Biblical Oddities #13 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Four

According to Acts 21:8-9, Philip the Evangelist had four daughters who prophesied. The names of the daughters are not given and there is no further mention of them in Scripture.

Verses 8 and 9 in the NKJV simply state: "On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied."

Philip was one of seven Grecian Jews selected to oversee the distribution of food to needy widows, as per Acts 6:5.

Answer: Two

Among the original Twelve Disciples, there were two sets of brothers. They were Peter and Andrew and John and James.

The father of Peter and Andrew was Jonah, as per Matthew 16:17. Meanwhile, in John 1:42 and 21:15-17 in the NIV, he is referred to as John. Similar to a number of other Bible characters, he had two names which were apparently used interchangeably. No name is given for the mother of Peter and Andrew.

The father of John and James was Zebedee, as per John 4:21. Their mother was Salome, as per parallel accounts in the New Testament.

Answer: Three

Three of the original Twelve Disciples came from Bethsaida, a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee.

The three disciples were Peter, Andrew and Philip. Peter and Andrew were brothers and were both fishermen. Although there is no definitive statement in Scripture, it is commonly believed Philip was also a fisherman.

Bethsaida literally means 'House of Fish'.

Answer: Manesseh

Manesseh became king of Judah at the tender age of 12 and ruled for 55 turbulent years. In other words, he was the longest reigning monarch in Judah's history.

Rather than dial 'M' for murder, dial 'M' for Manesseh. 2 Kings 21:16 states Manessah "shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end."

He was also guilty of worshipping false gods and rebuilding high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed.

For the record, there is another Manesseh in the Old Testament. He was the first born son of Joseph and his wife Asenath.

Answer: Eli

Eli was a judge and high priest of Israel who two corrupt sons -- Hophni and Phinehas.

According to Scripture, they served as priests in the temple, but they were guilty of stealing, embezzling, and sexual immorality.

Interestingly, Samuel was also a judge of Israel and he too had two corrupt sons. Their names were Joel and Abijah. Scripture tells of the brothers taking bribes and seeking dishonest gain.

Answer: Moses

In Exodus 4:10, Moses, in a conversation with the LORD, states he is not suited to lead the Israelites because "I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

In Verses 11 and 12, the LORD is quoted as responding to Moses: "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."

Answer: Athalia

Athalia has the distinction of being the only female monarch in the Bible to reign over Judah or Israel. She served as queen of Judah replacing her son Ahaziah.

She was the original queen of mean and then some. In fact, she makes Leona Helmsley look like a girl guide. According to Scripture, Athaliah killed her own grandchildren to cement her hold on power.

She was notorious for being a vociferous opponent of those who worshiped God.

Answer: Haggith

Haggith was one of eight named wives of King David. However, not much is known about Haggith as she is largely mentioned in passing reference.

She was the mother of Adonijah, David's fourth son, who attempted to become king when David was elderly and in failing health. However, his plans to ascend to the throne were thwarted by Bathsheba, another wife of David, and Nathan the prophet.

Haggith means 'festive'. She is mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:4, 1 Kings 1:5, 1 Kings 2:13 and 1 Chronicles 3:2.

Answer: Absalom

Absalom, the rebellious son of David, was killed by the commander of his father's army in highly unusual circumstances.

Absalom, who was known for his beautiful long hair, was leading a revolt to overthrow his father and install himself as king. It all led to a bloody civil war with one side backing David and the other side Absalom.

According to 2 Samuel 18, Absalom's tresses got caught in a tree branch while he was riding on a donkey. The donkey kept traveling forward and, Absalom was left suspended.

Joab, the commander of David's army, found Absalom and quickly plunged three javelins into his heart.

According to Scripture, Absalom's death coincided with a heated battle in the forest of Ephraim with 20,000 men killed.

Even though Absalom was attempting to overthrow David and kill him in the process, Scripture reports David was deeply shaken by the death.

Answer: Ezekiel

Ezekiel received divine instructions to bake barley cakes using human dung for fuel, according to Ezekiel 4:9-13. The baking was to illustrate the severe hardships the people would face when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem.

And people say the Bible is boring!