Bethany Of The Bible Trivia Quiz

Answer: House of figs/song OR House of affliction/poverty

The name of the small Biblical town of Bethany can mean "House of figs" (or dates) or even "House of song", implying warmth and welcome. Conversely, it can also mean "House of affliction" with alternate meanings of misery or poverty attached to it, and can thus have a connotation of selfless or devoted service.

(One suggestion for the name may have been due to the large quantity of date palms that grew in the vicinity of the village.)

Generally words that begin in Hebrew with the prefix "beth" can be interpreted as "house of..." Other examples of this may be found in the names Beth-el, which translates as "House of El-ohim" or "House of God", as well as in the name "Beth-lehem" or "House of bread".

Answer: about 15 furlongs or roughly 1 and 1/2 to 2 miles away

Depending on the version of the Bible that you use, the little village of Bethany was a very short distance from Jerusalem, lying somewhere between one and two miles away, and most likely situated on the slope of the Mount of Olives.

Answer: Mary, Lazarus and Martha

Bethany is well known as being the place where Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha, and from all indications, they shared the same home.

Answer: "For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always."

In the 10th-12th verses of Matthew 26, we read,
"When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial."

This event occurred shortly before Jesus was destined to be crucified, and the main complainant seems to have been Judas Iscariot, the very man who betrayed Jesus to the religious authorities.

Answer: children

In verses 15-16 of Matthew 21 it is recorded this way:

"And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"

Answer: Bethphage

The name of Bethphage, the village that lay closest to Bethany, had a similar meaning to that of one of the translations of Bethany: "House of early (or young) figs".

This village which lay just beyond the city of Jerusalem was situated somewhere between the summit of the Mount of Olives and Bethany (Luke 19:29).

Answer: Six

"Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him."

That's from John 12:1-2 (King James Version).

Passover was (and still is) a Jewish feast that commemorates the fleeing of Jews from Egypt, where they had been enslaved for approximately 410 years. Dating back to the time of Moshe (Moses), the Passover meal has many rituals attached to it that are very important to Jewish history, not the least of which is the Passover lamb. Christians believe that Jesus WAS the metaphorical "Lamb of God" based at least in part on scripture found in the 1st chapter of John, when John the Baptist introduced Christ in this manner -"...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

Answer: True

The King James Version of Luke 24:50-53 reads this way:

"And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen."

He had been seen previously by two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus which was located about 20 miles to the northwest of Jerusalem.
(See the same chapter, verses 13-35, for more information about that encounter.)

Answer: a colt

In Mark 11:1-6, the King James version of the Bible tells us: "And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go."

I absolutely love the way that when the disciples repeated what Jesus had told them to say -- "The Lord hath need of him" -- the people who were asking why the disciple were removing the colt simply allowed them to do so!

Answer: el-'Azariyeh

The area of Bethany is today settled by Arabs and is called "el-'Azariyeh", meaning "place of Lazarus". It is a form of the name, Lazarus, and was intended to honor the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead at that location. The Greeks of the early fourth century had called it by the name "Lazarion", for the same reason.

In the fourth century, a church was built on the site of Lazarus' tomb, but it was later destroyed by an earthquake. In the 12th century, a double church was built near the same location, but these were replaced by a mosque in the 14th century.

A more modern Franciscan church was erected to the east of the site by an Italian architect named Antonio Barluzzi, who used a unique construction style designed to enhance Jesus' statement that He had made to the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha - "I am the Resurrection and the Life."