The Bible, "Messiah"-Style! Quiz | The Bible

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Immediately following the overture of Handel's Messiah, a tenor comes on to sing, "Comfort Ye, My People" and "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted". These lyrics were obtained from the first four verses of the fortieth chapter of which prophet's book?

Answer: Isaiah

"Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." (Isaiah 40:4)

Following the tenor's contribution, the chorus comes on to sing verse 5, "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 40:5)

Isaiah is used considerably throughout The Messiah; for purposes of this quiz, I only use each book once.

2. The bass soloist comes on to sing two sections of the Messiah, "Thus Saith the Lord" and "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming". These two selections were developed by Handel from which two books of the Bible?

Answer: Haggai and Malachi

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: (Haggai 2:6)
and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
"But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire." (Malachi 3:2)

The latter part of the Malachi passage (Malachi 3:1-3) bleeds into the chorus for "And He Shall Purify the Sons of Levi".

3. Passages 14 thru 17 of the Messiah are all from the same passage from the Bible. Beginning with this first of four consecutive soprano recitatives, "There Were Shepherds Abiding In the Field", these four passages are from verses 8-14 of the second chapter of which book of the Bible?

Answer: Luke

The most commonly used passage describing the birth of Jesus Christ was used for this series of recitatives.

"There were...shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And...the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying..." (Luke 2:8-13)

This leads into the chorus concluding the passage, singing "Glory to God".

4. One of the most demanding soprano arias, "Rejoice, Greatly O Daughter of Zion", is the eighteenth portion of Handel's Messiah. It is from another prophetic book of the Old Testament, specifically the ninth chapter. Which book is it?

Answer: Zechariah

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is the righteous Saviour and He shall speak peace unto the heathen." (Zechariah 9: parts of v. 9-10) These are the lyrics to an aria with a series of coloratura runs that are achieved by only the best of sopranos.

5. Section 20 of the Messiah begins with one of the many passages from Isaiah titled "He Shall Feed His Flock". It starts with an alto aria but finishes with a soprano taking the podium to finish it with a passage beginning with "Come Unto Him, All Ye That Labor". This is from a completely different book not even in the Old Testament. It's from chapter 11; which book is it?

Answer: Matthew

"Come unto him all ye that labour, that are heavy laden, and he will give you rest. Take his yoke upon you, and learn of him, for he is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29)

Concluding this passage is following chorus, "For His Yoke Is Easy and His Burthen Is Light". Handel uses poetic license and changes both of these to third person.

6. "Behold the Lamb of God", the 22nd section of the Messiah, is a testimony of a very important man from the New Testament. All lyrics are taken from the first chapter of which book of the Bible?

Answer: John

This passage contains the words of John the Baptist. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

7. Sections 27-33 and 36-43 of the Messiah are dominantly from one book of the Bible. Highlights include using the 24th chapter for the chorus, "Lift Up Your Heads" and the second chapter for the challenging bass aria, "Why Do the Nations Rage So Furiously Together?", followed by the chorus "Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder". What long book of the Bible is the feature scripture for these and others in the heart of the Messiah?

Answer: Psalms

Psalms is the longest book of the Bible at 150 chapters. Chapters that are used as lyrics for this area of the Messiah are the aforementioned Psalm 2 (v. 1-3) and 24 (v. 7-10); chapters 16, 19, 22, 68 and 69 are used as well.

8. Using verses from chapters 11 and 19 of the same Biblical book, the most famous chorus of the Messiah, arguably the most famous chorus piece written, the "Hallelujah Chorus" brings the audience traditionally to their feet. What book of the Bible is this choral scripture from?

Answer: Revelation

Verse 11 features the phrase, "And He Shall Reign Forever", and verse 19 features both "For the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth" and "King of Kings and Lord of Lords".

Revelation is also used for the finale of The Messiah, "Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain" and the ensuing "Amen".

9. The Messiah takes a quick volume turn following the "Hallelujah Chorus", going to a quiet innocent soprano solo, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth". It combines verses from two books, one Old Testament and one New Testament book. The Old Testament book uses chapter 19, and describes a man's faithfulness in his worst times. What book is this?

Answer: Job

"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job 19:26)

Job's life and faith is an example of keeping your face toward the heavens no matter what God's divine plan sets before you.

10. The fifteenth chapter of this epistle from Paul lends its scriptures to sections 46-51 of Handel's Messiah. One highlight from these verses is a bass recitative and aria, "Behold I Tell You a Mystery" and "The Trumpet Shall Sound". What book of the New Testament leads us closer to the conclusion of the Messiah?

Answer: I Corinthians

"O death, where is thy sting?" and "But thanks be to God" are two choruses that are also from this part of the chapter, specifically verses 51-57. I Corinthians 15 includes Paul's description of the rapture, magnificently put to music by Handel.

Source: Author Spaudrey

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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The Bible, "Messiah"-Style! Trivia Quiz

Handel's "Messiah", written in the 1700s, is an oratorio composed from passages of the Holy Bible, King James Version. This quiz asks you to identify the passages used in the 53-piece story of Christ.

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