Bible Quiz

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Israelite Battles and Heroes

1. Deborah defeated Sisera, but this woman drove home the point about the Israelite victory.

2. Arming his household servants, this man rescued both his nephew and the people of a now infamous city.

3. This prophet was “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.”

4. She was too eager to greet an Israelite warrior and close relative who returned victorious, and paid for her enthusiasm with her life.

5. This bold woman, who later became David’s wife, single-handedly stopped David and his warriors from launching an attack on Nabal of Carmel.

6. He was no eloquent speaker or politician, but he certainly knew how to “jawbone” the competition.

7. This Egyptian prince tried to deliver Israel from her oppressors, but soon fled in fear.

8. These two sons of Jacob tricked and then slaughtered the men of Shechem “on the third day, when they were sore” from being circumcised.

9. Although he aspired to be king, this early Israelite warrior for a time became a vassal of Achish, king of the Philistine city of Gath.

10. This woman offered David’s general Joab a grisly present in return for Joab’s lifting the siege on her City.

Prepared by Alan J. Hauser, professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.

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Answers

1. Jael. The Canaanite commander Sisera fled on foot from his defeat at the hands of Deborah and Barak. When he came to the house of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, he asked for water but she gave him milk, thereby gaining his confidence. While he slept, she “took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the tent peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground … ” (Judges 4:21).

2. Abraham. After Lot and Abraham parted company because their large herds prevented them from dwelling together, Lot moved down to Sodom. Four kings from the east, Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam and Tidal of Goiim defeated Sodom and its allies, taking many captives, including Lot. When Abraham was informed of Lot’s capture, he took 318 of his servants, went after the kings, “routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people” (Genesis 14:15–16).

3. Elijah. When Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, the last thing Elisha said to him was: “My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen” (2 Kings 2:12). The same was later said of Elisha by Joash, king of Israel, shortly before Elisha’s death (2 Kings 13:14).

4. Jephthah’s daughter. Before going out to fight against the Ammonites, Jephthah had vowed to the Lord, “If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes forth from the doors to meet me, when I return … shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30–31). When his daughter and only child rushed out to greet him after he returned victorious, Jephthah tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me: for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow” (Judges 11:35). And Jephthah “did with her according to his vow which he had made” (Judges 11:39).

5. Abigail. When Nabal (“fool”) refused to share with David and his men some of the food from his sheepshearing, David prepared his men to launch an attack on Nabal. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, quickly took some wine and food and intercepted David, saying, “When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for my lord taking vengeance himself” (1 Samuel 25:30–31). Abigail’s words dissuaded David from attacking Nabal, who soon died anyway. David then took Abigail as his wife.

6. Samson. When the Philistines attacked Samson at Lehi, he burst his bonds, “found a fresh jawbone of an ass … and with it he slew a thousand men” (Judges 15:15). He then said, “With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men” (Judges 15:16).

7. Moses. Adopted and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses lived in Pharaoh’s court. When he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and buried the body in the sand. However, word got out, and the next day a Hebrew asked Moses, “ ‘Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid, and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known’ ” (Exodus 2:14). Moses fled to the land of Midian, apparently content to stay there the rest of his life, until God called him (Exodus 3–4) and sent him back to Egypt to bring Israel out.

8. Simeon and Levi. When their sister Dinah was raped by Shechem, Jacob’s sons agreed to make peace with the city on condition that the men of the city be circumcised. The sons were deceitful, however, for “On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unawares, and killed all the males …. And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled … ” (Genesis 34:25, 27).

9. David. When Saul continued to pursue David, seeking David’s life, “David said in his heart, ‘I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand’ ” (1 Samuel 27:1).

10. The wise woman from Abel of Bethmaacah. When Sheba the Benjaminite revolted against David, Joab gathered an army and pursued him to Abel of Bethmaacah, where Sheba had taken refuge. Joab besieged the city, and the wise woman said, “They were wont to say in old time, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel’; and so they settled a matter. I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel; you seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel; why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” (2 Samuel 20:18–19). When Joab responded that he sought only one man, the head of Sheba was promptly thrown over the wall of the city. Joab then returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 20:20–22).

Israelite Battles and Heroes

1. Deborah defeated Sisera, but this woman drove home the point about the Israelite victory.
2. Arming his household servants, this man rescued both his nephew and the people of a now infamous city.
3. This prophet was “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.”
4. She was too eager to greet an Israelite warrior and close relative who returned victorious, and paid for her enthusiasm with her life.