Nine out of Ten: General Bible Trivia -- #3 Quiz

Answer: Achan

The correct answer is Achan. According to the seventh chapter of Joshua, after Achan stole a large amount of booty in the capture of Jericho, the LORD turned against the Israelites and they were defeated in battle at Ai. It's one of those long stories, but the Israelites invaded Jericho and were attempting to conquer Ai as it had been allocated to them as 'The Promised Land.'

Joshua 7:21, in the NKJV, tells of Achan making his confession of guilt to Joshua: "When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

After Achan made his confession, his fate was sealed.

Joshua 7:22-26 states: "So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.' So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day."

The Web site Christiananswers.net reports Achan means "one who troubles."

Answer: Tamar

Tamar is the correct answer and her story is told in Genesis 38:1-30. It's another one of those long stories, but Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah and was married to Judah's sons Er and Onan.

However, after the two sons died, Judah apparently thought Tamar was a prostitute when he met up with her along the side of a road and as a result of the union, she gave birth to twins Perez and Zerah. (Scripture reports her face was covered during intercourse.) About three months later, when it was reported Tamar was pregnant and proclaimed a prostitute, Judah announced she should be brought out and "burned to death."

However, Judah had to do some serious backpedaling when Tamar was able to prove he was actually the man who had impregnated her. (Genesis 38:18 states Judah had given Tamar his "seal and its cord, and the staff in his hand" as a pledge before he slept with her. When she was about to be put to death, she was able to produce Judah's pledge to her and her life was spared.)

According to Wikipedia, Tamar means 'date palm' and is the original form of the names Tamara and Tammy. Two rivers in the world also bear the name Tamar. River Tamar is found in England while the Tamar River is in Tasmania, part of Australia.

Answer: Onesimus

Onesimus is the correct answer. Onesimus, according to Scripture, ran away from his master Philemon in Colosse and after meeting up with Paul in Rome, he became a Christian. Paul makes a passionate appeal to Philemon to accept Onesimus back as an equal in Christ and states in part in Philemon 1:18-19: "But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay..."

Often when people today think of Onesimus running away from Philemon, they think of slavery as it existed on cotton plantations and the like. Such wasn't the case in New Testament times, however.

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible give this explanation of slavery during the time to Onesimus and Philemon: "To recognize the significance of this letter [Philemon], it is essential to understand slavery as it existed in the first century. At that time, the slave-master relationship was as common as the employer-employee relationship today."

Notes go on to explain that in Rome slaves outnumbered Roman citizens and that the system was largely seen as a way of survival for everyone. Among the Jews, slaves were only a small part of the population. Nonetheless, slaves had rights under Jewish law and were to be treated fairly.

Answer: Nain

The widow of Nain saw Jesus perform a spectacular miracle -- her son was raised from the dead. This is one of three incidents in which Christ raised people from the dead, according to the four Gospels. He also raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, as per Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56. And then to top things off, He raised Lazarus from the dead, as per John 11:38-44.

Here's how Luke 7:11-15, in the NKJV Bible, tells of the miracle Jesus performed for the widow: "Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.' So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother."

According to the Thompson Chain-Reference Study Bible, Nain is about ten miles south of Nazareth. Incidentally, this is the only place in the entire Protestant Bible where Nain is mentioned.

Answer: Expensive perfume

Mary, the sister of Lazarus, used expensive perfume -- or a "very costly oil of spikenard" -- to anoint Jesus feet, according to Scripture.

The anointment of Christ's feet is recounted in John 12:1-3 in the NKJV:
"Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."

Scripture goes on to tell of Judas Iscariot being indignant about the display of affection, claiming the fragrant oil, or perfume, should have been sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to the poor. Footnotes in the NKJV Study Bible state three hundred denarii was the equivalent of about one year's wages for the average worker.

John 12:6 claims Judas was not sincere about helping the poor: "This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it."

Answer: Mary

Mary, of course, is the correct answer. Details about Mary giving birth to Jesus while a virgin can be found in the first chapter of Matthew and the first and second chapters of Luke. Her husband was Joseph. Scripture doesn't state her age, but many theologians believe she was fifteen years old or younger when she gave birth to Jesus, as it was the custom of the day for girls to marry extremely young.

Answer: Esther

Esther became queen when Vashti refused a request of the king to appear before a banquet and show her beauty. The king opted to depose of her after consulting with his wise men. The feeling was if she wasn't deposed, other women in the kingdom would be disobedient to their husbands.

I really like Vashti as she is a person who stood on her principles regardless of the consequences. She was the first women's libber. In my opinion, she should be looked upon as a heroine in Scripture. After all, her disobedience played a role in saving the Israelites from mass genocide because after she was deposed, Esther ascended to the throne. If Vashti hadn't taken a defiant stand, it was unlikely Esther would have become queen. However, with Esther serving as queen, she was able to play a key role in preventing Haman from going ahead with his diabolical plan to kill all the Jews, according to Scripture.

Unfortunately, after Vashti is deposed, she is never again mentioned in Scripture.

Answer: Nathanael

Nathanael is the correct answer. Nathanael, it seems, was one of a number of people who had two names in the New Testament. While Matthew, Mark and Luke opted to use Bartholomew, John used Nathanael. Other examples of people who had two names are Peter, also known as Simon; Matthew, also known as Levi; Mark, also known as John Mark; Barnabas, also known as Joses; and Paul also known as Saul. (Feel free to play another quiz I have on Fun Trivia titled 'New Testament Characters with Two Names'.

Most theologians are convinced there is no question Bartholomew and Nathanael are one and the same. Incidentally, Nathanael/Bartholomew was the first disciple to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. John 1:49, in the NKJV, quotes Nathanael as telling Jesus, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" The declaration is made months, perhaps years, before Peter made his declaration in Matthew 16:16 that Christ is "the Son of the living God." Similar declarations by Peter are also recorded in Mark 8:29 and Luke 9:20.

Answer: Twelve years

According to Scripture, she had the bleeding problem for twelve years. The account of the woman, who is not named, can be found in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:28-34 and Luke 8:43-48.

No one, it seems, could heal her. The Bible isn't precise, but it's abundantly apparent the woman had seen a number of doctors. Mark 5:26 states she had spent all her money on "many" doctors, but the condition continued to worsen, instead of improve. Things changed, however, when the woman secretly touched Jesus and, as Scripture states, was "immediately" healed.

According to Scripture there were numerous occasions when people were healed by simply touching Jesus. In the NKJV Bible, Mark 6:56 puts it this way: "Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well." There is a similar account in Matthew 14:34-36.

Answer: atonement

The correct answer is 'atonement'. According to Dictionary.com, atonement means satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends. In regards to theology, Dictionary.com states atonement is "the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ."

It's interesting to note, however, the word 'atonement' is not used in the New Testament of the NKJV. The preferred word is 'propitiation'.

For example, 1 John 2:2 states this about Jesus: "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

Another example is 1 John 4:10 which states: "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."