1 Samuel: The 9th Book of the Bible Quiz

Answer: Eli

Eli was a priest and saw Hannah crying. She was talking to God as she cried, so he assumed she was drunk, not realizing she was praying for a child.

Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.

Answer: Words and visions from the Lord

Chapter 3, verse 1 states, "Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent" (NASB).


This verse explains why Samuel didn't know that God was the one calling for him. Samuel thought that it was Eli. After he realized that the Lord was speaking to him, Samuel told Eli what the Lord had told him about Eli's sons. God said that he was going to judge Eli and his sons because his sons sinned and Eli didn't rebuke them. In response to Samuel's honesty about what the Lord told Samuel, Eli responded, "'It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him'" (verse 18).

See chapter 2 for more details about the sins of Eli's sons.

Question submitted by Ceduh

Answer: Idols

According to 1 Samuel 7, the prophet, Samuel, told the Israelites that if they removed their idols and worshipped the LORD alone, then He would deliver them from the Philistines. The Israelites listened. Specifically, they removed their Baal and Ashtaroth idols.

The young boy, David, later killed the Philistine giant, Goliath.

Question submitted by Ceduh

Answer: Honey

The account is in 1 Samuel 14. During a battle with the Philistines, King Saul ordered his army not to eat until the victory was complete. Jonathan was unaware of this order. He came across a honeycomb and ate some of it. Most translations then say something to the effect that "his eyes brightened" (1 Samuel 14:27).

Th Amplified Bible puts it like this: "But Jonathan had not heard when his father charged the people with the oath. So he dipped the end of the rod in his hand into a honeycomb and put it to his mouth, and his weary eyes brightened". Verses 29 and 30 record Jonathan as saying "See how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the men had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found!"

Sandwiches as we know them - jam or otherwise - were not invented until the 18th century by John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Sandwich is a town in England and one of the Cinque Ports. Something for you to research ...

Submitted by Watchkeeper

Answer: handsome

The people had demanded a king in an earlier chapter and Saul was the one who God allowed to be king. God did not want the people to have him as a king, but sometimes God gives what we want to show us we don't really want or need it after all.

Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.

Answer: The tribe of Benjamin

King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin (see 1 Samuel 9), but after him, who was actually a pretty bad king, the kings came from the tribe of Judah. King David was from the tribe of Judah and Christians believe that Jesus, the King of kings, was also from the tribe of Judah.


In Genesis 49, Jacob (Israel) blessed his son Judah and he said that the scepter--or royality--wouldn't part from Judah until the Messiah came.


Question submitted by Ceduh

Answer: Jabesh-gilead

This account is in 1 Samuel 31, where we read:

"But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their mighty warriors travelled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days" (NLT).

David heard about it:

"When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul, he sent them this message: 'May the LORD bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial. May the LORD be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done'".

Submitted by Watchkeeper

Answer: Bethlehem

David, who became the king after Saul, was from Bethlehem. This is why the New Testament states, "... for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11, New American Standard Bible).

Micah 5:2 also mentions that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity."

Tel Aviv is a city in the modern state of Israel, but the Bible doesn't mention it.

Question submitted by Ceduh

Answer: Dog

1 Samuel 17:43 (KJV) says, "And the Philistine said unto David, 'Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?' And the Philistine cursed David by his gods."

All the big Israelite soldiers were afraid of Goliath because he was a giant and they were normal sized adults. However, David knew with God on his side he could defeat the giant and was not afraid to face him.

Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.

Answer: He loved him as he loved his own soul.

It says in 1 Samuel 20:17, "And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul."

Jonathan was King Saul's son and next in line for the throne. However, when Saul turned to hatred toward David, Jonathan remained David's best friend and the two were like brothers. Jonathan recognized that God had chosen David to be the next king and, because he loved David, he had accepted it and wanted to help David when Saul wanted to have David killed.

Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.