Who Said It? Old Testament Quotes -- #5 Quiz

Answer: Reuben

The correct answer is Reuben. According to Genesis 37:21-22, Reuben made the statement in a bid to save Joseph from being killed by his brothers. Scripture states Reuben wanted Joseph placed in a pit so he could go back later and "bring him back to his father."

His plan was in vain, however.

After Reuben made his statement, Genesis 37:23-30 goes on to explain what happened: "So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, 'What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes."

Answer: Gideon

When the LORD told Gideon he would be used to save the people of Israel, the sixth chapter of Judges indicates he was filled with doubt. So to make sure what he had been told to him was true, Gideon told the LORD to confirm the fact by giving him a sign. To this end, Gideon announced he would put a wool fleece on the threshing floor and if there was dew only on the fleece and all the ground was dry, he would know that he would indeed be able to save the people of Israel.

Scripture reports Gideon rose early the next day and he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew -- a bowlful of water. But this wasn't enough for him. Much like a doubting Thomas, he demanded yet another sign. Then Gideon said he would conduct one more test with the fleece, "but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew."

Scripture reports Gideon found the fleece was dry and all the ground was covered with dew.

Gideon was a judge of Israel and his story appears in chapters 6 through 8 in Judges.

Answer: Samson

Samson is the correct answer. According to the fifteenth chapter of Judges, he made the statement after slaying a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.

Judges 15:15-19, in the NKJV, explains things this way: "He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said:
'With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!'
And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi. Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, 'You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?' So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived."

Answer: Jonah

Jonah made the statement with the quote coming from Jonah 1:9. According to Scripture, the ship on which Jonah was a passenger became engulfed in a ferocious storm with people fearing for their lives.

Jonah 1:4-9, in the NKJV, states: "But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, 'What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.' And they said to one another, 'Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.' So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, 'Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?' So he said to them, 'I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.'"

Scripture goes on to state Jonah was tossed into the sea and swallowed by a big fish and, after he fervently prayed to the LORD, he was regurgitated onto dry land after surviving three days and three nights in the creature's belly.

Answer: Saul

According to the 31st chapter of 1 Samuel, Saul was critically injured in battle with the Philistines and pleaded with his armor-bearer to kill him with a sword. 1 Samuel 31:4, in the NKJV Bible, states his armor-bearer was "greatly afraid" and would not do it; so Saul took a sword "and fell on it." Just prior to this incident, Saul's three sons -- Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua -- were killed in battle.

When his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him, Scripture states.

Saul was the first king of Israel and although his reign started smoothly, it ended in chaos with much time devoted to trying to kill David. This, even though David basically wanted to live in peace with Saul!

Answer: David

David made the statement after hearing of the deaths of Jonathan and King Saul. According to Scripture, Jonathan was David's best friend while Jonathan's father, King Saul, despised David. In fact, Saul despised David so much he practically devoted the latter part of his life trying to kill the former shepherd boy.

The statement, "how the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished!" comes from a portion of Scripture (1 Samuel 1:17-27) known as the Song of the Bow in the NKJV Bible.

Although Saul was committed to killing him, David was filled with grief after his death.

1 Samuel 1:23-27 quotes David as saying:

"Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;
Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan was slain in your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.
How the mighty have fallen,
And the weapons of war perished!"

Answer: Belshazzar

According to Scripture, the fingers on an disembodied hand started writing a message on the wall after King Belshazzar hosted a lavish banquet in which he, his wives and his concubines drank from goblets taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem.

The fifth chapter of Daniel states the king's gathering drank the wine from the sacred goblets and "praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone," prior to the disembodied hand writing its message. In verse seven, Belshazzar made the declaration that whoever could interpret the writing would be "clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."

When the king brought in the prophet Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall, no punches were pulled. Daniel told the king "God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end". The chapter concludes with these two verses from the NKJV Bible: "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old."

As result, the term 'to see the handwriting on the wall' refers to when one can envision their misfortune or fall.

Answer: Boaz

Boaz, the man who would end up becoming Ruth's second husband, is the correct answer. The book of Ruth is largely an account of the romance between the two.

Ruth was from Moab and her mother-in-law was Naomi. When both women became widows, Ruth opted to stay with Naomi rather than return to her homeland and this fact apparently impressed Boaz.

According to the fourth chapter of Ruth, Boaz and Ruth became parents of Obed after they married. Scripture goes on to state Obed became the father of Jesse who was the father of David. In other words, Boaz and Ruth were the great-grandparents of David.

Answer: Haman

The statement is from Esther 3:8-9 and the speaker was none other than the diabolical Haman. According to Scripture, he attempted to convince the king known as Ahasuerus in the NKJV Bible and Xerxes in the NIV to exterminate all the Jews in his vast kingdom that basically stretched from present-day Iran to Ethiopia.

He would be thwarted in his scheme, however, by Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai.

Answer: Job

The speaker is Job with the quote coming from Job 42:5-6. Job, of course, is synonymous with patience and long suffering.

According to Job 1:18-19, a "great wind came from across the wilderness" and destroyed a house in which Job's children were eating and drinking. Scripture states all the children were killed.

In addition to losing his children and a number of servants, Scripture states Job lost his immense wealth which was the result of ownership in large herds of livestock.

The book ends with Job's fortunes changing dramatically for the better. Job 42:12-13, in the NKJV, states: "Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters."