A Quick Look at Old Testament People With 2 Names Quiz

Answer: Abram

Abraham was previously known as Abram. Notes in the New King James Version Study Bible state the name change is "significant" as Abram means 'Exalted Father' and Abraham means 'Father of Many'. According to Genesis 17:1, Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the LORD appeared before him and announced his new name. Study notes in the NKJV Bible state this was the fourth time the LORD appeared before Abraham.

Answer: Sarai

Sarah was originally called Sarai. However, her name was changed by God, according to Scripture. Genesis 17:15-16, in the NKJV, states: "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her'."

The pronouncement that Sarah would give birth to a son was received with amazement, as Verse 17 states she was ninety years old at the time. Sure enough, Scripture goes on to tell of Sarah giving birth to Isaac.

Answer: Ben-Oni

Benjamin was originally called Ben-Oni, according to Scripture. The name Ben-Oni was given to him by his mother Rachel who died during childbirth. Later Rachel's husband Jacob would change the name to Benjamin. Genesis 35:18 in the NKJV Bible states Rachel, "...as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin." Ben-Oni means 'son of my trouble' while Benjamin means 'son of my right hand'. Benjamin would become a founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Answer: Zaphnath-Paaneah

Zaphnath-Paaneah is the name the Pharaoh gave Joseph. According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Zaphenath-Paneah probably means 'The God Speaks and Lives'. Genesis 41:45 also states Asenath, the daughter of Piotiphera, priest of On, became Joseph's wife. According to Verse 46, Joseph was thirty years old at the time. For the record, Zaphenath-Paneah contains fifteen letters and one hyphen, making it one of the longest names in the Christian Bible.

Answer: Jedidiah

Jedidiah is the correct answer. 2 Samuel 12:25 states the LORD loved Solomon and after he was born "sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah". For whatever reason, the name never stuck. According to Wikipedia, Jedidiah means beloved of the LORD.

A number of years later, Nathan would be instrumental in making sure Solomon would become king. According to the first chapter of 1 Kings, he joined forces with Bathsheba to torpedo plans for Adonijah to become king and to make certain Solomon would ascend to the throne, replacing David. 1 Kings 1:8, 11 states he was a confidant to both David and Solomon.

The 34th chapter of 1 Kings tells of "Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet" anointing Solomon king over Israel.

On top of all this, 2 Chronicles 9:29 goes on to tell of Nathan recording the various events in Solomon's life. The verse in the NIV states: "As for the other events of Solomon's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?"

Answer: Hadassah

Hadassah is the correct answer. According to 'The Bible Story', a ten-volume set of books written by Arthur S. Maxwell, Hadassah was the Hebrew name for Myrtle. After she was adopted by Mordecai, she was given the Persian name Esther, which means star. "You can recognize it in the word 'asteroid,' which is a very little star, and in 'aster,' the lovely star-like flower," Maxwell writes. "In Babylon, the morning and the evening stars were worshipped as gods under the name 'Ishtar'."

Answer: Mesach

According to Scripture, Mishael was given the name Mesach by the chief of the eunuchs of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He was a compatriot of Daniel, Hananiah and Azariah. Their stories are told in the Book of Daniel.

Answer: Abed-Nego

Azariah was given the name Abed-Nego by the chief of the eunuchs of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. (In the NIV, his name appears as Abednego.)

Azariah and his compatriots Mishael and Hananiah, were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow to an image of Nebuchadnezzar. The three men were not harmed by the flames of the furnace, however.

According to Daniel 3:25, when people looked inside the furnace, they saw the three men walking in the midst of fire and not hurt. What's more, the verse in the NKJV states they also saw a fourth form, "like the Son of God".

Answer: Shadrach

Hananiah was given the name Shadrach. Similar to his friends, Hananiah was given the name by the chief of the eunuchs of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

The book of Daniel tells of Nebuchadnezzar ordering Hananiah and two of his friends thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow to the king's image. Miraculously, they were unharmed by the flames.

Answer: Belteshazzar

According to Daniel 1:7, Daniel was given the Babylonian name of Belteshazzar by King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel's three friends Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah were also given new names by the Babylonian king. Scripture states Hananiah was named Shadrach; Mishael was named Meshach and Azariah was named Abed-Nego.

Belteshazzar is not to be confused with Belshazzaar. The fifth chapter of Daniel tells of the fingers on an disembodied hand writing a message on the wall after King Belshazzar hosted a lavish banquet in which he, his wives and his concubines drank from goblets taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem. Scripture states the king's gathering drank the wine from the sacred goblets and "praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone."

When the king brought in the prophet Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall, no punches were pulled. Daniel told the king "God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end". The fifth chapter of Daniel concludes with these two verses from the NIV Bible: "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two."