Drunkards in the Old and New Testaments Quiz

Answer: Noah

Noah is the first person reported to be drunk in Scripture, as per the ninth chapter of Genesis. According to Scripture, he became a farmer and after planting a vineyard, he became drunk when he consumed wine.

Noah, of course, is best known for building a gigantic ark in which his family took refuge when a massive flood engulfed the world. According to Scripture, two of every kind of animals and birds were also housed on the ark.

Answer: Moab and Ben-Ammi

The two boys born as a result of Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughters were called Moab and Ben-Ammi. The sordid account about Lot having sex with his daughters appears in Genesis 19:30-38. According to Scripture, Lot's two unnamed daughters got him drunk to trick him into impregnating them. It's a bit of a long story, but the young women thought their actions were justified as there were no other men for them in the area and they wanted to preserve their father's blood line, according to Scripture.

Scripture states the firstborn son was Moab, who became the father of the Moabites. The second son was called Ben-Ammi, who became the father of the people of Ammon.

Answer: Eli

The correct answer is Eli, who was convinced Hannah was drunk when she was fervently praying to the LORD to be able to conceive. Her prayer was so fervent that 1 Samuel 1:10 states she was in "bitterness of soul" and "wept in anguish" while praying. Her prayer paid off, however, when she gave birth to a baby boy.

The baby boy was Samuel, a noted judge of Israel. Details about the interaction between Eli and Hannah can be found in 1 Samuel 1:12-18.

Answer: David

According to Scripture, it was David who got Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, drunk. It's a bit of a long story, but at the time, Bathsheba was pregnant because of an adulterous affair with David and David was attempting to cover up things. So David called Uriah, a soldier, home from battle with the hope he would sleep with his wife and thus have the impression he was the father of his wife's child. However, Uriah refused to even visit Bathsheba, stating it wouldn't be right to do so when his comrades were encamped in open fields.

So when Uriah refused to visit his wife, David opted to get him drunk as per 2 Samuel 11:12-13. However, once again, Uriah refused to visit Bathsheba.

So an exasperated David came up with a devious plan to have Uriah murdered. Scripture states David ordered Joab, Uriah's army commander, to send Uriah and a group of men into an area where the battle was the fiercest with instructions for all the men to quickly retreat, leaving Uriah on his own. The plan worked with a vastly outnumbered Uriah being easy pickings for enemy soldiers.

Answer: Elah

Elah is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Zimri was the commander of one-half of Elah's chariots and when he encountered a drunken Elah, he took full advantage of the situation. Zimri killed Elah and then installed himself as king of Israel. Details can be found in 1 Kings 16:8-13.

Answer: Nabal

Nabal is the correct answer. It's a bit of a long story, but after Nabal was extremely rude and hostile to David's men, David was planning to attack Nabal. However, Abigail, the wife of Nabal, caught wind of David's plan and intervened, presenting him with a peace offering which consisted of a large amount of food.

Nabal had gotten severely drunk before Abigail had a chance to tell him what happened and then shortly afterwards he was struck dead. Details about Nabal getting drunk and then being struck dead can be found in 1 Samuel 25:36-38.

Scripture goes on to tell of the widow Abigail becoming David's wife.

Answer: Ham

One of the more bizarre stories in the Bible involves Ham seeing his father Noah sleeping naked after Noah had become intoxicated with wine.

According to Genesis 9:22-23, Ham told his brothers Shem and Japheth about their father's nakedness and they responded by going into his tent backwards and covering his body. Genesis 9:24-27 tells of Noah awaking from his wine and knowing what his young son had done to him, announcing a curse on Canaan and blessings for Shem and Japheth. Canaan, according to Scripture, was the son of Ham.

Answer: Corinth

Paul accused the members of the early church at Corinth of being drunk at church feasts. The charge is found in 1 Corinthians 11:21.

In 1 Corinthians 1:11, Paul mentions he had heard of divisions in the early church at Corinth and then proceeds to present his case. Reports of divisions in the church had been forwarded to Paul by unnamed members of Chloe's household.

Corinth was a city in ancient Greece, approximately half way between Athens and Sparta, Wikipedia states.

Answer: Herod

Scripture does not say so specifically, but the IMPLICATION is there was a lot of drinking going on at Herod's birthday party when he granted approval for the execution of John the Baptist.

Mark 6:21 states Herod gave "a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee" to celebrate his birthday. As per the custom of the day, a lot of drinking would be in order. And it would only stand to reason, Herod would be drinking along with the many well wishers at his party.

Scripture goes on to tell of the daughter of Herod's wife performing an extremely pleasing dance and in an act of bravado (drunken bravado, some would argue), Herod promised to give the young girl whatever she requested, up to one-half of his kingdom.

Herodias, Herod's wife, convinced her daughter to request the head of John the Baptist on a platter. (This because Herodias was apparently livid because John had denounced her marriage to Herod, as she had been previously married to Herod's brother, Philip.)

Mel Storm, in his book 'The Man from Nazareth: The Story of Jesus According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke' writes that Herod was in a drunken state when he approved John's execution.

Similar claims are made by Bruce B. Barton in his book 'Life Application New Testament Commentary' and by Jerry D. Thomas in his book 'Messiah: A Contemporary Adaptation of the Classic Work on Jesus' Life, The Desire of Ages'.

While there is no smoking gun proving Herod was drunk, the consensus is he was inebriated along with the vast majority of people at his lavish party.

Answer: They were speaking in tongues

Members of the early church were speaking in tongues, on the Day of the Pentecost, leading some observers to state they thought they were drunk. Peter, however, tells the observers the believers were not drunk because it was only nine in the morning, in the NIV. (It reads 'the third hour of the day' in the NKJV.)

Details about members of the early church being accused of being drunk can be found in Acts 2:1-15.