The Greatest of These Is Love Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This is known as The Great Commandment. The rest of the passage (vv.6-9) tells the reader to take the words to heart, to wear them on one's arm and forehead and put them on one's doorpost.

In the period of Jewish history after the Babylonian exile of 538 B.C. but before 1 A.D., a literal interpretation became favored, and devout Jews attached to their arms and foreheads "phylacteries" -- boxes holding parchment strips with these words. The widening of these phylacteries to call attention to one's piety (but not the wearing in itself) was among the practices that Jesus of Nazareth would criticize in his denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-11).

In Hebrew, it begins with "shema yisra'el"; so this passage is also called the Shema. In later Jewish tradition, the Shema along with Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41 would form a prayer to be recited morning and night.

Answer: John 3:16

This is one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Gospel of John.

The "For" in the beginning suggests that it is a conclusion. It is indeed near the end of a conversation in which Jesus instructs Nicodemus on the need to be "born from above", which Nicodemus misunderstands as "born again" as the Greek adverb "anōthen" can mean either "from above" or "again". "Surely he cannot re-enter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?", the Pharisee asks (3:4b).

Jesus explains that one must be born of the Spirit. Nicodemus still does not understand. So Jesus says: "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." (See Jn 3:1-21 for the whole story).

The part about Moses refers to the mounting of a bronze serpent on a pole for healing the Israelites (Numbers 21:9); the Son of Man would be lifted up on the cross (and then rise again) both in a literal sense and in the sense of being glorified, healing the world.

Answer: Ecclesiastes 3:8

Two takeaways from the cheerful Book of Ecclesiastes are that "All things are vanity!" (1:2) -- meaning they are futile and fleeting -- and "Nothing is new under the sun!" (1:9).

The verse quoted in this quiz is from the most familiar part of the book in which the speaker (Qoheleth) declares that there is a purpose and an appointed time for every event in a person's life, and he poetically links each event with its opposite.

Pete Seeger's folk song "Turn! Turn! Turn!", adapted by the Byrds in the 1960s, borrows directly from this portion of Ecclesiastes (3:1-9).

Answer: Matthew 5:43-46

Jesus of Nazareth has a lot to say about love (and tax collectors) in the Gospel according to Matthew. This particular maxim is from the Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), in which he began with the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor Spirit..." (5:3). The quote about love is part of a series of examples that Jesus Christ gives on the conduct required of his followers, in which he presents a commandment and then counters it.

Later in the sermon, the Teacher tells the crowd listening to him, "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon"(6:4).

Answer: Tobit 4:13

The Book of Tobit is part of the Second Canon (or Deuterocanonicals) of the Old Testament (Tanakh) used by Catholics but not by Protestants in modern times. The quoted verse is part of the counsel that Tobit gives to his son Tobiah in preparation for a journey.

This passage of fatherly advice sounds like the wisdom literature of Scripture such as Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, but like Esther or Ruth, it tells the story of a central character. It recounts the experiences of a pious Israelite named Tobit and his family, who are exiled in Assyria.

This is the only Biblical book in which the angel Raphael appears by name.

Answer: 2 Samuel 1:26

This heart-rending passage comes from David's lament for King Saul and his son Jonathan, who had been a very dear friend of David's. "Jonathan and David made a covenant, because Jonathan loved him as his very self" (1 Samuel 18:3). The Philistines had killed Jonathan and his two brothers in battle, and Saul seeing that the battle would be lost, committed suicide. David would be anointed King of Israel not long afterward.

Answer: Song of Songs 1:2-3

In this selection from the Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon or the Canticle of Canticles), the woman (the beloved) addresses the man (the lover). The shift from first person to third person indicates a shift from her inner thoughts to direct address of her lover.

There is a bit of wordplay between the Hebrew "nashaq" (kiss) and "shaqah" (drink) that is lost in translation. Likewise, "shemen" (perfume) is a pun on "shem" (name). In the chapter, the beloved goes on to refer to her lover as a king and shepherd, often viewed as an allegorical reference to God. (In Catholic tradition, continuing the allegorical approach, the beloved may be interpreted as the Virgin Mary, which is why selections from the Song of Songs are read on certain Marian feast days.)

Answer: Genesis 37:3

This is of course the beginning of the story of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors -- the Joseph who was sold by his jealous brothers into slavery in Egypt only to become second only to Pharaoh. The Joseph story explains how the Israelites came to be in Egypt (from which Moses would lead them back to Canaan in the Book of Exodus).

Translation note: The phrase "coat of many colors" is what was used in the Septuagint, the Greek version of Scripture used by Jews during the time of Christ. The editors of the NABRE acknowledge what has long become the traditional interpretation.

Answer: Galatians 5:13-14

This chapter of Galatians is an exhortation to Christian living. St. Paul states that Christ gave his followers freedom, but not license to do absolutely anything; rather, freedom is to be used responsibly. Paul is also addressing an issue pressing on the church in Galatia (an ancient country of central Asia Minor, surrounding what is now the capital city of Ankara).

He seeks to persuade the Galatians to break with those trying to add certain aspects of Jewish law and especially circumcision as requirements for Christians.

They fulfill the law, he asserts instead, by love of neighbor.

Answer: 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

The thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians is known as the Love Chapter. The first verse is, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal."

St. Paul makes an inventory of gifts that are worthless without love. He then defines and enumerates what love is and is not.

In the final verses of the chapter Paul brings up the "three theological virtues" of faith, hope, and love, and asserts love's superiority and endurance through the end of time. "At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (13:12-13). Even when, in the blessed afterlife, faith is fulfilled by sight and hope by possession, love remains.