The BBB Presents: Bible Bonanza #2 Quiz

Answer: Saul

King Saul and the apostle Paul had the same name, originally. King Saul was stated to be about a head taller than his fellow countrymen. Saul, the apostle, had his name changed by God to 'Paul' after his conversion to Christianity.
The name Paul means small, little, or diminutive one.

Both of these men named Saul were of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin had HIS name changed also. His mother had named him Ben-oni; meaning "Son of my Sorrow", just before she died immediately after delivering him in childbirth. His father, Jacob (Israel, who also had HIS name changed by God), changed the name of his youngest son to Ben-Yamin, meaning "Son of my Right Hand."

(Question submitted by logcrawler.)

Answer: Joses

The correct answer is Joses. (In the NIV, the name appears as Joseph.) In addition to being a source of encouragement to members of the early church, Barnabas, a native of Cyprus, was a generous giver. Acts 4:36-37, in the NKJV, states: "And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."

As a personal aside, I was a grateful recipient of Birdman's (Marten's) messages of encouragement hundreds of times. And when I say hundreds of times, I mean exactly that. Every time I posted a Bible quiz, 'Barnabas' would send a message, via FunTrivia, thanking me for my efforts and exhorting me to carry on. I have posted more than 300 Bible quizzes at FunTrivia and Marten has sent thoughtful messages of encouragement for practically every single one. I am grateful he has a special talent for putting wind in my sails. Keep smiling, Marten... and may God richly bless.

(Question by Cowrofl.)

Answer: An angel of the Lord was blocking the way.

You can find this story in Numbers 22. Balaam was a non-Israelite prophet. He was promised a great fee if he would curse the Israelites.

(Submitted by Ilona_ritter.)

Answer: Bathsheba

Though David, the second king of Israel, was forgiven by God for this incident with Bathsheba, there was still a price to be paid. That price was the death of the child that was born as a result of their adulterous union. Later though, after David and Bathsheba's marriage, Solomon was born. He was considered the wisest man ever, other than (for Christians) Jesus Christ.
This story can be found in II Samuel 11.

(Question submitted by rredman95.)

Answer: What do you want me to do for you?

See Mark 10:46-52. Since Bartimaeus was blind, it may seem obvious what he wanted Jesus to do for him. However, Jesus says that it was Bartimaeus' faith which healed him, so perhaps it was important for him to express what he longed for.

Bartimaeus means 'son of Timaeus', so Jesus would not have needed to ask what his father's name was.

(Question submitted by cal562301.)

Answer: Baasha

Baasha was king of Israel for 24 years (Holman Illustrated Pocket Bible Dictionary). He probably reigned from 908-886 BC. This story can be found in I Kings 15.

(Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.)

Answer: Barabbas

We see in the 23rd chapter of Luke that Barabbas was a political prisoner as well as being a criminal guilty of murder. He went by the name "Jesus Bar-Abbas". The name "Jesus" means "Savior" and the name Barabbas is from two Hebrew words; "Bar", meaning "son of" and Abba, meaning "father"; so in essence he was claiming to be the "Savior, and the son of God". He was not the first of the so-called "messiahs" to inflict heavy political losses upon the Jewish Sanhedrin. Many others had preceded him in their efforts of sedition (or rebellion) against both the Jewish Sanhedrin (ruling political and religious body) and the Roman Empire.

The mob of common people were encouraged by their leaders to demand the release of this man, Barabbas, in place of Jesus, whom the Sanhedrin deemed to be even more dangerous to their national welfare at the time. They realized that simply a word from Rome or the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, could result in instant annihilation of their nation.

One thing that Barabbas had claimed, which had led to his imprisonment in the first place, was that he was a "king"; and that flew in the face of the Roman government, which after its bout of problems with the ancient Etruscan civilization, had vowed to never have a king, such as had been inflicted upon them by the Etruscans. The Jewish leaders were aware of this perspective of the Romans and exploited it to their advantage.

Pontius Pilate was even more concerned with the claims that the Sanhedrin had laid on Jesus, specifically that of His kingdom. When Pilate questioned Jesus about this, the simple response came back that implied that Pilate said such a thing and Jesus did not deny nor acknowledge the claim. He further stated that His kingdom was "not of this world", and a perplexed Pilate was forced to return Him back to the Jewish leadership after a scourging.

As things developed, we all know that in the end, Jesus was crucified instead of Barabbas, and Christians believe that such was God's plan all along.

(Question submitted by logcrawler.)

Answer: Balak

Yes, my name was Balak, and I ruled over ancient Moab. I was greatly disturbed by the military advances made by the Jewish people and I got fearful that they might attack my country, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I hired the best "rasha" (or 'wicked one') that I could find to take care of business for me. His name was Balaam; a man of a great reputation as a soothsayer, and I fully trusted that he would be able defeat the Israelites with just a word.

I offered him a small fortune just to curse them, but he wound up BLESSING them instead! Needless to say, I was NOT pleased! So, I sent him back to try again... and again.. and again. I even went with him, eventually, because I wanted the job done RIGHT! (The incompetent jerk!)

Over and over he continued blessing those people and when he saw how angry that made me he offered my servants this explanation - "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God".

I finally gave up in disgust, and told him just to hush, telling him not to curse or bless them anymore, BUT NO-O-O! He had to go ahead with even MORE blessings for them!
Man, Balaam was SOME "evil" prophet and "bad guy" huh? We both just finally gave up and went our separate ways.

So even Balaam, a truly godless heathen, recognized the power of God. Now what does that tell you?

By the way, Ilona_ritter has already asked question 3 in this quiz about Balaam's donkey. Ironically, I had already chosen a different question about the same event!

(Question submitted by logcrawler.)

Answer: Bidkar

This story can be found in II Kings 9. This happened after Jehu murdered the king.

(Submitted by Ilona_Ritter.)

Answer: Daniel

See Daniel 1:7. The three wrong answers are probably better known by the names Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3).

(Submitted by cal562301.)