Biblical Oddities #11 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Rebekah

Rebekah is the first woman in the Bible to be described as wearing a veil.

Genesis 24:64-65, in the NKJV explains things this way: "Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, 'Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?' The servant said, 'It is my master.' So she took a veil and covered herself".

Answer: Enoch

Going strictly by Scripture, Enoch was the first grandchild. He was the son of Cain and the grandson of Adam and Eve. Cain's wife is not identified.

Genesis 4:17 states Cain "built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch".

Interestingly, details are given on the heels of an account of Cain being the first murderer when he killed his brother Abel.

Answer: Athaliah

There are lots of evil, wicked and despicable people in the Bible and Athalia has to be near the top of a lengthy list.

She was the first queen of Judah and nastiness was part of her DNA, as she was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who were incredibly evil, wicked and despicable as well.

After the death of her son, King Ahaziah, she took drastic action to ensure she would inherit the throne. To this end, she ordered all potential claimants to the throne be executed, including her grandchildren!

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

Athaliah reigned for six highly turbulent years and was finally killed in an insurrection. 2 Kings 11:20 states "all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm" when the news was announced that Athaliah had been killed.

And people say the Bible is boring!

Answer: Jephthah

Jephthah, a noted judge of Israeli, was the son of Gilead and an unnamed prostitute, as per Judges 11:1. The same verse describes him as a "mighty man of valor".

According to Scripture, Gilead had four other sons with his unnamed wife but they despised Jephthah and forced him to flee to the land of Tob. Judges 11:3 states he associated with "worthless men" and conducted raiding parties.

Nevertheless, Jephthah would ascend to become a judge and military commander who delivered Israel from the Ammonites.

Answer: Michal

Michal has the distinction of being the daughter of Saul, the first king of Israel, and the first wife of David, a noted king of Israel.

According to Scripture, Michal was strongly attracted to David even though her father despised the young man.

She played a key role in helping David escape from the clutches of her father. It seems Saul spent most of his time in the latter part of his life trying to kill David. This even though David did not harbor a grudge against Saul.

Answer: Samson

Samson caused havoc and destruction among the Philistines when he caught 300 foxes and attached torches to their tails and then set them loose among their wheat fields, vineyards, and olive groves.

As a result, there was an enormous financial loss for the arch enemies of the Israelites.

Scripture goes on to tell of Samson, a noted judge of Israel, taking the jawbone of a donkey and killing 1,000 Philistines.

For details, see Judges 15:1-20.

Answer: Timothy

Timothy has the distinction of being the only character in the New Testament to have the names of his mother and grandmother stated. He was the son of Eunice and the grandson of Lois, as per 2 Timothy 1:5. His father's name is not stated, but according to Acts 16:1, he was Greek.

Timothy was a young member of the early church who often labored alongside Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

Bear in mind the question is based on the only Bible character to have have their mother and grandmother stated in the New Testament. To this end, it should be pointed out it is known Anne is the mother of Mary, as per other sources. However, Anne's name does not appear in the New Testament. If her name was listed, Jesus would've been a correct answer as well.

Answer: Hagar

For most of her life Sarah was unable to conceive and it was during this time she gave her husband Abraham permission to be intimate with her handmaiden Hagar to produce a child.

Scripture goes on to tell of Hagar giving birth to Ishmael, perceived by many to be the father of the Arab nation.

Later, at age 90, Sarah would become pregnant and give birth to Isaac.

Answer: Tamar

The tragic story of Tamar, a daughter of David, being raped by her half brother Amnon, appears in 2 Samuel 13:1-18.

Tamar's mother was Maacah while Amnon's mother was Ahinoam. According to Scripture, Amnon was completely smitten by his half sister and on the advice of Jonadab, pretended to be ill.

Amnon set up things so Tamar would come to his bedroom to serve him a special meal which was supposed to help him overcome his 'illness'. After Tamar entered his bedroom he forced himself on her, despite her strong objections.

Scripture goes on to tell of Amnon's strong lusting for Tamar turning into an intense hatred.

Later, Absalom, a full brother of Tamar, would exact revenge and kill Amnon, as per 2 Samuel 13:19-29. Tamar was never married.

Answer: Aquila

Aquila was the husband of Priscilla and both served as workers in the early church. At around 49 AD, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome.

After being expelled, Aquila and Priscilla met up with Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, in Corinth. Similar to Paul, they were tentmakers.

The married couple became key members in the early church and provided tremendous support for Paul. In fact, in Romans 16:3 Paul writes they "risked their necks" for him, but details are not provided.