Biblical Flora and Fauna Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hyssop

The verse in question says: 'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.' Some translations use 'purify' instead of 'purge'.

Not to be confused with the purple plant in the Hyssopus family, the Biblical hyssop - also known as ezov - is native to the Middle East and is used in za'atar, a Palestinian herb seasoning. In the Biblical era, it was used in ceremonial functions in the Temple, such as purifying a person who had been in contact with a dead body; the herb was mixed with the ashes of a red heifer. It is also used in Lebanese herbal medicine.

Answer: Samson

Samson was a Nazirite judge with superhuman strength. He had to keep his hair long, not just because of his religious beliefs - Nazirites could not cut their hair, drink alcohol or come into contact with corpses or graves - but also because without it, he would lose his strength. He killed a lion with his bare hands and when he returned to Timnah, where his Philistine bride-to-be lived, he found bees nesting in the lion's carcass and making honey.

Samson proposed the riddle to the thirty Philistine attendants at his wedding, saying he would give them thirty pieces of linen and other garments if they solved it, but if they could not, he would get the linen instead. Samson's wife begged him to tell her the answer, and she passed it on to the attendants. When they gave him the answer, he replied, "If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle." He went to Ashkelon, struck down thirty Philistines and gave their clothes to the attendants.

A very angry Samson returned to his father's house, while his wife married one of the attendants in secret. Her father refused to let Samson see her when he returned and offered him one of her sisters, so Samson gathered 300 foxes, tied them together in pairs by their tails and attached burning torches to their tails, then set them loose on Philistine land, burning their grain and olive trees.

Answer: Mustard

Matthew 13 contains multiple parables, many of which feature plants, such as the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. The full Parable of the Mustard Seed is: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

Mustard seeds can be used as spices, pressed to produce oil, or ground into a paste with liquids such as water or vinegar to make mustard. The three main types of mustard plant are black, yellow and white, although white mustard is in a different family to black and yellow mustard. The leaves of the plant are also edible.

Answer: An angel

Balak, the king of Moab, invited Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam answered that he could only do what G-d commanded. After being pressurised by Balak and the princes of Moab, Balaam asked G-d if he could go to see Balak, and G-d agreed, on condition that Balaam only said what G-d told him to. G-d sent an angel to stand in the way of Balaam's donkey and the donkey, who saw the angel, changed her route and went into a field. Balaam did not see the angel and beat the donkey for being disobedient. The angel blocked the donkey's path two more times and each time, Balaam beat her.

G-d gave the donkey the power of speech and she asked Balaam what she had done to deserve such treatment. Balaam then saw the angel, who told Balaam that he would have killed him if the donkey had not turned aside three times. Balaam then went to Balak and blessed the people of Israel instead of cursing them.

Answer: Spin

The full quote from Jesus is: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The overall point of this section of the Sermon is that the disciples should not worry about material things like food, drink or clothes, as G-d will provide; however, they must seek the Kingdom of G-d first.

The Easter lily pictured here is a plant that grows in Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. It gets its name from being a symbol of Jesus' resurrection, and some churches will be filled with lilies around Easter time. When Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, lilies are said to have sprung up from drops of his sweat.

Answer: True

Hyraxes are known as 'rock badgers' in the New King James translation, and 'conies' (which is also slang for rabbit in some countries) or 'marmots' in others. They are native to Africa and, in the case of the rock hyrax, the Middle East. (This hyrax was photographed in a zoo in Israel.) They are said to be one of the four wise animals in Proverbs 30:26, along with ants, locusts and spiders, as they are small and weak, but make their homes in crags. They are considered treif (unclean) according to Jewish law, as they do not have cloven hooves.

Although they do not look it, they are related to elephants, manatees and dugongs, as males and females of each species both have similar sexual characteristics. Hyraxes also grow their tusks from their incisors, not their canine teeth, and have flattened nails on their paws like elephants. Despite the names used in various translations, badgers and marmots are different species to hyraxes and are in different families (badgers are in the Carnivora order and marmots are in the Rodentia order, while hyraxes are in the Hyracoidea order). Early English Bible translators were not aware of hyraxes at the time, so used more familiar terms.

Answer: Rue

When Jesus goes to dine with a Pharisee, the Pharisee complains that he did not wash before dinner. Jesus answers that the Pharisees care too much about appearances, but do not behave in a righteous manner. The full quote is: "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of G-d." In other words, they care about style over substance.

Rue is native to the Mediterranean and is cultivated both for food and as an insect repellent. In ancient times, it was believed to cure snake bites when mixed with oleander. It is bitter and contains multiple toxins, so must be used sparingly and cannot be eaten by pregnant women. It can also be used as a cat deterrent, as they are said to hate the smell.

Answer: Jezebel

Jezebel was a Phoenician queen who worshipped the god Baal and appeared in both 1 Kings and 2 King. She was married to Ahab. They persecuted Israelite worshippers and had their temples desecrated. The prophet Elijah challenged Jezebel's prophets over whose god was more powerful and would burn a bull sacrifice on an altar; the prophets could not summon Baal, but G-d burned the bull. Ahab also had Naboth, a vineyard owner, executed on false pretences because he wanted Naboth's land, and Naboth's body was licked by dogs. Elijah prophesied that the same thing would happen to Ahab, and that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs.

Jehu, the king of Israel, was anointed by Elijah and killed Jehoram, Jezebel's son, and dumped his body in Naboth's old vineyard. Jezebel leaned out of her window and taunted Jehu, and in return, Jehu ordered Jezebel's eunuchs to throw her out of the window. Her body was eaten by dogs, with only her skull, feet and palms left. (Regarding the picture, I chose Canaan dogs for this question because they're an Israeli dog breed.)

Answer: Numbers

Manna is a fine white substance that tastes like wafers made with honey, and originally appears in Exodus 16, when the Israelites are living in the wilderness and G-d makes manna fall from the heavens to feed them. They are instructed to only eat the manna they had gathered for each day, and gathered twice the usual amount for the Sabbath. In Numbers 11:5, the Israelites complain about having nothing but manna and yearn for "the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlick".

Leeks are alliums, from the same family as onions, garlic and chives. They were consumed in ancient Rome and are also a national symbol of Wales; St David, the patron saint of Wales, is said to have only eaten leeks while fasting. They can be eaten raw or cooked, and are often combined with potatoes in soups such as vichyssoise.

Answer: Famine

The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear in Revelation and each rides a different horse. Pestilence (also interpreted as Conquest, as he is carrying a sword) rides a white horse, War rides a red one, Famine rides a black one, and Death rides a 'pale' one. Famine is a food merchant and carries a pair of scales for weighing bread.

They appear when Jesus, in the form of a lamb, opens four of the seven seals on a scroll that G-d is holding in His right hand. They are given power to kill a quarter of the world's population with the sword, hunger, disease and animals.