25 Bible Names Starting with the Letter 'J' Quiz

Answer: Joseph

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, only to eventually rise up to become second in command in the country, with only the Pharaoh above him. There were setbacks along the way, of course, with Joseph ending up in prison on false charges of attempted rape of Potiphar's wife.

His ordeal is one of the best known stories in the Old Testament and is told in the hit musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. The story of Joseph starts in the 37th chapter of Genesis and runs through to the 50th chapter.

Answer: Jezebel

Jezebel and her husband King Ahab were bitterly opposed to Elijah and other prophets of God and did everything in their power to remove them from the scene. 2 Kings 9:30-37 tells of her violent death, which was seen as divine retribution. The passage tells of Jezebel being tossed from an upper window by her assistants, with her blood splattering on the wall and on nearby horses. Jezebel was then trampled to death, with Scripture stating her body was devoured by dogs, as prophesied by Elijah.

Answer: Joab

Joab is the correct answer. In addition to being the commander of David's army, he was also a nephew of the king. David's sister Zuriah was the mother of Joab, according to Scripture.

Joab is best known for his part in the murders of three key people in the Old Testament. Scripture tells of Joab following the orders of David and orchestrating the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. He also killed Absalom, David's son, who had attempted to stage a coup attempt. The third person Joab murdered was Abner, who had been military leader for Ishbosheth during a civil war, but defected to join David's camp.

Answer: Jonah

Jonah, of course, is the correct answer. He tried to run from God by boarding a ship for Tarshish after he received divine instructions to go to Nineveh to preach a message of repentance.

The ship Jonah was on became involved in a major storm and after crew members accused him of causing the storm they threw him overboard. Scripture goes on to tell of Jonah being swallowed by a gigantic fish and, after spending a harrowing three days in the creature's stomach, he was regurgitated on dry land. It was then Jonah became aware he couldn't run from God and went to Nineveh.

Answer: Jerubbaal

After Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal, he was given the name Jerubbaal by his father Joash, as per Judges 6:32 in the KJV and the NKJV. (In the NIV, Gideon's new name is spelled Jerub-Baal.)

According to Smith's Bible Dictionary, Jerubbaal means "contender with Baal."

In addition to being strongly opposed to those who followed Baal, Gideon was a judge of Israel and a noted army commander.

Answer: Jedidiah

2 Samuel 12:24-25 tells of Nathan the prophet receiving divine instructions to give the name Jedidiah to Solomon shortly after he was born. For whatever reason the name never stuck and the son of David and Bathsheba became known as Solomon. Jedidiah means "Beloved of the Lord," as per notes in the NKJV Study Bible.

Answer: Joshua

It might come as a surprise to some, but Joshua had a different name before he was selected by Moses as one of twelve spies to scout the land of Canaan. According to Numbers 13:16, the future replacement of Moses was known as Hoshea. Moses, however, gave him the name Joshua which means the 'Lord Saves'. Hoshea means 'Salvation'.

It is believed Joshua was given his new name because Moses had great respect for him.

Answer: Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a prophet of God and the writer of a book that bears his name in the Old Testament. He was the son of Hilkiah and hailed form Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

Jeremiah is also credited with writing Lamentations. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, all kings of Judah. Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet.

Answer: Jesse

Jesse was the father of David and the grandfather of Solomon, arguably the two most famous kings in Israel's history. Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth.

Many Christians believe Jesse figures prominently in Old Testament prophecy pertaining to the coming of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:1-2 in the NKJV states: "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD."

Augmenting the belief Jesse is firmly connected with prophecy pertaining to Jesus is the fact his name appears in the genealogies of Christ in both Matthew and Luke.

Answer: Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat is the correct answer. He was the fourth king of Judah, replacing his father Asa. Scripture states Jehoshaphat reigned for twenty-five years and was succeeded by his son Jehoram.

Jehoshaphat is best known for his efforts to end idolatry in Judah and doing what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as per 1 Kings 22:43. However, Jehoshaphat did agree to a controversial alliance with Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel were vehement opponents of prophets of God.

Answer: Jonathan

Long before the term bromance surfaced, David and Jonathan were the best of friends with no equal in the Christian Bible. Their strong friendship flourished during a period when Jonathan's father, King Saul, was seemingly devoting his life to eradicating David. And even though Jonathan would have been in line to replace his father as king, he remained best friends with David, the man who indirectly replaced Saul as king of Israel.

1 Samuel 18:1, in the NKJV Bible, describes their friendship this way: "...the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."

Answer: Jacob

Jacob is the correct answer. He was married to two sisters, Leah and Rachel, and fathered children as well with the two handmaidens of his wives, Bilhah and Zilpah.

Genesis 35:23-26 provides details about Jacob's children and their mothers. According to the passage, Leah was the mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah while Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden, was the mother of Dan and Naphtali while Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden, was the mother of Gad and Asher.

Answer: Jozachar

Joash, king of Judah, was assassinated by Jozachar, who was assisted by Jehozabad. The two men were servants of the king, as per 2 Kings 12:21.

Jozachar was the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad was the son of Shomer. Joash, who had reigned over Judah for forty years, was succeeded by his son Amaziah.

Answer: Jael

Jael was the Israelite woman who killed Sisera, commander of the Canaanite army, by driving a tent peg through his head while he was sleeping in her tent. Judges 4:1-23 tells of Sisera and his army suffering a stinging defeat from the Israelite army led by Barak and Deborah.

An exhausted Sisera fled from the battle scene and sought refuge in Jael's tent. It would prove to be a fatal mistake as, when Sisera was in a deep sleep, Jael took a tent peg and drove it through his head.

Answer: Jehu

Jehu was responsible for killing Jezebel, generally regarded as the most wicked woman in the Bible. 2 Kings 9:30-37 tells of Jehu seeing Jezebel looking at him from an upper window after she had "put paint on her eyes and adorned her head." Jehu then demanded to know who was on his side and when "two or three eunuchs" looked out at him, he ordered them to "throw her down." The unnamed eunuchs did exactly that and tossed Jezebel out of the window. Scripture goes on tell of Jezebel's blood being splattered on the wall and on horses below and her body being ruthlessly trampled by the horses.

Answer: Jethro

Jethro, who was also known as Rueul, was the father-law of Moses. Jethro was the priest of Midian, as per Exodus 3:1. Moses married Jethro's daughter Zipoorah and they had two sons -- Gershom and Eliezer. In Exodus 2:18, Jethro is also identified as Reuel.

Answer: Jochebed

Jochebed was the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Exodus 6:20 states her husband was Amram, who was actually her nephew. Numbers 26:59 states Jocehbed was the daughter of Levi and she was born in Egypt. However, little else is known about her as she is mentioned in only the two verses referenced.

Answer: Josiah

2 Kings 22:1 states Josiah was only eight years old when he became king of Judah, reigning for thirty-one years. He succeeded his father Uzza as king. Uzza's mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

Scripture states Josiah did was was right in the eyes of the LORD and took decisive action to ensure true worship was practised in the land.

Answer: John the Baptist

According to tradition, John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. Some scholars, however, dispute the fact John and Jesus were cousins, referring to Luke 1:36 in the NKJV, as well as a number of other Bible versions, describing Jesus' mother, Mary, and John's mother, Elizabeth, as "relatives".

In other words, they believe John and Jesus were related but not necessarily cousins.

The Website ChristianBiblereference.org has this to say about the matter: "The old King James Version of the Bible says they were cousins, but the word 'cousin' used to mean any relative in the 17th century when the KJV was written. They may have been cousins, or because of the age difference, Elizabeth might have been Mary's aunt."

Answer: Jairus

Details about Jesus raising Jairus' unnamed daughter from the dead can be found in Matthew 9:18:26, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56. According to Scripture, Jairus was the ruler of a synagogue and when his daughter became seriously ill, he went to Jesus and asked Him to make her well.

However, when Jesus went to the home of Jairus, he found the girl dead with mourners outside the house. A few moments later the mourning would come to an abrupt end when Jesus miraculously raised the girl from the dead.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot, of course, betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Judas, one of the original Twelve Disciples, was given the money by the Pharisees. Scripture goes on to tell of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. Shortly afterwards, Judas would be filled with tremendous remorse and ended up committing suicide.

Answer: John

John is generally perceived as the disciple Jesus loved, although the term is used in only the Gospel of John. The term can be found in John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7 and 21:20. Tradition holds John used the term to avoid putting his own name into Scripture.

However, some modern day theologians see things differently pointing out the 'disciple Jesus loved' could have been a number of other people. The theologians are entitled to their opinion. However, on this one, I am squarely on the side of tradition.

Answer: James

James was the first of the original Twelve Disciples to be executed. His death is documented in Acts 12:2 where it states Herod "killed James the brother of John with the sword." In other words, James was beheaded.

Tradition holds that all the eleven disciples (this was after Judas' death) were eventually executed, with the exception of John. Scripture tells of John being elderly and being in exile on the windswept island of Patmos where he had a vision which resulted in him writing Revelation, the final book of the Christian Bible.

Answer: Jonah

Peter, also known as Simon, was the son of Jonah. In Matthew 16:17 in the NKJV, Jesus addresses Peter as Simon Bar-Jonah. In other words, Jesus called Peter, Simon, son of Jonah. Little is known about Peter's father as he is mentioned in passing reference in Scripture.

Answer: Joseph

Joseph, of course, is the correct answer. He was a carpenter and the husband of Mary. His father's name was Jacob, as per Matthew 1:16. It is believed Joseph died sometime after Jesus was twelve years old, as there is no mention of him in Scripture after this point in time.