Bible Quiz

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Prepared by Bill Ickes, a reader in Berlin, Pennsylvania, who submitted this quiz with a note that said, “Women are usually the most outstanding participants in biblical happenings. This isn’t ‘feminist bias,’ just fact.”

Women in the Bible

Who are the women in the Old or New Testament who fit these descriptions?

1. The only woman whose age at death is given.

2. Two women who assured the rightful succession of kings of Israel.

3. She had to assure the commander of the troops of Naphtali and Zebulon that she would lead him into battle.

4. She reassured her husband of the good intentions of the angel of the Lord.

5. Her dream led her to try to save Jesus.

6. Two women courageously opposed a government order to kill baby boys.

7. She alone recognized Peter at the gate of Mary’s house.

8. A woman who went into the wilderness with her son.

9. Three women who anointed Jesus.

10. She prophesied about the future of Judah after a lost book of the law had been found in the Temple.

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The answers

1. Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Sarah was 127 when she died at Hebron in Canaan. Ephron the Hittite offered to give Abraham his field with its cave of Machpelah in which to bury Sarah, but Abraham insisted on purchasing the cave and field. Abraham paid Ephron 400 shekels and then buried Sarah in the cave (Genesis 23:1–20).

2. Bathsheba. When King David was very old and close to the end of his life, Bathsheba brought him the news that his son Adonijah had usurped his throne. Bathsheba reminded him that he had promised his throne to their son, Solomon. David sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and a man called Benaiah to the Gihon Spring, where they anointed Solomon and proclaimed him king. (1 Kings 1:11–22) Jehosheba. Ahaziah reigned as king in Judah in the ninth century B.C. After his death his mother Athaliah sought to destroy all the royal sons so that she might become sole ruler. But Ahaziah’s sister, Jehosheba, took Joash the son of Ahaziah from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain and hid him in the Temple in Jerusalem for six years. Then Jehosheba’s husband Jehoiada the priest and some of the soldiers of the army killed Athaliah and proclaimed Joash king. (2 Kings 11:1–3)

3. Deborah. Deborah was a prophetess of Israel. She told Barak that the Lord commanded him to fight the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, which was led by Sisera. Barak responded, “if you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” Deborah went with Barak and together they defeated the Canaanite army of Jabin. (Judges 4:4–10)

4. Samson’s mother. She was barren, but the angel of the Lord visited her and told her she would have a son who would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Later, the angel of the Lord talked with Samson’s father Manoah, as well. When Manoah realized they had spoken to the angel of the Lord he said, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” His wife replied, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a cereal offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” (Judges 13:2–24)

5. Pilate’s wife. During Jesus’ trial, she was the only person who tried to save him. While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, she sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream” (Matthew 27:19).

6. Shiphrah and Puah, Hebrew midwives in Egypt. Pharaoh commanded them to kill any sons born to the Hebrews. “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the lives of the male children.” When asked by Pharaoh why they did this, Shiphrah and Puah made the excuse that “the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered before the midwives come in unto them.” (Exodus 1:15–21)

7. Rhoda, the maid. The night before Peter was to be executed, an angel rescued him from prison. Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Rhoda recognized his voice and told the others in the house that Peter was outside. They refused to believe that Peter had escaped from prison and was indeed outside. “They said to her, ‘You are mad.’” But she constantly affirmed that it was Peter at the 013gate. Peter’s persistent knocking finally caused them to open the gate. (Acts 12:12–17)

8. Hagar. When Sarah asked Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son Ishmael, Abraham sent them away, and they went out into the wilderness. (Genesis 21:14–21)

9. An unnamed woman. At Simon the Pharisee’s house, a woman anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment (Luke 7:36–50).

Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Six days before Passover, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with nard (an expensive ointment probably imported from India) (John 12:1–8).

An unnamed woman. While Jesus was in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house, a woman poured a flask of very expensive ointment on his head. His disciples were indignant, but Jesus told them that she was preparing him for burial and “wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9).

10. Huldah. In the seventh century B.C., King Josiah repaired the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. While the repairs were going on, Hilkiah the high priest found a lost book of the law in the Temple and brought it to Josiah. When the book was read to him, Josiah became anguished because he realized that his people had not been following the law. He sent a delegation to learn from Huldah the prophetess what God would do to the people of Judah. Huldah prophesied that God would punish them for their iniquity, but that Josiah—who had humbled himself before God—would die in peace without seeing the punishment that the Lord would bring upon Judah. (2 Kings 22:3–20)

Prepared by Bill Ickes, a reader in Berlin, Pennsylvania, who submitted this quiz with a note that said, “Women are usually the most outstanding participants in biblical happenings. This isn’t ‘feminist bias,’ just fact.”

Women in the Bible
Who are the women in the Old or New Testament who fit these descriptions?
1. The only woman whose age at death is given.