Biblical Oddities #31 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Hagar

The first woman in the Bible visited by an angel was Hagar, the handmaiden for Sarah, known as Sarai at the time.

According to Genesis 16:1-15, Sarah had been treating Hagar harshly and she opted to run away into the wilderness.

Scripture tells of an angel visiting Hagar by a spring and urging her to return to Sarah. The angel also promised Hagar, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."

Hagar in turn returned to serve Sarah.

Scripture goes on to tell of Hagar giving birth to Ishmael, who is generally regarded as the father of the Arab nation.

Answer: Jacob

Genesis 35:20 tells of Jacob erecting a monument over the grave of his wife Rachel.

The verse in the NKJV states: "And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day."

According to Scripture, Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.

Jacob was also married to Rachel's oldest sister Leah, but Rachel was clearly his favourite. He also fathered children with Bilhah and Zilpah, the maidservants of Rachel and Leah.

Answer: Benjamin

Benjamin is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Benjamin's mother Rachel died while giving him birth.

Genesis 35:18 tells of Rachel naming the baby Ben-Oni just before she died, but Jacob, the baby's father, changed the name to Benjamin.

Previously, Rachel had given birth to Joseph.

She is the first woman in the Bible to die during childbirth. The second woman was the unnamed wife of Phinehas, as per 1 Samuel 4:19-20.

Answer: Perez

Perez is one of the two twin boys Tamar gave birth to, as per Genesis 38:29. The other twin was Zerah. According to Scripture, Judah, Tamar's father-in-law, was the father to the two boys.

The first set of twins in the Bible were Jacob and Esau, who were born to Isaac and Rebekah. See Genesis 25:25-26 for details.

Answer: Miriam

Miriam is the only woman in the Bible who was afflicted with leprosy and named.

However, her affliction was temporary as she was cleansed of the dread disease by God. According to Scripture she was afflicted with leprosy after she complained about her sister-in-law, Mosess' wife.

For details, see Numbers 12.

Answer: Achan

Achan has the distinction of being the first named person who was stoned to death.

According to Scripture, he was stoned after he stole accursed items when the Israelites conquered Jericho.

See Joshua 7:1-26 for details.

Answer: Philip

According to Scripture Philip had four unmarried daughters and who prophesied. However, no names are given for the daughters.

Philip in this case is not to be confused with Philip, one of the original twelve disciples. To avoid confusion between the two men, the Philip in this case is sometimes referred to as Philip the evangelist.

Philip the evangelist is known for converting the Ethiopian eunuch to Christianity, as per Acts 8:26-38.

Answer: Cornelius

A number of centurions are mentioned in the New Testament but the first one who is named is Cornelius.

According to Scripture, Cornelius was a Christian and Peter baptized him and his household, as per Acts 10:1-48.

For the record, the Gospels contain information about four other centurions, with three of them unnamed.

The first unnamed centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant who was home sick, saying Christ didn't even have to visit his house because he knew a miracle would happen. (See Luke 7:1-10.)

The second unnamed centurion was a guard at the crucifixion site who made the famous declaration about Jesus: "Surely this man was the Son of God!". (Mark 15:39)

The third unnamed centurion was appointed by Felix to guard Paul. (Acts 24:23)

Meanwhile, the other named centurion in the Bible is Julius who accompanied Paul on his journey to Rome to appear before Caesar. (Acts 27:1)

Answer: John the Baptist

John the Baptist was beheaded while Herod was celebrating his birthday.

In an extremely macabre incident, Scripture tells of John's head being placed on a platter and being presented at the so-called party.

It's a bit of a lo-o-o-ng story, but in a nutshell, Herodias, the evil wife of Herod, pulled strings behind the scenes to have John beheaded and his head put on a platter.

The beheading is documented in Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29.

And people say the Bible is boring!

Answer: Saul

Saul is the correct answer.

The ninth chapter of Acts tells of Saul, who would later become known as Paul, travelling on the road to Damascus and having a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Acts 9:4, Jesus states: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

The encounter would leave Saul blinded for three days until Ananias came to minister to him.

Jesus also addressed two other people, stating their names twice in one breath.
Those two people are Martha and Simon, also known as Peter.

In Luke 10:41 He states, "Martha, Martha," and in Luke 22:31, He states, "Simon, Simon."