Bible People and Their Belongings -- #3 Quiz

Answer: Tamar

It's a bit of a lo-o-o-o-ng story, but Tamar at one time did own a signet ring and its cord as well as a staff.

They were all given to her by her father-in-law Judah as a pledge he would give her a young goat as payment to have sex with her.

At the time, Tamar was posing as a prostitute along a roadside with the apparent goal of becoming pregnant with Judah's child. Amazingly, Judah had sex with Tamar and did not realize it was his daughter-in-law he was intimate with.

Later when Tamar became pregnant, Judah was infuriated and demanded she should be put to death for her wickedness. However, Tamar was able to produce the surety -- the signet ring, its cord and the staff -- to prove Judah was the father of the child she was carrying.

Judah had no choice but to do some furious backpedaling and agreed he was the guilty one and not Tamar.

Scripture goes on to tell of Tamar giving birth to twins.

For details see Genesis 38.

Answer: Samson

Practically no information is given in Scripture about the belongings of Samson, a noted judge of Israel. However, at one point in his life, he definitely had in his possession a jawbone of a donkey and he used it as a lethal weapon.

Judges 15:15-16 in the NKJV tell of Samson finding "the fresh jawbone of a donkey" and using it to kill 1,000 Philistines who were mortal enemies of Israel.

Answer: Solomon

When it comes to wealth in the Bible, Solomon is among the richest, perhaps surpassed by only foreign kings like Ahasuerus who ruled over a vast Persian empire stretching from India in the east to Ethiopia in the west.

According to Scripture gold was so plentiful in Israel during Solomon's reign that silver failed to account for anything.

1 Kings 14:10 in the NKJV states "the weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold." The same information can be found in 2 Chronicles 9:13.

In the Easy to Read Version, it states the figure as almost 25 tons.

Answer: Job

Job had it all when it came to wealth and possessions. According to Job 1:1-3 he lived in the land of Uz and was "the greatest of all the people of the East".

Scripture tells of Job experiencing a series of mind-boggling tragedies on the same day, resulting in the deaths of his seven sons and three daughters, the loss of his massive wealth and his health deteriorating to a deplorable condition. However, through it all, Job remained faithful to God.

Scripture goes on to tell of Job being blessed in his latter days with him once again becoming the father of seven sons and three daughters and having his wealth restored two fold.

According to Job 42:12-13, his restored fortune consisted of, in part, 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels. In other words, that's twice as many animals as he had at the beginning of Job 1.

Answer: David

As a noted king of Israel, David would have owned a long list of possessions. However, practically no details about his belongings appear in Scripture.

Nevertheless, it is abundantly apparent he owned a slingshot and used it skillfully as a young shepherd boy.

In fact, Scripture tells of David engaging in a one-on-one battle with Goliath, a much feared Philistine giant, with David killing his adversary with a slingshot. The one-sided battle between David and Goliath is one of the best known stories in the Old Testament.

For details, see 1 Samuel 17.

Answer: Goliath

Goliath, the Philistine giant who was slain by David, was certainly dressed to kill.

1 Samuel 17:5-7 gives some details about Goliath's battle dress: "He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels."

According to the Easy to Read Version of the Bible, the wooden part of his spear was as big as a weaver's rod. What's more, the spear's blade weighed a whopping 15 pounds.

Answer: Ruth

Using the NKJV as well as other Bible versions, nowhere does it state Ruth owned a gleaning basket. However, she had to have in her possession such an item as Scripture tells of her gleaning grain in the field on multiple occasions.

In fact, the NKJV contains no less than ten references of Ruth gleaning grain. Most of the references can be found in Ruth 2:3-23.

The Book of Ruth tells of Ruth, a Gentile, marrying Boaz, a wealthy Jewish landowner. Her name is included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as per Matthew 1:5.

Answer: Elisha

After Elijah was taken up to Heaven in a whirlwind, Scripture tells of his mantle, or cloak, falling to the ground and Elisha taking possession. (See 2 Kings 2:12-14) In other words, the event marked the transfer of power from Elijah to Elisha.

Both men were noted prophets of God who performed a number of miracles.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

For an ever so brief period of time, Judas Iscariot had in his possession thirty pieces of silver. The money was paid to him as a reward for betraying Jesus Christ resulting in His crucifixion.

However, Scripture tells of Judas being filled with tremendous remorse after the betrayal and returning the money to the religious leaders of the day and then committing suicide.

Details about the betrayal and Judas committing suicide can be found in the four Gospels.

Answer: Jesus

Just prior to His death by crucifixion, it appears the only thing Jesus owned were the clothes on His back. And according to Scripture, lots were cast and the clothing awarded to others.

Going by the account in John 19:23-25, one of the clothing items Jesus wore was a seamless tunic. The verses in the NKJV reads this way: "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.'"

Christians believe the casting of lots for Christ's seamless tunic is fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Psalm 22:18 states: "They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots."