Moses Trivia Quiz

Answer: Levi

Amram and Yocheved were Leviites, and slaves of Egypt. Their first child was Miriam, and their second child was Aaron, who was born just before the decree to drown all Jewish male babes in the Nile was passed. After the decree Amram and Yocheved were separated until they were given a vision of their third child, and they got back together to conceive Moses.

Answer: Avi Zaddik

Moses was the name given to the babe by the Egyptian princess who pulled him from the Nile River in his wicker basket.
Jered was the name given to Moses by his sister Miriam, who had to go down to the Nile River to receive tidings of him.
Jekuthiel was the name his mother gave him because she was brought to the Egyptian palace to suckle Moses.
Avi Zanoach was the name given to Moses by Aaron, as their father Amram abandoned their mother Yocheved, and because of Moses they got back together.

Other names that Moses was given were Hever, by his mother, because he was the reason that she was united with his father Amram. Another name was Avi Gedor, given to Moses by his grandfather, because God repaired a breach in the security of the tribes Israel by allowing Moses to live.

Answer: Exodus

The exodus of the people of Israel is written in the book of Exodus. In it you can find the story of Baby Moses, how he grew up, and how he delivered the Jews from the Egyptian yoke. It culminates in the dictation of the Torah to Moses on top of Mount Sinai.

Answer: stuttering

Moses was three years old when this happened. He was sitting on Pharaoh's lap when he reached for the crown and placed it on his own head. Pharaoh was amused, but his counselors said that the baby was trying to take the kingdom from him.

The counselors proposed to put Moses to a test. They would bring two plates, one with gold, the other with burning coals. If Moses were to take the gold, then he would be put to death, but if he reached for the coals, then they would concede that it was just childish play.

The counselors brought the plates, and Baby Moses started to reach for the plate of gold, but the Angel Gabriel guided Moses' hand at the last moment to the plate of coals. Moses put a burning coal in his mouth and from then on stuttered.

Answer: Gabriel

Gabriel was an Angel of Death sent to protect Moses against just that - death. Other than the coal incident (see the info for question 4) Gabriel was also the one responsible for the Pharaoh's daughter to pick up Moses from the Nile, and for sneaking Moses and Aaron into the Egyptian palace the first time they petitioned the Pharaoh to set the Jews free. Gabriel was always on the lookout for Moses.

Answer: he killed an Egyptian

Moses observed an Egyptian beating a Jewish man. Normally he wouldn't have done anything, but the Jew approached Moses because of his status and asked for aid. According to Midrash, the Jew told Moses that the Egyptian had sexually assaulted the Jew's wife the previous night, and was now attempting to kill the Jew. Moses was enraged, and killed the Egyptian. Although the Egyptian was buried under the sand, Pharaoh eventually knew the story, and Pharaoh sought for Moses' death.

Moses was saved by a miracle, and fled the borders of Egypt.

Answer: Sudan

King Nikanos was the King of Cush, located in modern-day Sudan along the Nile River, and he had returned from a war to find that his capital had been traitorously seized by Bala'am, the former advisor to the Pharaoh. He laid siege to his own capital, and during the course of the siege, Moses joined the army and gained much status among them.

When King Nikanos died, Moses was made King of Cush, and was forced to marry the queen. Moses would not have sexual relations with her, and she eventually placed her son by King Nikanos on the throne of Cush. Moses was allowed to leave and was given many riches as a parting gift.

Answer: imprisoned him for seven years

Moses came to Midian and aided Jethro's daughters in watering their flock of sheep. When Moses came to Jethro's house for dinner, Moses recounted his adventures. Jethro used to frequent the Egyptian palace and knew that Moses was an outlaw, and planned on turning him over to the Pharaoh in exchange for a reward. So Moses was imprisoned and was placed on prison rations.

Moses would have surely died of hunger had not Zipporah, Jethro's eldest daughter, viewed him with favour. She sneaked him extra food for the seven years of his imprisonment, and eventually convinced her father to free Moses from bondage.

The Bible is very vague on this. In Exodus, the only mention is that Moses comes to Jethro for dinner, and suddenly he's married with a child.

Answer: Gershom

Gershom was not circumcised by Moses, which was a major transgression on Moses' part, and it angered the Lord. God sent a serpent, which was one of His angels, and it started to swallow Moses alive. When Zipporah saw this, she immediately picked up a sharp stone and circumcised Gershom, and Moses was saved.

Answer: the burning bush

Moses worked for Jethro as a shepherd. One day, in pursuit of a stray lamb, he came upon a bush that was burning, but was not consumed by the fire. God spoke to Moses from the bush, and told him to go to Egypt and set the Jews free. Moses did not know whether he was the right person for the task, but God said that He would put His own words in Moses' mouth when the time came, and His hand would guide Moses' hand to do His deeds.

According to the Midrash, Moses is the only man in the Old Testament that God talks directly to, and not through an intermediary. Nobody was permitted to see the true shape of God, but it is said, that just before Moses died, God revealed to Moses the back of His head.

Answer: asps

The ten plagues were as follows: blood, frogs, gnats/lice, vermin, plague on the cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally death of the firstborn. All these plagues happened to the Egyptians, yet the Jews were miraculously spared.

The only Egyptian first-born to be spared was the old Pharaoh's daughter (the current Pharaoh's older sister), because Moses prayed for her to be spared, as she was the one who rescued Moses from the Nile. The straw that broke Pharaoh's back, was that his first born and heir-apparent died.

Answer: The casket of Joseph

In Exodus, Joseph was not forgotten by Moses. According to Midrash, Moses wrote down God's name and threw it into the Nile, and the casket of Joseph rose up, and they carried it to Cana'an. The caskets of Joseph's brothers also rose up, and each tribe carried their ancestor's casket back to the Promised Land.

Answer: a pillar of cloud

The pillar of cloud was the same that led the Jews out of Egypt as they were making their Exodus from Egypt. By night, the pillar of cloud was a pillar of fire, but when the Egyptians caught up with the retreating Jews, it was day-time, and the cloud kept them at bay long enough for the Jews to flee.

Nachshon ben Aminadav was the first to gather courage and jumped into the water of the Red Sea. When he was up to his nose in the water, God reached out and parted the water, making way for the Jews to cross.

Answer: Mount Nebo

Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. Instead, he climbed Mt. Nevo with a single bound, and from the peak could see the land of Cana'an. He was exactly 120 years old, as he was born and died on the 7th of the Jewish month of Adar. To this day, if you want to wish a Jewish person a full life, you wish them: "until 120 years!"

Answer: Passover

Passover, or 'Pesach' in Hebrew, is the feast where Jews remember the Exodus from Egypt. Passover is literally because God passed over the houses of the Jews when striking down the first-born of Egypt. There is a feast, where the Haggadah (scroll) of Passover is read, and the eating of leavened bread is forbidden for the week to remember the bread the Jews ate leaving Egypt.

Passover is also the festival of the Spring, one of the three High Holidays, when (in ancient times) Jews made an offering at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the most observed of Jewish Festivals, over 80% of Jews (even non-observant ones) have been at a Passover Seder (Feast).