He's My Brother! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seth

Cain is listed as the first murderer in Genesis after killing his brother Abel out of jealousy. God was kind to Eve by providing her a third son, Seth, to replace Abel. Little is written about Seth other than his becoming the father of Enosh and being in the ancestor line of Noah, the kings of Israel, and ultimately Jesus. Genesis goes on to tell that Seth lived for 912 years. [Gen. 4-5]

Answer: Ishmael

Abraham was promised to be the father of a great nation. Unfortunately, both he and his wife, Sarah, were still childless well into their old age. Sarah finally had Abraham take her slave woman, Hagar, to provide an heir, and soon Ishmael was born. Sarah had trouble containing her jealousy, and Hagar made it worse by gloating. Finally, on a hot day near the tree of Mamre, three angelic men appeared and told Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a son by next year.

She named her son Isaac, and soon after, had Hagar and Ishmael banished. [Gen. 12-22]

Answer: Jacob

Isaac and his wife Rebekah were blessed with twin boys named Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first and was a great hunter and the pride of his father, while Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. At one point, when Esau came home starving, he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. Later, as Isaac approached death, Rebekah developed a trick to help Jacob secure his father's final blessing. Once Isaac had passed away, Jacob ran for his life for fear of Esau's retribution. Several years later, the brothers were both very prosperous and reconciled. [Gen. 25-33]

Answer: Benjamin

Jacob was smitten with his cousin Rachel and had worked seven years for his uncle, Leban, to secure her hand in marriage. However, his uncle played a trick on him and gave Jacob the older daughter, Leah. Jacob was forced to work an additional seven years before he could marry Rachel. To make matters worse for Jacob and Rachel, she remained childless for a while before finally giving birth to Joseph.

A few years later, she gave birth to her second son, Benjamin, but sadly, Rachel died in childbirth. [Gen. 29-35]

Answer: Aaron

Moses had quite an extraordinary life, being born at a time when the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians and Pharaoh had ordered that male Hebrew babies be killed at birth. Many midwives did not carry out the orders, and Moses survived and thrived.

When he could no longer be hidden, his mother placed Moses in a basket and floated it towards Pharaoh's daughter, who miraculously decided to raise the baby as her own. However, when Moses got older, he killed an Egyptian and had to flee for his life. Several years later, God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh release the Israelites so they could pray in the desert.

The older brother of Moses, Aaron, also helped Moses convince Pharaoh to let them go and serve as the high priest of the Hebrew people. [Exod. 2-12]

Answer: Michal

First Samuel tells us Saul's daughter Michal had a crush on David. It also tells us that Jonathan was David's best friend. David's popularity threatened Saul's position with the people, and the king hoped that marrying Michal to David would prevent a coup.

Unfortunately, Saul's paranoia grew, and he decided he must kill David. Michal saved David's life by helping him escape her murderous father. Later, Jonathan also helped David escape Saul's rage. It speaks volumes that both Michal and Jonathan were children of Saul, the first king of Israel.

The Bible tells that the siblings' loyalty to David was greater than their obedience to their King and father. Sadly, Michal's love for David was not equally returned, and the Bible tells that she died bitter and childless. [1 Sam. 18-20, 2 Sam. 6.23]

Answer: Solomon

Absalom was the third and favorite son of King David. The Bible tells of Absalom murdering his older brother Amnon for raping their sister Tamar. Absalom is banished for murdering his brother, but eventually is forgiven and allowed to return. Unfortunately, Absalom decides he wants to overthrow his father and starts to build a coup. David ends up having to flee Jerusalem, but Absalom is soon killed in battle. Solomon is the youngest son of Bathsheba and David and his ultimate heir. One of the Bible stories tells of God offering a boon to Solomon of whatever he wanted. Solomon asked for an understanding heart so he could rule his people wisely. God was happy with Solomon's choice and proceeded to also gave him riches and fame. [2 Sam. 3, 12-18, 1 Kings 4]

Answer: Andrew

Before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist. Both Andrew and Peter were fishermen by trade and were called by Jesus to change their work to being fishers of men by spreading the good news. While few of the gospel passages that focus on what Andrew does, his brother Peter is often shown to be the leader of the apostles. Peter is the one who bravely calls Jesus the Christ and is clearly the strongest supporter.

This is made all the more painful when Peter denies knowing Jesus in order not to be captured.

The Catholic church lists Peter as the first Pope. [John 1:40, Matt. 4, 16:16-17, 26]

Answer: John

James and John were also fishermen, who were called to follow Jesus shortly after Peter and Andrew. Peter, James, and John are often presented as Jesus's inner circle. The three are the apostles present at the transfiguration and with Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Many scholars believe John was Christ's favorite apostle, as the one he loved. Jesus also asks John to become the guardian of his mother, Mary. [Matt. 4, 17, 26, John 19]

Answer: Martha

One of the most special relationships we see with Jesus is that of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. While the siblings were clearly followers of Christ, they seemed to be much more like friends. We do not see Martha or Lazarus preaching the gospel, but we do see one of Jesus' greatest miracles associated with the siblings.

The Bible says that Lazarus gets sick, and Mary and Martha send for Jesus to heal him. Unfortunately, Jesus is delayed, and by the time he makes it to Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Martha shows amazing faith in believing Jesus can raise Lazarus from the dead, which Christ proceeds to do. [John 11]