Biblical Oddities #21 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Michal

Michal, David's first wife, was incensed to see her husband dancing in the street after the Ark of the LORD was brought back into Jerusalem. Previously it had been captured by the Philistines.

Scripture tells of an exuberant David dancing in wild abandonment wearing only a linen ephod.

According to Scripture, Michal, the daughter of Saul, was deeply troubled by what she saw.

2 Samuel 6:16 in the NKJV states: "Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart."

David defended his actions and it seems things would never be the same between the two.

Verse 23 states Michal "had no children to the day of her death."

Answer: Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth was the grandson of King Saul and the son of Jonathan, a good friend of King David.

According to Scripture, Mephibosheth was left lame in his feet as a child when an unnamed nurse dropped him while fleeing after Saul and Jonathan were both killed in battle against the Philistines.

Scripture goes on to tell of David taking care of Mephibosheth by restoring his family's lands and inviting him to always eat at the royal table.

Answer: Ahasuerus

King Ahasuerus, known as Xerxes in the NIV, had a harem in which the women would undergo beauty treatments and purification with perfumes for one year in total.

According to Scripture, the women would be given six months of beauty treatments with oil and myrrh followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments before meeting with the king.

Esther 2:12-14 in the NKJV explains things this way: "Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace."

The number of women in the harem is not stated. It's from this background Esther ascended to become queen.

According to Esther 1:1, Ahasuerus reigned over 127 provinces, stretching from India in the east to Ethiopia in the west.

Answer: Jacob

Jacob is the only man in the Bible to technically wear gloves. It was all part of a ruse in which Jacob tricked his elderly father Isaac into believing he was Esau. Through his deception, Jacob was able to obtain Isaac's blessing which was intended for his slightly older twin brother Esau.

Masterminding the deception was Jacob's mother Rebekah.

In this case, the 'gloves' he wore were goat skins to make his hands appear much rougher than they actually were. It tricked Isaac, who was nearly blind, into believing it was Esau's hairy skin .

For the record, The Living Bible says Jacob's mother Rebekah "made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats".

Other Bible versions do not use the word 'gloves'.

Answer: Gideon

Gideon, a noted judge of Israel, had 70 sons from his many wives, as per Judges 8:30-31. On top of this, he also had a son from a concubine in Shechem. The son of the concubine was Abimelech.

Abimelech would go on and murder his brothers to consolidate his hold on power after Gideon's death. According to Scripture, only Jotham, the youngest, would survive, as per Judges 9:5.

No mention is made in Scripture as to the number of daughters Gideon fathered or the names of his wives. Scripture simply states he had "many" wives.

Answer: John

The account of Jesus welcoming little children is found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, but not in John.

Details can be found in Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16 and Luke 18:15-17.

John is different than the three other Gospels as it concentrates on the divinity of Jesus and what people must do to inherit eternal life through spiritual rebirth. Matthew, Mark and Luke focus on Christ's actions and His parables.

Answer: Luke

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in only the Gospel of Luke.

The parable tells of a rebellious son leaving home and ending up being down and out. In turn, the son heads back home to his father prepared to ask him to accept him back as a hired hand. The father, however, rejoices and welcomes with open arms his lost son back into the family.

For details about the parable, see Luke 15:11-32.

Answer: Mark

Mark is the only Gospel to identify Bartimaeus as the blind man who was miraculously able to see after meeting Jesus. Parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke do not identify Bartimaeus by name.

Bartimaeus was a blind beggar Jesus encountered while travelling to Jericho. Details about Bartimaeus being able to see can be found in Mark 10:46-52.

Incidentally, my first ever quiz for FunTrivia was about Bartimaeus.

Answer: Matthew

Then only Gospel to tell of Peter walking on water is Matthew. Details are found in Matthew 14:29-31.

According to the passage, the twelve disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when they saw Jesus walking on the water. Peter responded by asking Jesus to command him to walk on the water as well.

Verses 29 to 31 in the NKJV tell of what happened next: "And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"

Answer: Elah

Elah was assassinated by Zimri, an army commander. According to Scripture, Elah was in Tirzah "drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza" when he was killed.

Zimri installed himself as king but his reign was extremely short, lasting only seven days. He ended up committing suicide by burning down his palace when he realized he was surrounded by forces determined to make Omri king instead.

And people say the Bible is boring!