Word Association -- Old Testament Characters #3 Quiz

Answer: Miriam

Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, is associated with the timbrel. She gets the distinction from Exodus 15:20-21, which tells of the song of Miriam during a glorious victory celebration during the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt. The timbrel was front and center in that celebration.

Exodus 15:20-21, in the NKJV, states: "Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them:
'Sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!'"

According to Scripture, the Egyptian army drowned when the LORD parted the Red Sea enabling the Israelites to leave Egypt while on a 40-year journey to Canaan, known as the Promised Land. After the Israelites had crossed over, the Red Sea closed in on the Egyptian army which was in pursuit, as per the 14th chapter of Exodus.

Answer: Elisha

Elisha is the correct answer. According to 2 Kings 6:8-23, Elisha prayed to the LORD that a large number of Arameans soldiers would be blinded, enabling them to be led into Samaria where they were captured. Scripture reports Elisha's prayers were answered and the Arameans were eventually set free as they had agreed to stop raiding Israel's territory.

Just prior to this, Elisha's servant had become terrified after seeing the enemy surrounding them. So Elisha prayed that his eyes would be opened and he would see a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire protecting them. In other words, you could say it's an open-and-shut case of eyes being opened and closed in Scripture.

Answer: Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul and 2 Kings 9:3 in the NKJV states he was "lame in both feet." (The NIV states "crippled in both feet.") David and Mephibosheth's father were the best of friends. This, even though Jonathan's father Saul devoted much of his latter life trying to kill David. 2 Samuel 9:7 states that David restored to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul and he ensured he would "always dine at his table with him."

Answer: Orpah

Orpah was Ruth's sister-in-law. According to Scripture they were both Moabite women who were married to, Mahlon and Kilion, sons of Naomi. Naomi's husband Elimelek and her two sons died and the three women were widows. Orpah opted to return to her homeland while Ruth decided to stay with her mother-in-law. Ruth 1:16-17, in the NIV Bible, quotes Ruth as telling Naomi: "...where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me."

Answer: Haman

Haman is the correct answer. He's the man who came up with a diabolical plan to exterminate all the Jews in the vast area ruled by the king known as Ahasuerus in the KJV Bible and Xerxes in the NIV Bible. He was thwarted in his plan by Esther and Mordecai. Haman ended up dying on gallows he had constructed for the execution of Mordecai.

The story of Haman, Esther and Mordecai is recounted in the book of Esther.

Answer: Lot

According to Scripture, Lot's daughters got him drunk and then slept with him to produce children. The story of Lot getting drunk is found in Genesis 19. It's one of the more sordid stories in the Old Testament as Lot ended up impregnating his two daughters while inebriated. According to Scripture, the two women got their father drunk so he would sleep with them to "preserve the lineage of our father." Genesis 19:15 states the two women took such action because their father was old and there were no other men for them.

Answer: Ehud

According to Judges 3:15, Ehud was a left-handed Benjaminite who was a "deliverer" from God. The second judge of Israel is known for killing Eglon, the "very fat" king of Moab. Scripture goes into some gory details about the king's death. Judges 3:20-22, in the NIV Bible, states: "Ehud then approached him [Eglon] while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, 'I have a message from God for you.' As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it."

I'm grateful to FunTrivia member Arpreggionist for additional information about left-handed people in Scripture. According to Arpreggionist, the only other left-handed person in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the English Bible, is Joab. According to the 20th chapter of 2 Samuel, Joab murdered his cousin Amasa by stabbing him in the back with his left hand (suggesting his orientation when it came to being left-handed). According to Arpreggionist, the Hebrew term for left-handed (the term used in the Bible) really translates as "of a weak right hand".

There are various other references to left-handed people in Scripture, but no names are given. For example, Judges 20:16 makes reference to 700 "select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss." Other verses such as Leviticus 14:15 make reference to a left hand: "The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand..." However, no one is named.

As a result, Ehud and Joab are the only people in the Old Testament or the New Testament identified as being left-handed.

Answer: Hagar

The abandonment of Hagar and her son Ishmael is one of the better known stories in Genesis. Genesis 21:14, in the NIV, states: "Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba."

At one point, Hagar was apparently afraid her son would die as verse 16 tells of her sobbing. Then a miracle happened.

Genesis 21:17-20 states: "God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.' Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt."

Answer: Rahab

Rahab and every member of her family who were in her house were spared by the Israelites when they conquered Jericho according to Scripture. Rahab and her family were spared after she hid two Israelite spies in her house.

Joshua 2:17-21 tells of the spies making arrangements with Rahab to put a scarlet cord in her window so invading Israelite soldiers would know no one inside is to be harmed.

Joshua 6:22-25, in the NIV Bible states: "Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.' So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho -- and she lives among the Israelites to this day."

Answer: Leah

Leah is the correct answer. It's a bit of a long story, but the account involving Leah and her sister Rachel and mandrakes is found in Genesis 30:14-15. Leah and Rachel were both married to Jacob and there was often friction between the two sisters. According to Scripture, Jacob loved Rachel but didn't care much for Leah, this even though Leah was bearing children for him while Rachel was barren at the time.

The animosity between the two women is evident in the passage which tells of an exchange between the two sisters after Rachel requested some mandrakes that had been picked by Leah's son Reuben. Verse 15 quotes Leah as responding: "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" The story goes on to state Rachel told Leah she could sleep that night with Jacob for the mandrakes. The story ends with Leah giving birth to a fifth son, Issachar, followed by a sixth son, Zebulun, as well as a daughter, Dinah.

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible, state this about the unusual story: "Mandrakes are a special type of herb that the peoples of the ancient Middle East regarded as an aid to conception. Their aroma was associated with lovemaking (Song of Solomon 7:13). Reuben's discovery of the mandrakes led to another squabble between Leah and Rachel. In the end, Leah hired Jacob for a night with her."