Nine out of Ten: General Bible Trivia -- #5 Quiz

Answer: Salim

According to John 3:23, Aeon was near Salim. The verse states that John conducted his ministry in that area "because there was much water there." Notes in the NKJV Study Bible indicate Aenon and Salim were both on the Jordan River.

In John 3:36, John the Baptist also states: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

Answer: Antioch

Members of the early church were first called Christians at Antioch, according to Luke in Acts 11:26. Previously, people who believed in a resurrected Jesus Christ referred to themselves as 'The Way'. According to notes in the NKJV Bible, the term Christian was originally used to ridicule believers. Later, however, members of the early church would begin to refer to themselves as Christians. Antioch was situated near Antakya, in present day Turkey.

Answer: Nehemiah

Nehemiah is the correct answer. In Nehemiah 13:25-27, in the NKJV, the leader of the Israelites gives an explanation for his conduct: "So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, 'You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?'"

Not much is known about the personal life of Nehemiah, apart from the fact he had a brother called Hanani and their father was Hacaliah, as per Nehemiah 1:1-2. Facing gigantic odds, Nehemiah successfully rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem. In Biblical times, walls around cities were a common feature as they were used to keep occupants safe from intruders.

Answer: Hivites

The correct answer is the Hivites, a tribe who lived in Gibeon in Canaan. Joshua 11:19, in the NKJV, states, "There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle."

According to Scripture, when the kings of other cities in Canaan heard about the destruction of Ai and Jericho, they formed an alliance against Joshua and the Israelites.

"However, there was one city that did not want to go to war with them," the Website Bible.org reports. "It was the city of Gibeon. It was not far from Ai. Gibeon was a large city -- larger than Ai, and the men of Gibeon were great fighters (Joshua 10:2). Still, the Gibeonites were afraid of the Israelites, because they had heard that God had instructed His people to destroy all the people in the land (Joshua 9:24)."

Scripture states the Hivites used deception to trick Joshua into agreeing to peace terms, but we digress.

Answer: En Dor

En Dor, as per the NKJV, is the correct answer. (The KJV and the NIV use the spelling Endor)

King Saul consulted with a medium to find out if his army would win a looming battle with the the Philistines at Shunem. According to Scripture, Saul was deeply distressed because his inquiries of the LORD went unheeded while the Philistine army "gathered together" and was massive.

1 Samuel 28:14 reports the female medium in En Dor was successful in bringing up Samuel for Saul, but from there on it was bad news for the king.

1 Samuel 28:15-20 tells of the conversation between Samuel and Saul:

"Now Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?'

"And Saul answered, 'I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.'

"Then Samuel said: 'So why do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.'

"Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night."

True to what Samuel had predicted, Chapter 31 of 1 Samuel tells of the defeat of the Israelites and the deaths of Saul and his sons.

Answer: Derbe

Derbe is the correct answer. The suffering by Paul must have been immense, and Luke spares us the details. Acts 14:19-20 simply states: "Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe."

According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, Derbe was about 20 miles from Lystra, on the eastern part of the upland plain of Lycaonia. It was in Asia Minor, now known as present day Turkey.

In Acts 14:21, Luke writes that Paul and Barnabas "preached the gospel" to the people of Derbe and "made many disciples".

Answer: Rehoboam

Rehoboam replaced Solomon as king. Scripture reports he got off to a bad start when he ignored the advice of his father's advisers and followed the advice of young men he had grown up with, as per 1 Kings 12.

And from there things got worse. The ten northern tribes broke away and before long Rehoboam was left ruling over a much smaller domain than his father Solomon and his grandfather David.

According to 1 Kings 14:21, Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king and he reigned for seventeen turbulent years. He was succeeded by his son Abijah.

Answer: Israel

The name Israel was first applied to Jacob. In Genesis 32:28, in the NKJV, God tells him, "your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." Descendants of Jacob would become known as Israelites, leading to Israel as the modern name of a nation in the Middle East.

Answer: Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar was burning with uncontrollable rage after he learned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had refused to bow down and worship an image of gold he had made that measured 90 feet high and 9 feet wide, according to the third chapter of Daniel in the NIV. (The measurements in the NKJV are 60 cubits high and six cubits wide.)

So he ordered the three Jewish men to be bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. According to Scripture the furnace was so hot the flames killed the soldiers who were attempting to take Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to their doom. However, the trio was not harmed by the immense heat and Nebuchadnezzar, after seeing a fourth men in the furnace who looked like "the Son of God", ordered their release.

The story ends with the king singing the praises of "the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants!" The three men, according to Scripture, were subsequently promoted by the king.

Answer: Sanhedrin

Sanhedrin is the correct answer. It was a sitting council consisting of religious leaders of the day which oversaw the trial of Jesus in the four Gospels of the New Testament.

References are also made to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4 with Peter addressing the council and in Acts 22 with Paul making a presentation.