Biblical Oddities #17 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Gideon

Gideon is the judge of Israel who received divine instructions to select men who lap water like a dog to go into battle against a massive Midianite army.
Details can be found in Judges 7.

According to Scripture, Gideon was instructed to lead a large number of soldiers to water and watch them drink. The vast majority of the men knelt to drink but 300 of them lapped water with their tongues like a dog. The men who lapped water like a dog were the ones to be selected to go into battle against the Midianites, Gideon was told by the LORD.

Miraculously, the 300 men scored a massive military victory over their adversaries.

And people say the Bible is boring!

Answer: Paul

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, states in Philippians 4:11-12, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content."

He goes on to state: "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Incredibly, Paul wrote the words while imprisoned in Rome.

Answer: Peter

Peter, one of the original twelve disciples, is described as weeping "bitterly" after he betrayed Christ for the third time after His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Prior to His arrest, Jesus is quoted as saying to Peter, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."

Sure enough, Peter would hear a rooster crow just after he denied knowing Christ on three different occasions. Upon hearing the rooster, Scripture states Peter "wept bitterly".

For details see Matthew 26:75, Mark 14:72, Luke 22:62 and John 18:27.

Answer: James the Less

James the Less, who is also known as James, son of Alphaeus, is not quoted as saying anything in the Bible. His name appears four different times in Scripture and in each occasion it pertains to a list of names of the original twelve disciples.

He is referred to as James the Less and James, son of Alphaeus, to avoid confusion with another disciple called James, the brother of John.

Simon the Zealot, another one of the original twelve disciples, also has the distinction of not being quoted in the New Testament.

Answer: Melchizedek

Melchizedek has the distinction of being one of the very few Old Testament characters whose name appears more times in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.

Using the NKJV the name Melchizedek is mentioned twice in the Old Testament -- Genesis 14:18 and Psalm 110:4

However, the name appears nine times in the New Testament with all the appearances being in Hebrews. The verses are 5:6, 5:10, 6:20, 7:1, 7:10, 7:11, 7:15, 7:17 and 7:21

In Genesis 14:18, he is described as being the king of Salem and the priest of God Most High.

Answer: Moses

Using the NKJV, Moses is the Old Testament character whose name appears more times in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure. His name appears no less than 80 times in the New Testament.

Meanwhile, Abraham's name appears 73 times and David's name 56 times. Other often mentioned Old Testament characters in the New Testament include Elijah, 30 times, Jacob 25 times and Isaac 18 times.

Answer: Elijah

Elijah was one of two characters from the Old Testament who made an appearance in the New Testament. According to Scripture, Elijah, along with Moses, appeared with Jesus on Mount Transfiguration.

On hand to witness the appearance of Elijah and Moses were Peter, James and John.

For details about the events on Mount Transfiguration, see Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36.

Answer: Six

There are at six women called Mary in the New Testament as per the common consensus.

The six different women called Mary include:
1.) Mary the mother of Jesus
2.) Mary Magdalene
3.) Mary of Bethany
4.) Mary of Cleopas, mother of James the Less and Joses/Joseph
5.) Mary, the mother of John Mark
6.) Mary of Rome

However, it must be pointed out some theologians are of the belief Mary of Bethany and Mary of Cleopas are the same person. If this is the case, the figure would be reduced to five from six.

Answer: Three

In the entire Bible, three men are called Ananias and they all appear in Acts, a book written by Luke.

The first Ananias appears in Acts 5:1. He was the husband of Sapphira and according to Scripture they sold some property and claimed they had given all the proceeds to the early church. However, secretly they kept some of the money for themselves. Because of their deception, they were struck dead in a case of divine retribution.

The second Ananias appears in Acts 9:10. He was a member of the early church who received divine instructions to minister to Paul after his dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.

The third Ananias appears in Acts 23:2 and was the high priest.

Answer: Four

Four horsemen are mentioned in Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.

The four horsemen are symbolic figures seen in a vision by John while in exile on the island of Patmos. Each horseman rode a horse of a different colour.

The colours of the horses were white, red, black and pale.

According to Scripture, the white horse represents conquest, the red horse represents peace, the black horse famine and the pale horse death.

See Revelation 6:1-8 for further details.