named Naboth.
Jehu's animosity can be traced back to Joram's mother Jezebel. Once Jezebel married King Ahab she turned Ahab away from his worship of God and converted him to the Phoenician god Baal. In the process she also arranged for the deaths of numerous Jewish prophets. Jezebel betrayed Naboth, who owned a small vineyard adjacent to Ahab's palace that the king strongly desired, by having him put to death after a false trial.
Upon his ascendency to the throne Jehu entered the city of Jezreel where he ordered Jezebel's court officials to cast her from the palace windows. The fall killed the princess and she was eaten by dogs before she could be buried. (See 2 Kings 9.)

Answer: Mordecai

Mordecai adopted his cousin Esther when she became orphaned and eventually he presented her to King Ahasuerus. Esther would become his queen when Queen Vashti was exiled. While he was at the palace Mordecai uncovered and foiled a plot by the king's staff to have him (the king) assassinated. This certainly put him in the king's good books.
Haman had by now ascended to the highest position in the king's court and, as a sign of his position, decreed that all should prostrate themselves before Haman. As Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, ancient enemies of the Jews, Mordecai refused to do so. This did not sit well with Haman and his payback was to go and wipe out all the Jews. In anticipation of his victory he specially erected a set of gallows, fifty foot high, from which to hang Mordecai and a seventy five foot stake on which to impale him.
The plot to kill the Jews was foiled by Queen Esther and for his troubles the king ordered Haman to be hanged from his own gallows and impaled on his own stake. Haman's ten sons were all killed in the battle with the Jews. Their bodies were bought back and also hung from the gallows.

Answer: Joab

Joab was the son of David's sister Zeruiah and, early on, was appointed a captain in David's army. His emotional cocktail was dangerous: short on patience and high with blood lust. Whilst he played a part in David's betrayal of Uriah, he also defied David's instruction on a number of occasions and his murder of Abner was revenge for the death of his brother Asahel. During David's battle with his son, Absalom, David ordered that no harm was to come to Absalom; however, when Joab found him trapped in a tree he did not hesitate in taking the opportunity to slay him. Amasa was Joab's cousin and when Absalom had won over the tribes of Israel, Amasa was appointed the general of Absalom's army, essentially having the same role that Joab had filled under David.

After David's defeat of Absalom's forces David appointed Amasa the commander of his own army. This was seen as a way to appease the ten tribes of Israel. It, however, did not sit well with Joab and when Amasa was slow to mobilise a counter offensive to a revolt by rebels led by Sheba he killed Amasa claiming he was a collaborator. David saw the betrayal for what it was and on his death bed he asked Solomon to exact punishment on Joab. Solomon duly ordered the death of Joab at the hand of Benaiah who then took over the role as commander of the army. (See 2 Samuel 20 and 1 Kings 2.)

Answer: Jacob

Technically Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentils; however, both he and his mother were aware that this would not sit well with Isaac, Jacob's father. Isaac in his last days was mostly blind and had asked Esau, a hunter, to kill venison, prepare for him his favourite stew -- and after they had eaten together he would convey his blessing upon his eldest son.

While Esau was out hunting, Rebekah, Jacob's mother, insisted Jacob kill two of their young goats and make the stew. She then dressed him in Esau's clothes and placed goatskins on his arms and legs so that when Isaac placed his hands upon him he'd sense Esau's hirsuteness rather than Jacob's smooth skin.

Despite all this Isaac was still suspicious so he asked Jacob directly if he was his eldest son, which Jacob duly confirmed.

As Jacob leaned forward to kiss his father Isaac could smell Esau's clothing and was content. He proceeded to convey his blessing to Jacob. Isaac was distraught when he discovered the truth but was accepting of it. Esau, on the other hand, was furious and vowed to kill his brother once their father had passed away. Jacob did not hang around and fled to live with his uncle Laban, where he was to become the victim of a deception as well. Years later Esau and Jacob would reach reconciliation. (See Genesis 27.)