The Many Mentions of 'Many' in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Abram

In Genesis 17:4 God is quoted in the NKJV as telling Abram: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations." In the next verse God announces Abram's new name would be Abraham, reflecting the fact God designated him to become "the father of many nations."

Scripture goes on to tell of Abraham and his wife Sarah becoming the parents of a boy, Isaac. This even though Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety and they had been unable to conceive.

Answer: Gideon

Gideon, a noted judge of Israel, was told by God on two different occasions that he had too many soldiers to lead into battle against a vast Midianite army. For example, Judges 7:2 in the NKJV quotes God telling Gideon: "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'"

It's a bit of a long story, but Judges 7 tells of Gideon intending to lead no less than thirty-two thousand soldiers into battle. The number ended up being reduced to twenty-two thousand soldiers and then right down to a mere three hundred.

Sure enough, Gideon would lead the three hundred soldiers to a spectacular military over the Midianites.

Answer: Tamar

Tamar, the daughter of David and Maacah, wore a robe of many colors as was the custom of the day for unmarried daughters of a king. 2 Samuel goes on to tell of Amnon, the son of David and Ahinoam, sexually assaulting his half-sister Tamar.

Verse 19 in the NKJV states Tamar "put ashes on her head and tore her robe of many colors" following the assault.

Later, Absalom, the full brother of Tamar, would kill Amnon to avenge the defilement of his sister.

Answer: Proverbs

The verse in question is from Proverbs 19:21. Using the NKJV, the word 'many' appears no less than twelve times in the Book of Proverbs. In fact, the word appears three times in Proverbs 19 alone.

The majority of the content in Proverbs was written by Solomon, the son of David. The book contains numerous witty sayings and the like and is popular with both Jews and Christians around the world.

Answer: Luke

The Gospel of Luke is the correct answer. The Gospel is actually a letter written by Luke, a physician and worker in the early church, and addressed to Theophilus. Luke also wrote the Book of Acts, and it, too, is a letter addressed to Theophilus.

In Greek, Theophilus means 'Friend of God' or 'Loving God'. However, no one can say for certain who Theophilus was.

Answer: John the Baptist

When many of the Pharisees and Sadducees turned out to see John the Baptist baptize people at the Jordan River, he called them a "brood of vipers", as per Matthew 3:7. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were both vehement opponents of John and Jesus.

For the record, Jesus also called the religious leaders of the day a "brood of vipers", as per Matthew 23:33.

John and Jesus both had unkind remarks to make about the Pharisees and Sadducees largely because they were hypocrites who followed a long list of man-made rules but had basically no love for God.

As Jesus pointed out in Matthew 23:27, they were "like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness."

Answer: Levi

Mark 2:15 states Jesus was dining with "many tax collectors and sinners" at Levi's house, resulting in the Pharisees being in an uproar. Levi, also known as Matthew, was a tax collector himself before becoming a member of the original Twelve Disciples.

According to Verse 15, "many" of the tax collectors and sinners ended up following Jesus.

Answer: John

The verse is from John 1:12. The verse is part of a passage in which John, the author of the book, was a witness to the "true Light" with the Light being in reference to Christ. John was one of the original Twelve Disciples and is also credited with writing 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation, although some modern-day scholars suspect Revelation may have been written by a different man called John.

To put the verse in context, here's how John 1:10-13 reads in the NKJV: "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Answer: Paul

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, is the writer of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. The two books are actually letters addressed to Timothy, a young and timid worker in the early church.

1 Timothy 6:10 is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. Many people misquote the verse, saying "money is the root of all evil", when the verse actually states the "love of money" is the root of all evil. Leaving the word 'love' out of the verse dramatically changes the true meaning of Paul's statement.

Answer: Revelation

The verse pertaining to Wormwood and the poisoning of a third of the world's waters with many people dying is from Revelation 8:11. The verse is part of an extended passage telling of the sounding of seven trumpets and a series of calamities beset on the world. Details about the trumpets being sounded run from Chapter 8 of Revelation through to Chapter 11.

(For the record, the name Wormwood is used in the KJV, NKJV and the NIV, as well as the vast majority of other translations.)