A Quick Look at Blindness in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Two unnamed angels

Two unnamed angels struck a group of men with blindness when they were besieging Lot's house in Sodom. This is the first reference to blindness in the Bible. Details about the men being struck with blindness can be found in Genesis 19:1-11. According to Scripture, the men were wanting to have sex with the two angels who were spending the evening at Lot's house.

Answer: Samson

Samson was betrayed by his mistress Delilah and after he was captured by the Philistines, he was blinded. Scripture states he had immense strength, enabling him to wrestle with a lion and slay 1,000 soldiers with only the jawbone of a donkey.

When Delilah discovered the secret to Samson's super strength was his long hair, she had his locks cut off. The immensely weakened Samson was taken by the Philistines who blinded and imprisoned him. When Samson's hair grew back, his strength was restored and he caused a temple to collapse destroying thousands of Philistines as well as himself, as per Judges 16:23-31. According to Scripture, Samson led Israel for twenty years.

Answer: Zedekiah

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. According to 2 Kings 24:19-20 and Jeremiah 52:2-3, Zedekiah did "evil in the sight of the LORD". He was a son of Josiah, and his mother's name was Hamutal. The 39th chapter of Jeremiah tells of Zedekiah's capture by the Babylonian army. Jeremiah 39:7 tells of Zedekiah's eyes being put out and being bound with bronze shackles and taken to Babylon.

Answer: Syrian army

Elisha, according to Scripture, struck the Syrian army with blindness.

The KJV and the NKJV states the army blinded by Elisha and then captured was from Syria. (In the NIV, the soldiers are described as Arameans from Aram.) The account is found in 2 Kings 6:8-22.

Verse 18 tells of the Syrian army preparing to attack and Elisha praying to the LORD, "Strike this army with blindness." And sure enough, Elisha's prayers were answered and the Syrians were struck with blindness. Elisha in turn led the blind soldiers to Samaria, where they were all captured.

Just prior to all 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 closed and opened in Scripture.

Answer: Job

Job, in Job 29:15, said he was eyes to the blind. Job made the statement after his friends suggested the reason behind his suffering was that he had done evil.

According to Scripture, his friends met with him to offer comfort. However, they ended up making matters worse as they failed to listen to him. Job was initially visited by Bildad, a Shuhite, Eliphaz a Temanite and Zophar a Naamathite. Later, a fourth friend, Elihu, a Buzite, appeared.

Job, according to Scripture, was an immensely wealthy man until a series of calamities beset him. According to Scripture, he lost his seven sons and three daughters and his immense wealth and was left in fragile health. However, Scripture tells of his latter years being filled with a long list of blessings.

Answer: No name given

No name is given for the man who was blind since birth only to be healed by Jesus.

His story is told in John 9. According to Scripture, Jesus performed the miracle after declaring Himself the light of the world. Scripture goes on to tell of Jesus spitting on the ground and making clay with the saliva and then anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.

John 9:7 then states: "And He said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing."

Answer: Elymas

Elymas, described in Scripture as a sorcerer, is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, sent for Barnabas and Paul, who was called Saul at the time, to tell him about Jesus. Elymas, however, opposed their efforts and was rendered blind by Paul. The incident happened in Paphos, a community on the island of Cyprus. Details can be found in Acts 13:6-12.

Answer: Bartimaeus

Bartimaeus was a helpless beggar who regained his sight after he had an encounter with Jesus at Jericho. His story appears in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Mark. It's a heartwarming story and has always been one of my favorites.

According to Scripture, Bartimaeus was the son of Timaeus but no other details are given about his family.

Answer: The Pharisees

Jesus likened the Pharisees to the blind leading the blind. Jesus made the statement after He had come under attack from the Pharisees for not following their man-made rules, such as ceremonial washing before eating. Details can be found in Matthew 15:8-14.

To be exact, Jesus is quoted as saying the Pharisees were "blind leaders of the blind".

Answer: Paul

Paul, who was known as Saul at the time, was rendered blind for three days after he had a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, according to Scripture. Paul was a vehement adversary of the early church and Scripture states he was heading to Damascus with the express purpose of persecuting Christians. Details can be found in Acts 9:1-9.

Scripture goes on to tell of Ananias baptizing Paul and how he became an unstoppable force in preaching the news of a resurrected Jesus to the Gentiles.