BBB Bible Series: II Timothy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eunice

We know from Acts 16:1-4 that Timothy was the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother. It is interesting that the names "Lois", "Eunice" (or "Eunike" = "good victory"), and "Timothy" are all Greek. Lois is the name of Timothy's grandmother, while Lydia was Paul's first convert in Europe (Acts 16) and Prisca (or Priscilla) was a Jewish woman whom Paul met at Corinth (Acts 18).

Answer: Onesiphorus

The name Onesiphorus in Greek means "bringer of profit" and is mentioned only in II Timothy. At 1:15-18 we learn that he had looked hard to find Paul in Rome and at the end of the letter Paul sends greetings to the family of Onesiphorus. Some scholars, from the references to his family, conclude that Onesiphorus had now died.

Answer: A sailor facing a storm at sea

Paul uses the image of the soldier who must remain at the service of his commander and not get distracted by other matters, the image of the athlete who must compete according to the rules, and the image of the farmer who labours and thus may share in the harvest.

Answer: We shall reign with Him

All of these promises occur during Paul's exhortation to Timothy but it is the promise of remaining firm that is completed by "we shall reign with Him".

Answer: In Egypt during a contest with Pharaoh's sages

The names Jannes and Jambres are found only here in the Bible, but Roman sources name them as ancient magicians or Egyptian sages. The Church father Origen (3rd century AD), says that Paul is referring to a lost work called "The Book of Jannes and Jambres" and that these men were among the sages that Pharaoh summoned in Exodus 7:8-13 to contend with Aaron and Moses.

Answer: Derbe

Paul visited all of these places during his first missionary journey (Acts 13-14) to Cyprus and what is now central Turkey. At Pisidian Antioch he and Barnabas were forcibly evicted from the town, at Iconium they were threatened with stoning, and at Derbe Paul was attacked by a mob and left for dead.

In Acts 16 we are told how Paul on his second journey first encountered Timothy in Lystra. But here, in II Timothy 3:11, he mentions only Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.

Answer: Mark

All these men are named at the end of Paul's letter. Crescens is mentioned only here in the Bible, but was remembered as an early bishop and martyr in Galatia. Luke is the author of the third gospel and Paul's companion and biographer, and Titus is the recipient of Paul's letter to Titus. Mark is presumably the same man as the nephew of Barnabas, who left their first missionary journey and caused a serious rift between the two (Acts 15:36-40). Paul's words here, "I find him a useful helper in my work", shows that the two had reconciled their differences.

Answer: Trophimus

Trophimus first appears in the Bible at Acts 20:4 where he is described as a companion of Paul "from Asia", that is from the Roman province of Asia in what is today modern Turkey. When he was seen with Paul in Jerusalem in Acts 21:29, Paul's Jewish enemies were able to accuse Paul falsely of bringing Gentiles into the temple. Erastus, Aquila, and Linus are all mentioned in the closing salutation of the letter.

Answer: That of an athlete

This is one of Paul's best-known sayings: "I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have kept the faith". Paul frequently uses metaphors from athletics (as in I Corinthians 9:24-27, where boxing and running are again used as comparisons). Athletic competitions were not the big deal to the ancient Hebrews that they were to the Greeks and Romans.

In fact Paul is the principal writer in the New Testament to use this metaphor.

Answer: Imprisonment in Rome

In II Timothy 2:9 he tells us that he is "chained like a criminal" and at 1:17 he says that as soon as Onesiphorus came to Rome, he searched hard for Paul until he found him. The earliest tradition of the Church is that II Timothy was written during Paul's final imprisonment in Rome and shortly before his execution.