Three Connecting Letters, Biblical Names -- #3 Quiz

Answer: LEM

Add the letters 'lem' and you get Salem, a community mentioned in Genesis, and Lemeul, a man who is credited with writing Proverbs 31.

According to Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of God Most High. It was at Salem, Melchizedek met with Abraham. Salem is also mentioned by the writer of Hebrews. In the NKJV, Hebres 7:1-3 states: "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated 'king of righteousness,' and then also king of Salem, meaning 'king of peace,' without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually." The rest of the chapter goes on to tell readers about how superior Jesus is to Melchizedek.

Meanwhile, Lemuel is the man who is credited with writing Proverbs 31. It is not known exactly who he is. However, some theologians believe the writer was actually Solomon. Reference is made in the chapter to the teachings of his mother, who warns him about the danger of giving his strength to women and alcohol. If the writer is indeed Solomon, the wisdom being offered in Proverbs 31 is from none other than Bathsheba.

Answer: CAS

Add the letters 'cas' and you get the New Testament woman's name Dorcas and the Old Testament placename Casiphia.

Dorcas, also known as Tabitha, was raised from the dead by Peter, as per Acts 9:36-43. The miracle took place in Joppa. According to Wikipedia, the community is now commonly referred to a Jaffa. The community has been part of Tel Aviv since 1950 and sits on the Mediterranean Sea.

Meanwhile, Casiphia is mentioned in passing reference in Ezra 8:17. According to Easton's Bible dictionary, Casiphia was a place between Babylon and Jerusalem where Ido presided. Ezra 8:17, quoting Ezra in the NKJV, states: "And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia -- that they should bring us servants for the house of our God." There is no further reference to Casiphia in Scripture. Smith's Bible Dictionary states Casiphia means "silvery, white."

Answer: NAH

Add the letters 'nah' and you get the names Peninnah and Naham.

Penninnah, according to 1 Samuel 1:2, was one of two wives of Elkanah. The other wife was Hannah. According to Scripture, Penninnah had children while Hannah was childless. It seemed Penninnah was a specialist in making Hannah's life miserable. 1 Samuel 1:6 states: "And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat."

The story has a happy ending, however, as Hannah fervently prayed to the LORD to be able to conceive a child and her prayers were answered. 1 Samuel 1:1`9 tells of her bearing a son, Samuel.

Meanwhile, Naham is an obscure character mentioned in passing reference in 1 Chronicles 4:19: "The sons of Hodiah's wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the Maachathite."

Answer: SEA

Add the letters 'sea' and you get the name Hosea and the placename Sea of Galilee.

Hosea was a prophet who is credited with writing one of the books in the Minor Prophet section of the English Bible and the Twelve Prophet section of the Hebrew Bible.

The Sea of Galilee is largely known as the Sea of Tiberias in the Old Testament. It was on this body of water Jesus is credited with twice causing storms to end.

Answer: MER

The names Gomer and Merab are created when the letters 'mer' are added to the clue above.

Gomer was actually a harlot who was married to the prophet Hosea. She is mentioned in passing reference in Hosea 1:3. She was the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore Hosea a son.

Meanwhile, Merab was the oldest of two daughters of King Saul, as per 1 Samuel 14:49. According to 1 Samuel 18:19, she was offered to David after his victory over Goliath, but for some reason the marriage never took place. Scripture tells of her being married to "Adriel, the Meholathiteof". She had five sons who were killed on the hill of Gibeah (2 Samuel 21:8).

Answer: CHA

Add the letters 'cha' to the clue and you get the name Micha and the placename Chaldea.

Micha, according to Scripture, was the son of Mephibosheth. He is mentioned in passing reference in 2 Samuel 9:12. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, David's best friend. Mephibosheth became lame at a very young age, according to Scripture.

There is a second Micha in Scripture. He is mentioned in passing reference in Nehemiah 11:17 and 22.

Meanwhile, Chaldea was an area in ancient Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. The Chaldeans are mentioned a number of times in Scripture. The first mention is in Genesis 11:28 and there are 88 references after that.

Stephen makes reference to the Chaldeans in Acts. 7:4 when he talks about Abraham during his trial before he was stoned to death by a squad overseen by Paul, who at that time was known as Saul.

Answer: MER

Add the letters 'mer' and you get the names Chedorlaomer and Meraioth.

Chedorlaomer is mentioned in the 14th chapter of Genesis and is described as the king of Elam. Scripture tells of Lot being taken captive by the king and his allies with Abram, who would later become known as Abraham, rescuing him and Chedorlaomer going down to defeat.

Meanwhile, Meraioth was the father of Amariah, a priest of the line of Eleazar (1 Chronicles 6:6-7,52). There is also a Meraioth who served as a priest and went to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:15).

Answer: HEL

Add the letters 'hel' and you get the names Rachel and Heli.

Rachel and her sister Leah were both married to Jacob. The father of the two women was Laban. According to Scripture, Jacob loved Rachel but didn't have the same feelings for Leah. (Genesis 29:17). Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin and according to Scripture, she died given birth to Benjamin.

Heli is a Biblical individual mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as an ancestor of Jesus. In Luke's account of the genealogy Heli is listed before Joseph, husband of Mary. Luke 3:23, in the NKJV, states: "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli."

Answer: HAM

Add the letters 'ham' and you get the names Abraham and Haman.

Abraham was married to Sarah and they were the parents of Isaac. The world's three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all evolve from the blood line of Abraham.

Meanwhile, Haman was the deranged man who was almost successful in his bid to have the all the Jews exterminated in the vast area ruled by Ahasuerus in the NKJV and Xerxes in the NIV. He was thwarted in his diabolical plans by Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai.

Answer: SAU

Add the letters 'sau' and you get the names Esau and Saul.

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob. He is generally credited with being the father of the Arab nation. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of porridge, according to Genesis 25:33. Scripture goes on to tell of Jacob, with the help of his conniving mother Rebekkah, tricking Jacob into blessing him over Esau.

Meanwhile, Saul was the first king of Israel. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, was known as Saul as well. However, shortly after he had a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, Scripture starts referring to him as Paul.