Bible Women -- Some Were Wicked, Others Naughty Quiz

Answer: Potiophar's wife

Young Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar in Egypt when his master's wife attempted to seduce him. Joseph, however, would adamantly refuse her request for intimacy. Potiphar's wife was deeply offended and falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape. As a result, Joseph ended up being tossed into prison even though he did not do anything wrong.

No name is given in Scripture for Potiphar's evil wife.

Answer: Delilah

Delilah's actions not only robbed Samson of his super strength but also led to his captivity and eventual death. According to Scripture, Samson was a judge of Israel and his strength was without equal.

It took a while, but Delilah eventually found out the secret to his super strength was his long hair. So when Samson was in a deep sleep, she had his locks cut. With his super strength gone, the Philistines were able to capture Samson.

Delilah's motive was sheer greed. According to Judges 15:5, five Philistine lords promised her a total of 5,500 silver shekels for betraying Samson. Each lord had promised her 1,100 silver shekels for her to discover the secret of Samson's strength.

Make no mistake about it. This was an gigantic sum of money for the time, as the value of one shekel was roughly the daily wage for an average laborer.

It is commonly assumed Delilah was a Philistine, but Scripture does not clearly state such was the case. However, Judges 16:3 states Delilah lived in the Valley of Sorek, which was Philistine territory near the border of Judah.

Answer: True

It's mind boggling, but Athalia was despicable, wicked, evil and profoundly immoral. Unbelievably, she killed her grandchildren so she could become queen of Judah after the death of her son Ahaziah.

The evil doings of Queen Athaliah are found in the 11th chapter of 2 Kings as well as the 22nd and 23rd chapters of 2 Chronicles.

Athalia had excellent DNA when it came to being an agent for anarchy as she was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kings 8:18). In a nutshell, Athalia makes convicted child killers Susan Smith and Diane Downs look like girl guides.

Answer: No names are given

No names are given in Scripture for the two Israelite spies who were given safe refuge at the home of Rahab the prostitute.

To be fair, it should be pointed out Jewish tradition identifies the two men as Caleb and Phinehas. Meanwhile, some people believe one of the spies was Salmon as his name is linked with Rahab's in the Christ's genealogy in Matthew 5:1. However, going strictly by Scripture, the correct answer to the question can only be 'no names are given'.

The two unnamed spies were requested by Joshua to spy out the Promised Land, especially the land in and around Jericho.

Later, when the Israelites conquered Jericho, the lives of Rahab and her family would be spared.

Answer: Tamar

When it comes to Tamar, it's a bit of a lo-o-o-o-o-ong story. According to Genesis 38:6-10, Tamar was originally married to Er, the son of Judah. However, Er was struck dead in a case of divine retribution so Tamar became the wife of Er's brother Onan. Similar to Er, Onan ended up being struck dead in a case of divine retribution.

Fast forward to Genesis 38:14-18, Tamar poses as a prostitute by the side of a road and has intercourse with Judah her father-in-law. Amazingly, Judah did not realize he was being intimate with his daughter-in-law.

There's much more to the story, but I'll save those details for another quiz.

Answer: Ahab

The correct answer is Ahab, who just happened to be king of Israel. According to Scripture, Jezebel pulled the strings, especially when it came to the treatment of prophets of God, including Elijah.

Jezebel worshipped the pagan god Baal and convinced Ahab, as well as countless other individuals to follow suit. She had enormous power and used it to her full advantage, even if it meant having people killed. For example, she plotted and schemed and eventually had Naboth killed so her husband Ahab could assume ownership of his vineyard. (See 1 Kings 21:1-16.)

Her life ended when she was thrown out of a window by her aids and she was trampled by horses, as per 2 Kings 9:30-37.

In Revelation 2:20, Jezebel's name appears as a corrupting influence on Christian churches.

Answer: Gomer

Hosea received divine instructions to marry a prostitute. Hosea 1:2 in the NKJV states: "When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: '"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD."

Scripture goes on to tell of Hosea marrying Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. They had two sons and one daughter.

The sons were Jezreel and Lo-Ammi and the daughter was Lo-Ruhamah.

We could go on and on about the meaning of the names of the children, but in a nutshell, they encapsulated the broken relationship between the people of Israel and God.

Answer: Jephthah

Jephthah was the ninth judge of Israel and according to Scripture he was the son of a prostitute. However, no details are given about his mother as Scripture simply states his mother was a harlot.

Jephthah's father was Gilead. Scripture goes on to tell of Jephthah's brothers turning against him and he eventually associated with "worthless men".

Judges 11:2-3 explains things this way in the NKJV: "Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, 'You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.' Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him."

Answer: True

True. In Matthew 21:32, Jesus is quoted in the NKJV as stating to the chief priest and the elders: "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

In His discussion with the religious officials of the day, Jesus also stated, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you."

Answer: Herodias

If 'H' stands for hatred, look no further than Herodias, the wicked and conniving wife of Herod. In a nutshell, she absolutely despised John the Baptist and worked behind the scenes to have the man known as the forerunner of Christ beheaded.

According to Scripture, John was imprisoned because he had denounced Herod's marriage to Herodias as she had been previous married to the king's brother Philip.

John's demise came about when the unnamed daughter of Herodias performed a dance at a gala banquet hosted by Herod. The girl's dance apparently won rave reviews from Herod as he proclaimed the girl could have anything she requested, up to one-half of his kingdom. Herodias seized the opportunity and convinced her daughter to request John the Baptist's head on a platter. And that's exactly what happened!

For details about John the Baptist being beheaded, see Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29.

Upon seeing Jesus, it was John the Baptist who made the famous declaration in John 1:29 in the NKJV: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"