A Quick Look at Letters in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Joab

King David's letter giving instructions on having Uriah killed was received and acted upon by Joab. In addition to being the commander of David's army, he was a nephew of the king. Scripture states Joab was the son of David's sister, Zuriah.

David wanted Uriah, a soldier, removed from the scene because he had an adulterous affair with his wife Bathsheba. The tryst took place while Uriah was away in battle and Bathsheba became pregnant.

In his letter, David told Joab to place Uriah at the front of the "hottest battle" and then to have all the other soldiers suddenly retreat "so that he may be struck down and die."

The plan worked to perfection. Ironically, the letter David wrote to Joab was hand delivered by Uriah.

For details, see 2 Samuel 11:1-27.

Answer: Naaman

Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, is the correct answer. Scripture tells of Naaman being afflicted with leprosy and carrying a letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel. The letter asked for the king of Israel's assistance in having Naaman cleansed of his leprosy.

Scripture goes on to tell of Naaman being miraculously cleansed of his leprosy after Elisha, a prophet of God, told him to bathe in the Jordan River seven times.

Answer: Jezebel

Jezebel, widely regarded as the most wicked person in the Bible, wrote letters that resulted in the death of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard near the royal palace. According to Scripture, Jezebel's husband, King Ahab, wanted the vineyard for himself and became depressed when Naboth wouldn't sell it to him.

So Jezebel took matters into her evil hands. I Kings 21:9-10 tells of Jezebel ordering letters be sent to elders and nobles instructing them to hold a feast in honor of Naboth and to have two "scoundrels" in attendance. Jezebel's letter stated the scoundrels were to make false charges of blasphemy again Naboth and after the charges were made, he was to be stoned.

Sure enough, Jezebel's letter did the trick and Naboth, an innocent man, was killed and Ahab gained ownership of the vineyard.

Answer: Jehoram

I suspect this question will trip up many quiz players as Elijah is most often associated with being in conflict with Ahab. However, the noted prophet of God was also in conflict with Jehoram, king of Israel. Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat and Scripture states he did not walk with the LORD.

2 Chronicles 21:12-15 states Elijah sent a letter to Jehoram telling of a dreadful future he faced. In part, the letter stated to Jehoram: "You will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day."

Scripture goes on to tell of Elijah's prophecy being fulfilled.

Answer: Sanballat

Sanballat was a vehement opponent of Nehemiah's plans to re-build Jerusalem. In fact, Nehemiah 4:1 states he became "furious and very indignant and mocked the Jews." Nehemiah 6:5 tells of Sanballat having an unnamed servant deliver a letter to Nehemiah denouncing his construction plans.

Despite the opposition of Sanballat and a number of other adversaries, Scripture tells of Nehemiah being successful in re-building a wall around Jerusalem.

Answer: Claudius Lysias

Claudius Lysias is the correct answer. After learning about a plot to kill Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, Scriptures tells of Claudius Lysias writing a letter to Felix and taking decisive action to save Paul's life.

Acts 23:26-30 provides information about the letter Claudius Lysias wrote to Felix, the Roman governor of Judea. Meanwhile, Acts 23:23-24 tells of Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison at Jerusalem, assigning two hundred soldiers, seventy horseman and two hundred spearmen to transport Paul safely to the hands of Felix.

Answer: Acts

Details about the letter written by the Jerusalem council are found in Acts 15:22-29. Known as the Jerusalem Decree, the letter was given to Paul, Barnabas, Judas and Silas to deliver to Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

The decree specified it was not necessary to be circumcised to keep the law and to "abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."

Answer: Sosthenes

Sosthenes is mentioned in the salutation of 1 Corinthians, a letter written by Paul to believers in the early church at Corinth. In the salutation, Paul describes Sosthenes as a "brother" in the NKJV.

However, little is known about Sosthenes going by Scripture. Acts 18:17 tells of a man named Sosthenes being the ruler of a synagogue at Corinth and being severely beaten by a mob. If it was the same man, Sosthenes was obviously converted to Christianity after his beating.

According to Wikipedia, some scholars believe Sosthenes was an alternate name for Crispus, who is mentioned in Acts 18:8 and 1 Corinthians 1:14.

Answer: Tertius

According to Romans 16:22, Paul dictated his letter to the Romans to Tertius. The verse in the NKJV simply states, "I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord." However, little is known about Tertius because his name appears in only this one verse.

Tradition holds that Tertius was the bishop of Iconium. The Catholic Church marks St. Tertius days on October 30 and November 10.

Answer: Paul

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wrote a letter to his old friend Philemon, the owner of the run-away slave Onesimus. That letter is now known as the Book of Philemon in the New Testament.

After Onesimus ran way from Philemon, he met up with Paul in Rome who converted him to Christianity. Philemon is a heart-felt letter by Paul urging Philemon to accept Onesimus back as an equal in Christ.