More than a Friend Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sarah

Abraham (originally known as Abram) and Sarah (originally known as Sarai) are one of the oldest couples in the Bible, and Abraham is the founding father of the Jewish people. They appear in the Book of Genesis, chapters 12-25. G-d tells Abram to go to a new land, where He would make him the father of a great nation. Abram and Sarai and their nephew Lot travel to Canaan, then Egypt, where Abram pretends that Sarai is his sister, so that the Egyptians will not kill him and take her. However, they are exiled when G-d afflicts the Pharaoh with plagues, and later return to Canaan. Sarai is infertile, so she offers her slave Hagar to him as a concubine. Hagar then becomes pregnant and runs away after Sarai bullies her, but an angel convinces her to return. She gives birth to a son, Ishmael.

When Abram is 99 and Sarai is 90, G-d changes his name to Abraham ('father of many nations'), and Sarai becomes Sarah. He also tells Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son; this son is Isaac, and he is born when Abraham is 100 years old. When Isaac is a child, G-d asks Abraham to sacrifice him as a test of faith, but as Abraham prepares to do the deed, an angel appears and Abraham sees a lamb, which he sacrifices instead. After Sarah dies, Abraham takes a second wife, Keturah, and has six sons with her, all of whom would become leaders of nations.

Answer: Ruth

Ruth, a Moabite woman, is the first convert to Judaism in the Torah and the Book of Ruth is traditionally read on Shavuot. She is originally married to Mahlon, an Israelite and one of the sons of Elimelech and Naomi, who left Judah because of a famine. However, Mahlon and his brother Chilion both die. When Naomi finds out that the famine is over, she plans to return to Judah and tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers' houses. Neither daughter-in-law wants to leave but Orpah, Chilion's widow, eventually goes home. Ruth, on the other hand, refuses to leave Naomi and goes back to Judah with her.

Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem during the barley harvest and Boaz, a relative of Elimelech, meets Ruth when she is gleaning in his field. He tells her she is welcome to glean there, and to drink from his reapers' vessels if she is thirsty. Ruth is puzzled why Boaz is showing so much kindness to a foreigner, and he explains it is because he is impressed by her loyalty. At Naomi's suggestion, Ruth goes to Boaz when he is sleeping and asks for his protection. Boaz marries Ruth, and buys her along with Elimelech's land. She gives birth to a son, Obed, who later becomes the grandfather of David.

Answer: Delilah

Not all Bible couples are happy ones, and the story of Samson and Delilah is one that has been immortalised in song by Tom Jones, Regina Spektor and many more. It appears in chapters 13-16 of the Book of Judges. While Samson loved Delilah, it is debatable whether she loved him. Samson is a Nazirite, and is not allowed to cut his hair because of it; moreover, his hair also gives him superhuman strength. His feats include singlehandedly defeating a thousand-man army with a donkey's jawbone and wrestling a lion to death. He meets Delilah in the Valley of Sorek, between the territories of the Tribe of Dan and the Philistines, and falls in love with her.

The Philistines bribe Delilah to find out where Samson gets his strength. Samson lies to her at first, saying she has to tie him up with bowstrings or ropes, only to break free. However, he eventually capitulates and tells her about his hair, and she orders a servant to cut his hair while he sleeps. The Philistines blind Samson and take him as a slave. However, while Samson is in captivity, his hair grows back. When he is taken to the Temple of Dagon, he prays to G-d to give him strength. He gets his strength back and destroys the temple pillars, killing himself and everyone inside. Delilah's fate, however, is unknown.

Answer: Gomer

Hosea is the first of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He marries Gomer, a harlot and the daughter of Diblaim, on G-d's orders. The marriage is a symbolic one, representing how Israel has been unfaithful to G-d. Hosea has three children: two sons, Jezreel and Lo-Ammi, and a daughter, Lo-Ruhamah. All of the children have symbolic names. Lo-Ruhamah means 'no mercy' and Lo-Ammi means 'not my people', both of which symbolise G-d's anger at the people worshipping false gods, while Jezreel means 'G-d sows' and is also the name of a fertile valley where many battles take place throughout the Bible. G-d also promises to 'break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel' (Hosea 1:3-8).

Gomer runs off with another man, but Hosea takes her back. On G-d's instructions, he buys her back for fifteen shekels and measures of wine and barley, and tells her not to be promiscuous anymore.

Answer: Priscilla

Aquila and Priscilla are a couple who appear in the New Testament, mainly in chapter 18 of Acts. They are a pair of tentmakers, originally from Rome, but had to leave Rome when Claudius Caesar had all Jews deported from there, and moved to Corinth. They travel to Syria with Paul after he spends eighteen months with them, and work as missionaries; he describes them as 'my fellow workers in Christ Jesus', who risked their lives to protect him (Romans 16:3).

Priscilla is thought to have been the author of the Book of Hebrews, although this is debatable. While in Greece, they mentor Apollos, an Egyptian evangelist who they meet in Ephesus, and educate him on the way of G-d. Priscilla and Aquila are also mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:19, when Paul tells Timothy to greet them, and 1 Corinthians 16:19, when Paul passes on their greetings to the Church in Corinth.

Answer: Esther

Ahasuerus was a Persian king, also known as Xerxes. He is originally married to Vashti, but exiles her after she refuses to show her beauty at the king's banquet. On the suggestion of Memucan, one of his advisors, Ahasuerus sends out a decree stating that all wives must honour their husbands, so that they will not emulate Vashti's behaviour. The king's servants order beautiful virgins to be sent to the king, so that he can pick out a new bride from among them. He chooses a new wife, a Jewish woman called Esther, although Esther keeps her heritage a secret on the advice of her cousin Mordecai.

Mordecai discovers a plot against Ahasuerus and tells Esther, who tells the king, and he has the conspirators executed. He then discovers that Haman, one of Ahasuerus' advisors, is plotting to kill all the Jews in the empire, in revenge for Mordecai not bowing to him. He begs Esther to use her position as queen to save them. Esther reveals to Ahasuerus at a banquet that she is Jewish and exposes Haman's plot. She begs Ahasuerus for mercy and to spare the lives of her people, which he does, and Haman is hanged on the gallows he had originally erected for Mordecai. The Book of Esther is read on the Jewish festival of Purim.

Answer: Hannah

Elkanah and Hannah appear in the first Book of Samuel, which is read as the Haftarah portion on Rosh Hashana. Elkanah has two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, and while Penninah is able to give Elkanah children, Hannah is infertile. Penninah bullies Hannah over her infertility and is jealous because Elkanah favours Hannah, giving her a double portion of meat from the yearly sacrifice.

Hannah goes to the Tabernacle to pray to G-d for a son, saying that she will give the child back to Him. She is crying while praying and Eli, the High Priest, assumes she is drunk at first but when Hannah tells him her story, he blesses her. Hannah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son named Samuel, and sings G-d's praises. When he is older, she takes him to the Temple, along with a sacrifice. Eli blesses her again and she later gives birth to five more children.

Answer: Elizabeth

Zacharias and Elizabeth both come from priestly families, and appear in the Gospel of Luke. Elizabeth is infertile, but when Zacharias is tending the altar, the angel Gabriel appears and tells him that Elizabeth is going to give him a son, who they must call John. Zacharias is incredulous and asks if there will be any signs to show him the prophecy is true, and Gabriel replies that Zacharias will be unable to speak until the baby has been named. When Zacharias returns home, Elizabeth becomes pregnant. When John is circumcised and Elizabeth tells her relatives that he will not be named after his father, they ask Zacharias about it and as he is mute, he writes on a tablet that the baby's name is John. He then regains the power of speech. Their son grows up to be John the Baptist.

Elizabeth is also the aunt of Mary, and Gabriel pays her a visit when Elizabeth is six months pregnant. He tells her that she will also give birth to a son, who she must call Jesus, and that it will be an immaculate conception. In Matthew 1:18-21, another angel tells Joseph why and how Mary is pregnant, despite being a virgin, and that he must marry her.

Answer: Rachel

Jacob is the third of the Israelite Patriarchs, and appears in the Book of Genesis. He is one of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, and comes out clutching his brother Esau's heel. Jacob grows up to be a religious man, while Esau is a hunter. When Isaac is old and blind, he decides to give Esau the blessing of the firstborn but Rebekah, who prefers Jacob, gets him to disguise himself as Esau by covering his arms with goat skin (Esau being more hirsute than Jacob) and serve goat to his father. (This is not the first trick Jacob plays involving food; earlier on, he gives Esau lentil stew in return for his birthright.) The trick works, and when Esau finds out and is angry with Jacob, Rebekah sends him to her brother Laban for his own safety until Esau has calmed down.

Jacob falls in love with Laban's daughter Rachel, but Laban tricks him on his wedding night by putting Leah in Rachel's place as he believes the older daughter should marry first. Jacob is angry when he finds out, so Laban promises Rachel to him as well in return for seven more years' work. G-d takes pity on Leah and gives her a daughter, Dinah, and six sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. Jacob also has two sons with each of his wives' handmaids: Dan and Naphtali with Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, and Asher and Gad with Zilpah, Leah's handmaid. (This is the inspiration for the handmaid system in Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale'). Rachel finally becomes pregnant with a son of her own, Joseph, who is later followed by Benjamin. Joseph becomes Jacob's favourite son, and his story is told in the musical 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and Genesis Chapters 37 and 39-45.

Answer: Rebekah

Isaac is the second of the three Patriarchs of the Israelites, and appears in the Book of Genesis. He got his name because his mother Sarah laughed in disbelief that she was capable of having a child despite being over ninety. When Isaac is 37 and Sarah has died, Abraham sends his steward Eliezer to Mesopotamia to find him a wife, and Eliezer chooses Rebekah, an Aramean woman. Eliezer asks G-d to help him find the right woman for Isaac: that she would come to the well where he had stationed his camels and offer him and the camels water to drink. Sure enough, Rebekah comes to the well and draws enough water for Eliezer and all of his camels, convincing him that she was the one for Isaac.

Eliezer gives Rebekah gold jewellery as a wedding gift. When she and her party arrive in Canaan, Isaac is praying and Rebekah notices him and asks who he is. On hearing that he is her future husband, she veils herself, and the two are married in Sarah's tent. They pray for children, and Rebekah eventually becomes pregnant with twin boys: Jacob and Esau.