A Tea Time Quiz - Ten Biblical 'T's

Answer: Terah

Genesis 11:26 notes that "Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran". Given that it is later confirmed that Terah lived for 205 years, it can be assumed that it meant that Terah was 70 years old before his the birth of children. While he gave his son the name Abram, that much more famous Biblical character is better known by his new name of Abraham - a name meaning "father of many nations" that he was granted by God when he was nearly 100 years old.

Terah apparently began a journey towards the land of Canaan along with Abram, Abram's wife Sarai (later known as Sarah) and a grandson named Lot. However, he got only as far as a place named Haran before he died, leaving Abram to complete the family's relocation to the land where they would have a new life. Lot of course is better known for having a wife who got turned into a pillar of salt.

Answer: Tola

The role of the biblical judges of the Book of Judges was not the same as what you might expect of a modern courtroom judge. The judges of Israel were leaders of the nation in times of crisis and fulfilled a much greater position in society than simply passing judgement on criminals and making sure that the laws of the land were upheld.

Tola's history was briefly described in Judges 10:1 where it is mentioned that he "judged Israel [for] twenty and three years" before his death and burial in the town of Shamir in Mount Ephraim - a mountainous central district of Israel that was the designated territory of the tribe of Ephraim (a son of Joseph of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' fame).

Answer: Tubalcain

Tubalcain was described as an "instructor of every artificer in brass and iron" in Genesis 4:22. Since an artificer is a skilled worker or artisan, this description implies that Tubalcain was noted for his creative ability to work these metals and that he also taught these skills to others. The wording may also suggest that he was the first person to gain this knowledge and could have invented the processes required.

Tubalcain's father, Lamech, was also described in Genesis 4:18 as a descendant of Cain - the son of Adam who murdered his brother Abel. In other versions of the Bible, Tubalcain's name is sometimes given as Tubal-cain.

Answer: Timothy

The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy and the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy are generally referred to as 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy in lists of the books of the New Testament. The third book that makes up the set referred to as the pastoral epistles is the Epistle of Paul to Titus (known simply as Titus).

Timothy is described as having been born in the city of Lystra, which is now in central Turkey. He is believed to have met Saint Paul while the latter was on a missionary visit to the area and then gone on to travel with Paul as his assistant or disciple. The book 1 Timothy mainly contains advice and instructions from Paul on what Timothy was expected to do in Ephesus, while 2 Timothy is about the qualities required of a missionary or preacher.

Timothy is said to have held the position of Bishop of Ephesus in the latter part of the 1st century AD and to have been martyred when he was stoned to death by a group of pagans.

Answer: Titus

The authorship of the Epistle of Paul to Titus (the third of the pastoral epistles) is subject to some debate as many Biblical scholars believe that it (along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) is not written in the same style as the earlier Pauline letters such as 1 Corinthians, and likely dates from after Paul's death.

Titus was a Greek scholar who is said to have converted to Christianity and begun following Saint Paul on his missions across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He is mentioned in Galatians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy and, of course, in Titus itself. Titus is believed to have served as a 1st century bishop of Create and he is the patron saint of that island.

Answer: Taphath

Taphath only gets one mention in the Bible, when she is listed as the wife of "the son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor" in 1 Kings 4:11. Solomon was the King of Israel and the son and successor of King David. He was married to Naamah, a daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, but apparently had another 700 wives and 300 concubines as well - so presumably must have had dozens, if not hundreds, of children who didn't get any Biblical mentions at all.

The "region of Dor" probably refers to the area around the city of Dor (or Dora), which was an ancient port in north-western Israel that once occupied the site of the modern Israeli city of Dor. Archaeological excavations in the early 20th century found evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area along with later remnants from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Answer: Thaddaeus

Biblical scholars have had lengthy debates over the name and identity of the apostle identified in the Gospel of Matthew as "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus" (Matthew 10:3) and in the Gospel of Mark as, simply, Thaddaeus. He is commonly considered to be the same person listed as Judas in the Gospel of Luke and as Jude in the Gospel of John - although this isn't a universally accepted position.

The one thing that the Gospels do have in common with regard to this character is that Thaddaeus (Lebbaeus/Judas/Jude) is not the same person as Judas Iscariot - the infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Answer: Tibni

The two Old Testaments Books of Kings (1 Kings and 2 Kings) summarise the story of around 400 years of the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the reigns of Kings David and Solomon through to the defeat of Judah by the Babylonians. In 1 Kings 16:21-22 there are a few lines that relate how a dispute arose which split the Israeli people, with half preferring a man named Tibni as their next king while the other half supported someone named Omri. Apparently though "the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned", suggesting some form of civil war took place to determine the outcome.

However, it would seem that the wrong man might have won this battle as 1 Kings 16:25 states that "Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him".

Answer: Tamar

Tamar appears in chapter 38 of the Book of Genesis. She is introduced as the wife of Er, the eldest son of Judah who is destroyed by God for his wickedness. Judah then forced his younger son Onan to marry his widowed sister-in-law in order to create a child who could continue Judah's family line. However, Onan wasn't happy with the plan and refused to make Tamar pregnant, a decision that was deemed evil and led to him following his elder brother's fate of being slain by God. After his plans had failed so dramatically, Judah was unwilling to make his youngest son, Shelah, marry Tamar, so Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute, slept with Judah himself and became pregnant with twins.

The Bible also mentions a couple of other Tamars. One was a daughter of King David who was raped by her half-brother and the other was her niece, the daughter of King David's son Absalom (who wasn't the rapist).

Answer: Thomas

Thomas was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ listed in all four canonical gospels. He is noted for his refusal to believe in the resurrection in the story as given in the Gospel of John - "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25).

One of the apocrypha of the New Testament, the Acts of Thomas, details how Thomas the Apostle later went to India as a missionary. He is also known as Saint Thomas the Apostle and is a patron saint of India and Sri Lanka.

Thomas and his actions are still referenced in the use of the phrase "Doubting Thomas" for anyone who refuses to believe in something without first personally experiencing it or receiving physical evidence.