An 'Alex Trebek' Old Testament Quiz -- #14

Answer: Who is Jacob?

Jacob was the father of Zebulun, as per Genesis 30:20. According to Scripture, Zebulun was the sixth son of Jacob and Leah, the daughter of Laban and the sister of Rachel.

Although Zebulun was one of the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, he is not as well known as many of his other brothers. According to Genesis 46:14, Zebulun had three sons -- Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

Answer: Who is Judith?

Judith was a wife of Esau, the twin son of Isaac and Rebekah. According to Genesis 26:34, Esau was forty years old when he took Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as his wife. The same verse states he also married Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Little is known about Judith and Basemath as they are mentioned in passing reference.

Esau's twin brother was Jacob.

Answer: Who is Adah?

Adah is the first female mentioned by name in the Old Testament, with the exception of Eve. Adah's name appears in Genesis 4:19. The same verse provides the name of another woman, Zillah. Both Adah and Zillah were married to Lamech.

According to Scripture, Adah was the mother of Jabal and Jubal while Zillah was the mother of Tubal-Cain and Zillah.

Answer: Who is Zerubabbel?

Zerubabbel led the Jewish exiles out of Babylon (Nehemiah 7:6-7) and played a key role in building the temple in Jerusalem (Ezrra 3:1-10). He was a descendant of David, as per 1 Chronicles 3:1-19.

The genealogies of Christ in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 also contain Zeubabbel's name.

Answer: Who is Joab?

2 Samuel 14:1-24 tells of Joab approaching an unnamed wise woman from Tekoa and requesting her to meet with David and pretend to be a widow. It was all part of Joab's scheme to have David reconcile with his son Absalom after the murder of Amnon. Scripture goes on to tell of David agreeing to forgive Absalom for the murder of his half-brother Amnon. Nevertheless, a few years later Absalom would stage a bloody rebellion against his father in a futile bid to become king.

According to various Bible commentaries, Tekoa was a village about ten miles south of Jerusalem, in the hill country of Judea.

Answer: Who is Hoshea?

Hoshea became king of Israel in Samaria when he assassinated Pekah, as per 2 Kings 15:27-30. Hoshea, the son of Elah, had been a commander in Pekah's army. According to 2 Kings 17:1, he reigned nine years. Scripture goes on to tell of the Assyrians attacking and taking Hoshea prisoner.

Answer: Who is Chilion?

Orpah's husband was known as Chilion in the NKJV and Killion in the NIV. He was the brother of Mahlon and the son of Elimelech and Naomi. Mahlon was married to Ruth.

Scripture tells of Chilion, Mahlon and Elimelech dying and Oraph, Ruth and Naomi being left as widows.

Answer: Who is Zephaniah?

Out of the four options given, Zephaniah is the only one that doubles as a name of a book in the Old Testament. According to Zephaniah 1:1, Zephaniah was the great grandson of Hezekiah. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah.

Zephaniah is part of the Minor Prophet section in the Christian Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, it is part of the Twelve Prophet section.

Answer: What is Judges?

Using Bible versions such as the KJV, NKJV and the NIV, Judges consists of twenty-one chapters. In fact, it is the only book in the Old Testament of the Protestant Bible to have exactly twenty-one chapters.

The Book of Judges tells of the time between the Israelite conquest of Canaan and the establishment of a monarchy. In other words, it tells of the time Israel was led by judges.

Answer: What is 39?

The Protestant Bible comprises thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. This is in contrast to the Catholic Bible which comprises forty-six books. Both Protestant and Catholic Bibles have twenty-seven books in the New Testament.

In other words, the Protestant Bible consists of sixty-six Old and New Testament books while the Catholic Bible consists of seventy-three books.

As a point of interest, Eastern Orthodox Bibles have fifty-one books in the Old Testament.