Lesser-known​ Biblical Mothers Quiz

Answer: Noah

Lamech was Noah's father, so the most logical conclusion is that Lamech's wife was his mother. I should note that in the genealogy of Genesis 5, Noah's mother isn't directly mentioned, but she is implied. The Bible's genealogies don't usually list the mothers and focus primarily on the fathers, so this isn't unique to Noah's mother.

While we don't know much about Lamech's wife, not even her name, we know that her son went on to become a very righteous man. According to Genesis 6-7, the world was extremely sinful, and God planned to destroy it, but He spared Noah's family.

Genesis 5:30 states that Lamech lived to be 595 years old and he had other children. So, Noah's mother was possibly a mother to many, many babies.

Answer: Shem, Ham, and Japheth

Noah's wife might be somewhat "well-known" or famous; after all, the Biblical account of Noah and his ark is pretty famous. When it comes to Noah's wife herself, though, the Bible doesn't go into details about her. We don't even know her name. That doesn't make her less of an important mother.

The Bible implies that Semitic groups (such as Hebrews and Arabs) descended from Shem, while Africans descended from Ham. It has been believed that Europeans and certain Asian groups came from Japheth. Therefore, without their mother, according to the Bible, there wouldn't be so many ethnicities.

Genesis 5 mentions her sons' births, Genesis 6 references Noah's household, and then Genesis 7 states that Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives all entered the ark. Noah was 500 when his sons were born! He was 600 when he went on the ark, which means that the three men were 100! There is no mention of Noah's wife's age.

Answer: Bethuel

Genesis 22:20-23 the Living Bible (TLB):

"After this, a message arrived that Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, had borne him eight sons. Their names were: Uz, the oldest, Buz, the next oldest, Kemuel (father of Aram), Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, Bethuel (father of Rebekah)."

As Nahor's wife, Milcah was Abraham's sister-in-law. As one can see, she actually had eight children and Bethuel was the youngest. I chose to include Bethuel because he became Rebekah's father. Rebekah eventually became Isaac's wife and the mother of Jacob and Esau. As Jacob's grandmother, Milcah had a place in the birth of Israel.

Answer: Midian

According to Genesis 25, Abraham married Keturah and she bore him six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Abraham evidently married Keturah after his first wife, Sarah, died. It was actually through Keturah that Abraham became "the father of many nations", because Sarah only had one child, Isaac. I used to incorrectly assume that Sarah was a mother of many nations, but it is more appropriate to say that Sarah was a matriarch of Israel only (along with Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, etc.)

Sources such as BibleGateway.com and Biblehub.com state that Keturah's sons were the ancestors of Arabian tribes in Southern and Eastern Palestine. Her son Midian was the ancestor of the Midianites. Moses traveled to Midian and married a girl there (Zipporah).

While, traditionally, Ishmael (Abraham's son through Sarah's maid, Hagar) has been considered the ancestor of the Arabs, CBN.com explains that Ishmael's children were only a small part of the Arabian peoples. Keturah's sons, as well as Esau's descendants, were also Arabians. All of these were descended from Noah's son Shem.

Answer: Dan

Some people may not be aware that Jacob had children with Rachel's maid Bilhah and Leah's maid Zilpah. At least in my case, I didn't read the Bible much (yet I was familiar with it due to my parents) when I was growing up, so I incorrectly thought that Leah gave birth to ten of Jacob's twelve sons, including Dan. However, it was Bilhah who gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Not only that, but Bilhah was Rachel's maid who only got pregnant because of Rachel's wish. In other words, Bilhah was like a surrogate and despite being Dan's and Naphtali's biological mother, Rachel claimed them as hers. Let's be honest, though. Dan and Naphtali couldn't thank Rachel for giving them life--that award goes to Bilhah.

Leah did give birth to six sons, which is more than any of the other wives did. Zilpah was the mother of Gad and Asher. Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin.

Answer: Nadab, Abihu, and Eleazar

Elisheba is only mentioned once, in Exodus 6:23, but she was the mother of the Levitical priesthood. She was Aaron's wife and their sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Unfortunately for Elisheba, Numbers 3:4 explains how Nadab and Abihu died because their fire was abominable. Nadab and Abihu also didn't have any children, so Elisheba didn't get any grandchildren from them. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. According to Numbers 20:23-29, Aaron found himself in hot water for disobeying the LORD, so Aaron was stripped of his position (in fact, he died) and it was given to Eleazar.

"Elisheba" is the original version of "Elizabeth".

Answer: Jonathan

Like my own mother said, Saul's wives don't seem to be very popular or talked about much. David's wives are. Maybe Ahinoam gets ignored because her husband had such a fall. Saul was supposed to kill all of the Amalekites, but he didn't and therefore was stripped of being king (see 1 Samuel 15). None of that is Ahinoam's fault. She was, in fact, the mother of Jonathan, David's best friend, and Michal, David's first wife. In addition, Ahinoam had an older daughter, Merab, and two other sons, Isha and Melchishua.

Saul had two other sons with Rizpah, who was a loving mother herself. See 2 Samuel 21 for her heartbreaking story.

Answer: Adriel's sons

Michal was a daughter of Saul and Ahinoam. She is famous for being the bitter or angry wife of David who opposed him when she saw him dancing. Michal accused him of dancing for the female servants, but David claimed that he was dancing for the LORD. I always felt sorry for Michal. David apparently divorced her and according to 2 Samuel 6:23, she never had any children. However, 2 Samuel 21:8 (in the KJV) portrays Michal in a different, sweeter light.

2 Samuel 21:8 (King James Version) states that Michal "brought up" sons for Adriel. 1 Samuel 18:19, even in KJV, clearly states that Merab, Michael's older sister, was married to Adriel. Most modern translations, such as NASB, ESV, etc., use "Merab" instead of "Michal" in 2 Samuel 21:8 and they also use "bore to" rather than "brought up". Are these just a bunch of contradictions, or what? According to some readers, no. It sounds like Michal had no biological children, but she raised Merab's children like they were her own, probably because Merab had died.

Merab indeed was the one who "bore" them to Adriel, but I think Michal deserves acknowledgement for her hard work as an adoptive mother or stepmother.

Answer: Demon-possessed girl

Matthew 15:21-28 states that a Caananite woman approached Jesus and begged Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus was testing her faith so He told her no. His disciples actually asked Jesus to send her away because they found her annoying. Jesus, on the other hand, didn't send her away, but He told her that He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. The Gentile mother was persistent and finally Jesus said, "Woman, your faith is large, and your request is granted" (verse 28, TLB).

When people discuss Biblical mothers, this Caananite woman might not be high on the list. But she was a wonderful mother. She loved her daughter so much that she was willing to not only deal with initial rejection by Jesus, but also to put up with the disciples complaining about her and treating her unkindly! Although the Bible doesn't reveal much about her, her marital status, her age, etc., it is obvious that her heart was full of faith and love.

Answer: Mark

There are multiple women with the name "Mary" in the New Testament and this one might be overshadowed by Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha. Nonetheless, Mary, mother of Mark had an important role in the early church. The Christians apparently used her home for a place to worship and pray. While the New Testament doesn't explicitly say so, some believers suggest that Jesus and the disciples had the last supper at her house.

Mary's son was the author of Mark's Gospel. She was related to Barnabas, Mark's cousin.