Jehoiakim, Joseph, James Trivia Quiz

Answer: King

Jehoiakim was a King of Judah, born under the name Eliakim. He was the second son to King Josiah.
When Pharaoh Necho of Egypt fought against the Assyrians, Josiah refused passage to the Egyptian army. In the ensuing fight and its aftermath, Josiah was killed, and his successor Jehoahaz was taken prisoner by the Pharaoh. Pharaoh then appointed Eliakim King of Judah, and renamed him Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim was 25 when he was crowned King of Judah and remained on the throne for eleven years. During this period Judah was not a strong country: it was a foreigner (the Egyptian Pharaoh) who decided that Jehoiakim would be King, and another foreigner (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) made Jehoiakim his vassal for three years. When Jehoiakim finally gathered the force to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiakim was soundly defeated.
Although the bible books 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, which relate the story of King Jehoiakim, are structured as history textbooks, both bible books insist that the downfall of Jehoiakim and his kingdom (Judah) were caused by his sinful life. Indeed, Jehoiakim did not scrupulously follow the Lord's Commandments. Instead of destroying all heathen sacrificial places, Jehoiakim used some of them to worship false deities.
The other professions are well known in the Bible. Some examples: Luke 2:8-20 tells about the adoration of Jesus by the shepherds; many Psalms were created by "the Chief musician"; there have been named Bible books after three "major" prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and twelve minor prophets.

Answer: Arimathea

After Jesus died on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea asked the local governor Pontius Pilate for permission to bury Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned only in the different gospels because of this episode, and thus we don't know a lot about him. Apparently Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man (Matthew 27:57) and member of the Council (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50). He was an early disciple of Christ (Matthew 27:57; John 19:38) but feared the Jewish leaders (John 19:38). He bought a linen cloth, and placed the body wrapped in linen in a new tomb in a rock. Matthew indicates that the tomb, in which Joseph had Jesus buried, was made for Joseph of Arimathea himself.
All these actions Joseph of Arimathea undertook were quite common for a Jewish burial (John 19:40), although I wonder if it was also common to give a victim of an official execution such funeral rites.
Alexandria in Egypt was a very important city with a large number of Jewish inhabitants. This city is mentioned as the place of origin of one of the early disciples, named Apollos (Acts 18:24).
Antioch was one of the first church communities. The early disciples in Antioch were the first to adopt the name of Christians (Acts 11:26).
Abilene in the bible is of course not the eponymous city in Kansas. The biblical Abilene is only mentioned once. Luke 3:1 lists a number of local authorities at the time when John the Baptist preached in the wilderness and Jesus started His public life. Luke refers to the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, and mentions (among others) that Lysanias was tetrarch (governor) of Abilene.

Answer: No

Although some sources explain the names "the Greater" and "the Less" as comments on the stature of these two apostles, scripture doesn't mention the height of any of the twelve. In fact the New Testament only comments on the stature of one single person: Zacchaeus the tax collector, who climbed a sycamore tree because he was shorter than most other people and wanted to have a good look at Jesus (Luke 19: 2-4).
James the Greater was brother of John the apostle. Mark 3:17 states that James and John were given by Jesus the nickname Boanerges (sons of thunder), which is traditionally interpreted as a sign of their zeal for the new church. James the Greater was one of the first martyrs: he was beheaded by orders of Herod (Acts 12:2). The Bible states this happened "during the reign of Claudius" (Acts 11:28), probably in 44 AD.
James the Greater is mentioned in the synoptic gospels far more than James the Less, so perhaps their moniker is based upon their importance in the early church.
James the son of Alphaeus is only mentioned as one of the twelve apostles, without many details. However, James the son of Alphaeus has been identified with several persons named James in the Bible, and the quite elaborate reasoning detailed in the Catholic Encyclopaedia finally states James son of Alphaeus was probably also James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem in the early church.

Answer: Jael

When Deborah was the Judge (this is the supreme leader) of Israel, the Israelites were at war with the Canaanites. The Canaanite army led by general Sisera was crushed by a surprise attack, and Sisera fled to the camp of an allied tribe. There Jael invited him in her tent, quenched his thirst with curdled milk and waited till he fell asleep. As soon as Sisera was fast asleep, Jael took a tent peg and hammered it through Sisera's head, killing him instantly.
It is rather astonishing that Jael was so praised for this act. In those times, killing an enemy while he was asleep was frowned upon as an act of cowardice: the brave fought their foes face to face. Moreover, a woman inviting a man in her tent to sleep was bound to get a bad reputation. Even in the present day, a woman inviting a man in her bedroom could soon be given the moniker of a harlot. Jael's family was Sisera's ally, which made her act seem treason. But worst of all, Jael disobeyed the rules of hospitality. A guest had to be treated as such, and not as an enemy. One had to take care of a guest, even if it was one's worst enemy.
Judith is not mentioned in the Canonical books of the Bible, but only in the apocryphal books. She killed an enemy general (Holofernes) by decapitating him with his own sword.
Joanna is briefly mentioned in Luke 8:3 as a woman cured by Jesus of some disease. Luke adds that Joanna was the wife of Herod's major domo.
Jair was not a woman, but a man. He was from the tribe of Manasseh and captured several villages in Gilead (Judges 10:4 and 1 Chronicles 2:22).

Answer: Jeroboam I

Jeroboam I was the person we're looking for. He was a high official under King Solomon, and rebelled against him. After spending several years in exile in Egypt, Jeroboam returned after the death of Solomon and the people of Israel (the northern tribes) elected him to be their King.
Jeroboam made Shechem the capital of his kingdom and fortified this settlement. As he feared that his people would go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he set up several shrines and appointed priests to them. However, he chose priests who did not belong to the tribe of Levi, which was contrary to the Mosaic laws. A prophet came to warn him against this sin. Jeroboam then pointed out the prophet to have him arrested. But "the hand he stretched out toward the man shrivelled up" (1 Kings 13:4) as a sign that Jeroboam was sinning.
Jeroboam II was a later king of Israel. Although sharing his name, he was not related to Jeroboam I.
Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah (the southern tribes).
Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab, and she was notoriously wicked. As punishment for her many sins (especially idolatry), she was thrown out of a window, trampled by horses and devoured by dogs.

Answer: Job

I've cut off part of the quote and didn't mention where I found this quote, for it would give away the right answer. The full quote is "Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters", and it is found in Job 42:15.
Job was a faithful man with seven sons and three daughters, and he was very rich. His flocks (sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys) were perhaps the most extensive flocks anyone had in those times. Then Satan challenged the Lord to take from Job all his wealth, as well as his offspring. And yet Job did not curse the Lord. When Satan convinced the Lord to strike Job with disease, Job accepted his fate without losing his religion. And after a dispute with the Lord, Job was cured and restored to his former wealth. He also got (once again) seven sons and three daughters, and this time (only) the daughters are mentioned by name.
Jonah was a prophet who refused the Lord's order to preach in Nineveh. The ship on which he fled was almost lost in a terrible storm. Jonah repented and went to Nineveh as the Lord had asked him.
Joshua was one of the captains of Moses when the Israelites fled from Egypt and wandered forty years through the desert. Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, where they settled.
Jeremiah was one of the major prophets in the Bible. He also is considered as the author of the book of Lamentations.

Answer: John the Baptist

John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus. According to the gospel of Luke, the birth of John the Baptist was foretold to his father Zechariah. Luke continues: "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." (Luke 1: 26-27). When Gabriel announces to Mary that she will give birth, she doubted his words. To which Gabriel replied: "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month." (Luke 1:36).
Catholic tradition states that Mary and Elisabeth were sisters, which would make Jesus and John first cousins. However, this is not mentioned in scripture: Luke only states they were relatives.
John the Evangelist and John the Apostle are considered one and the same person by a majority of Bible scholars. Once again, this is a Catholic tradition which is not based literally on the Bible text.
John the Baptist is certainly someone else than John the Evangelist: John the Baptist was already dead before the Passion of the Christ (see for instance Matthew 14:6-12), so evidently he could not describe what is the core of each and every gospel.

Answer: Judas was treasurer of the apostles

Judas Iscariot is an apostle of ill repute, because of his treason. But at the time of the Last Supper, there is not a single word of scripture that reflects any other of his sins.
Only the Gospel of John mentions, and this on various occasions, that Judas Iscariot "held the purse", which means he was some kind of treasurer of the group. The clearest is John 12:5, where Judas objects: "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." This is immediately after Mary, the sister of Lazarus, used up the perfume to anoint Jesus' feet.
Judging purely by this best known question asked by Judas Iscariot, we may see an apostle grasping the true core of Jesus' preaches. But John immediately destroys that favourable view we might get of Judas in the next verse: "He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it."
After the betrayal, Judas repented. He threw back the sum received for his betrayal and committed suicide, even before Jesus' crucifixion.
The only of the original apostles who has written a canonical gospel (at least, according to the majority of Biblical scholars) is John. There is a gnostic gospel (not recognised by any of the main Christian factions) named the gospel of Judas, but it was probably written in the Second Century, so, long after Judas' death.
Jesus appointed Simon Peter to be His successor as leader of the early Church. At that moment, Jesus already knew Judas would betray Him.
It is hard to tell who was the most zealous preacher among the original apostles. But the one apostle nicknamed the zealot (and thus perhaps the most zealous preacher) was Simon, not the Simon who was renamed Peter.

Answer: Joppa (today's Jaffa)

Theories about the location of Tarshish include present Cadiz (Spain), Tunis (at that time called Carthage), Sardinia, Britain (probably Cornwall) but also India. In every case Tarshish would lie on a far coast.
As soon as the ship with Jonah left the harbour, the Lord sent a huge storm. Jonah realised that this was because his refusal to preach at Nineveh had angered the Lord. So Jonah asked to be thrown overboard, in order to rescue the ship's crew. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish (according to other sources a whale), spent three days in the belly of that creature and was finally spit out near the harbour where he had embarked.
And now for the answer to our question: Jonah 1:43 states that he departed from Joppa. This is the ancient name of the present day city Jaffa, a suburb of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast.
Jordan is not a port city, but a river.
Jericho is a landmark near the Dead Sea.
Jerusalem is about one hour's drive from Jaffa. It has no direct waterway to any sea.

Answer: Matthew

Barabbas is in fact a patronym, meaning literally "son of the father". The English equivalent could be the surname Paterson. Jesus was a common first name among the Jews.
There are only some translations that mention the first name of Barabbas: only one of the five most common German translations, only one of the four most common translations in ancient Greek, and less than one third of the most common English translations. The most common translations into French, Italian, Latin or Dutch completely omit the first name of Barabbas.
The reason why only Matthew mentions the first name of Barabbas is probably because his gospel was addressed to a Jewish audience, which would be familiar both with the fact that Jesus was a quite common first name and with the literal translation of the surname Barabbas.
The gospel by Luke is addressed to Theophilus, a typical Greek name (Luke 1:3). The gospel by John is more symbolic than the other three. The gospel by Mark may have been written as the first gospel, but it is sometimes also seen as a succinct version of the gospel by Matthew.