The Creation and Fall Trivia Quiz

Answer: In the beginning

The name "Genesis" comes from the title given to the book in the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures made before Christ. The actual Hebrew title, however, simply took the first few words of the book - "in the beginning".

Answer: Elohim

This word "elohim", which is plural, is used in several ways throughout the Bible. For example: "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels (elohim)" in Psalm 8:5 and "I have said, ye are gods (elohim), and all of you are children of the most High" in Psalm 82:6.

Answer: False

The word day is used in Genesis 2:4, where it clearly does not refer to a 24-hour day: "in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Since God made the heavens on the second day and the earth on the third day, the word "day" here cannot mean one 24-hour period.

However, some would argue that the word "day" must be taken literally whenever preceded by a number. The Ryrie Study Bible, for instance, says, "everywhere in the Pentateuch the word day, when used ...with a numerical adjective, means a solar day".

Answer: All of these

Bible Scholars have suggested all of these possibilities. The same word translated "whales" here is used to describe the dragon in the Ezekiel's prophecy. (According to "The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary". Hindson, Edward E., and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds.)

Answer: All of these

There are some Bible scholars who have argued each of these points. Some liberal scholars argue that the use of "us" here reveals a primitive, polytheistic concept in pre-Israelite tradition; the conservative Christian interpretation is that "us" here implies the Trinity.

Another and simpler possibility is that God is using a sort of "royal we"; Kings and Queens often speak in the second person plural when referring to themselves.

Answer: Be fruitful and multiply.

Genesis 1:28 says, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply". The command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil comes later, in Genesis 2:9.

Answer: herbs and the fruit from trees

Genesis 1:29 - "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed." God did not give man explicit permission to eat meat until after the flood: "Every moving living thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things". (Gen. 9:3)

Answer: Earth

Because this is the name given for the first human in Genesis, it is also understood to mean human. In Genesis 1:26, the word 'adam' is used, and is usually translated as man, standing for all of humankind. Elsewhere, 'ha-adam' is usually used, and is translated as the man, or by the name Adam.

Answer: A help meet

The Hebrew term translated "help meet" in the King James Bible signifies power and strength; one scholar translates Genesis 2:18 as "I will make a power [or strength] corresponding to man." (Kaiser, Walter C., Jr., et al. "Hard Sayings of the Bible.") Lawrence Richards in "The Bible Reader's Companion" says that the same word is used to describe God as man's helper.

Answer: Rib

Anglican poet and minister John Donne points out in a 1620 sermon that woman "was not taken out of the foot to be trodden upon".

Answer: The Bible doesn't say.

Despite John Milton's portrayal of Adam in "Paradise Lost", the Bible nowhere implies that Adam ate because he loved Eve and wanted to share in her fate. It does not tell us why he ate. It says only: "And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6)

Answer: No

Paul says: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression". (I Timothy 2:14)

Answer: Because he was naked

"And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:10)

Answer: Eve

Some Bible interpreters argue that Adam is thereby blaming Eve for his sin and even indirectly blaming God: "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." (Genesis 3:12)

Answer: The serpent

"And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." (Genesis 3:13). It is interesting to note that Adam and Eve blame others, and that they do not confess and repent of their sin.

Answer: All of these

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:14-15)

Answer: Genesis 3:15

For the Christian, messianic prophecies are those prophecies that say something about Christ, the Messiah. Christians see this as a prophecy of Christ's crucifixion and His destruction of Satan: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Answer: All of these

"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (Genesis 3:16)

Answer: He would have to till the ground with exertion.

Genesis 3:17-18 says, "cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground."

Answer: Because the man had become as Him

Genesis 3:22-23 says, "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." This murky phrasing has given rise to much debate among Bible scholars. What does God mean when he says the man has become "as one of us?" No consensus has been reached.

Answer: The Tree of Life

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24). As we can see from the quotation in the previous question, God did not want man to eat of the Tree of Life and live forever, so He guarded it from them.

Some see this banishment as an act of mercy. God is here saying that if Adam and Eve eat from the tree of life, they will become immortally fixed in a fallen state. To prevent that tragedy, God banishes them from the presence of Eden, and puts into motion his plan for Redemption.

Answer: It depends on the chapter.

In Chapter 1, animals are created before man, but in Chapter 2, they are created after. Some scholars argue that two different stories of creation were circulated in oral tradition, and both were ultimately recorded in the Bible. Fundamentalists dispute this interpretation and argue that the two accounts can be reconciled; Chapter 2 simply provides a more detailed view of the events sketched in Chapter 1.

Answer: void

The KJV says "void", but the NIV says, "Now the earth was formless and empty".

Answer: The seventh

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:2-2:3)

Answer: Pishon

There are four rivers described in Genesis chapter 2.