A Quick Look at Cousins in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Enosh

Going strictly by Scripture, Enoch and Enosh were the first ever set of cousins. Cain's first born-child was Enoch, as per Genesis 4:17 and Seth's first-born child was Enosh, as per Genesis 4:26.

Cain and Seth were the sons of Adam and Eve, the world's first couple. When Cain and Seth both created off spring, the world's first set of cousins was produced.

According to Genesis 4:26, when Enosh was born to Seth, men began "to call on the name of the LORD." Going by Scripture, the first-ever city was built by Cain and named in honor of his son Enoch. (Genesis 4:17)

Adam and Eve had a third son, Abel, but according to Genesis 4, he was killed by Cain. There is no indication in Scripture Abel ever had children.

According to Genesis 5:4, Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters after the births of Cain, Abel and Seth, but there is no mention of how many children they had or their names.

Answer: Leah

Jacob and Leah were cousins. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, as per Genesis 24:29. According to Scripture, Rebekah was the mother of Jacob (Genesis 25:28) and Laban was the father of Leah (Genesis 29:16), making Jacob and Leah first cousins.

In addition to being first cousins, Jacob and Leah were true kissing cousins as they ended up becoming husband and wife. Scripture states they were the parents of six boys and one girl. The boys were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun (Genesis 25:23) while the girl was Dinah (Genesis 30:21).

Answer: Perez

Perez and Manasseh were cousins. Scripture states Manasseh was the son of Joseph (Genesis 45:31) and Perez was the son of Judah (Genesis 46:12). Joseph and Judah were brothers, making Manasseh and Perez first cousins.

Scripture states Asenath was the mother of Manasseh and Tamar was the mother of Perez.

Answer: Abner

King Saul and Abner were first cousins,

Kish and Ner were brothers according to 1 Samuel 14:51 while Kish was the father of Saul and Ner was the father of Abner.

Saul was the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 9:2) and Abner was commander-in-chief of his army (1 Samuel 14:50).

Answer: Zelophehad

According to Scripture, Zelophehad had five daughters who were all married "to the sons of their father's brothers". In other words, all five were married to their first cousins. Numbers 36:11 states the names of the five daughters were Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah.

According to Scripture, Zelphehad had no sons and when he died the five daughters were left without an inheritance to land. Numbers 27:2 tells of the daughters making their case before Moses, Eleazar the priest and "the leaders of the whole assembly."

Verses 3 and 4 in the NKJV quote the women as saying: "'Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers.'"

Verses 6 to 11 tell of Moses taking the case before God with the LORD telling Moses the women had a valid point.

"'The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right,' the LORD is quoted as telling Moses. 'You shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them."

Answer: Joab

Solomon and Joab were cousins. According to 2 Samuel 2:12, Joab was the son of David's brother Zeruiah, making him his nephew and a cousin of Solomon.

Being a first cousin of the king gave Joab no advantage. While on his deathbed, David gave instructions to Solomon to execute the commander of the Israelite army. The ever-obedient son fulfilled his father's wish and Joab was executed.

It's a bit of a long story, but David was upset with Joab for a number of reasons, not the least of which being he killed Absalom in a civil war battle. However, Joab also had killed Abner and Amasa and then on top of all this, he supported a bid by Adonijah to become king when David was elderly and frail.

If Jacob and Leah were among the first kissing cousins in the Bible, Solomon and Joab are among the first 'killing cousins'.

Answer: Mordecai

Mordecai is the correct answer. According to Esther 2:7 in the NKJV, Esther was his uncle's daughter, which would've made her his cousin. (The NIV simply describes her as Mordecai's cousin.) According to Scripture, Esther was an orphan and Mordecai raised her after her parents died. No information is given in Scripture about the cause of death of Esther's father and mother.

The Book of Esther tells of Esther and Mordecai working together to prevent Haman from carrying out a diabolical plan to kill all the Jews in the vast are rules by Ahasuerus in the NKJV and the KJV. )In the NIV, the king is known as Xerxes.

Answer: Elisabeth

Elisabeth is the correct answer. (Spelling is per the KJV. In the NKJV and the NIV, her name appears as Elizabeth.) According to Luke 1:57-58 in the KJV, her neighbors and her cousins rejoiced with her she gave birth to a son, John the Baptist. Scripture states Elisabeth and her husband Zacharias were elderly and childless and the birth of their son was a miracle from God. (In the NIV, Zacharias is known as Zachariah.)

Incidentally, both the NKJV and the NIV don't use the word 'cousins' in Luke 1:58. The two versions of the Bible both substitute the word 'relatives' for cousins.

Answer: John Mark

According to Colossians 4:10, Barnabas and John Mark were cousins. However, no details are given as to who their parents were. The two men were workers in the early church.

Barnabas is known for encouraging other church members while John Mark is believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark.

Answer: Jesus

There is no smoking gun, but John the Baptist and Jesus are perceived by many to be cousins. Jesus' mother, Mary, and John's mother, Elizabeth, were relative, as per Luke 1:36.

Many others, however, dispute the fact the two were cousins.

"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," according to the Website ChristianBiblereference.org. "They may have been cousins, or because of the age difference, Elizabeth might have been Mary's aunt."

No one knows for certain if the two were cousins, but going by general perception, Jesus is the only possible answer to this match question.