Biblical Oddities #7 -- Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Laban and Rebekah

The first brother and sister mentioned by name in the Bible are Laban and Rebekah, as per Genesis 24:29. At the time, Laban and Rebekah lived in Haran, which was in Mesopotamia and now part of present day Turkey.

Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac and they would have two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob, in turn, would end up marrying two daughters of Laban. The two sisters he married were Leah and Rachel.

Answer: Tamar

Tamar gave birth to the second set of twins in the Bible. Rebekah became the mother of the first set of twins when she gave birth to Jacob and Esau.

Scripture tells a sordid story of Tamar posing as a prostitute and ended up being impregnated by her father-in-law Judah. This even though Judah didn't realize he was being intimate with Tamar at the time.

Similar to Rebekah, Tamar gave birth to two boys. Their names were Perez and Zerah.

For more details, see Genesis 38.

Answer: Peter

According to Acts Chapter 10:9-16, Peter had a vision in which a gigantic sheet was let down from Heaven with all kinds of "four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air."

Then he heard a voice stating, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."

However, Peter replied he would not eat anything impure or unclean.

Then Peter heard the voice once again, stating: "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean".

This was done three times and then the gigantic sheet was as taken back up into heaven.

In addition to various foods being OK to eat, Peter interpreted the divine message as proclaiming salvation was available to everyone, even if they are not Jewish.

Historians regard Peter's vision as a key moment in the early church, as the barriers between different groups of people was eliminated.

Answer: Tahpenes

Tahpenes is the only Egyptian queen mentioned in Scripture, although she is mentioned in only passing reference.

1 Kings 11:19-20 tells of the sister of Queen Tahpenes being given in marriage by the Pharaoh to Hadad, an adversary of Solomon and the Israelites.

Answer: Judas

A number of people committed suicide in the Old Testament with Abimelech, Saul and Zimri leaping to mind. However, the only person in the New Testament that committed suicide is Judas also known as Judas Iscariot.

He killed himself after being filled with remorse for betraying Christ to the religious officials of the day for thirty pieces of silver.

Judas' suicide is documented in Matthew 27:3-5.

Answer: John the Baptist

John the Baptist was quite the character. According to Matthew 3:4, he was "clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey."

John preached a message of repentance, stating he was sent to prepare the way for Christ. He also baptized scores of people in the Jordan River, including Jesus, as per Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-22.

In John 1:29, he describes Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Answer: Lazarus and Mary

Lazarus and Mary is the correct answer. They both lived in Bethany with their sister Martha. In other words, the correct answer could've also been Lazarus and Martha if the names were given as an option.

Lazarus, Mary and Martha are the only brother-sister combination who are named in the New Testament.

However, it must be pointed out Romans 16:15 makes mention of Nereus and his unnamed sister. The verse in the NKJV reads this way: "Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them."

In Romans 16:3-20, Paul makes mention of various names of males and females, but there is no indication if any of them were brothers and sisters in the literal sense. Yes, it is possible a brother and sister are included in the list of names, although there is no specific mention of such being the case.

Meanwhile, in Acts 23:16, reference is also made to Paul having a sister, but she is not named.

Finally, Matthew 13:55-56 makes mention of Jesus having four named brothers and an undisclosed number of sisters who are not named.

The verses in the NKJV state: "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?"

Protestants believe the verses show Jesus had brothers and sisters.
However, it must be stressed, Catholics see things differently with the belief brothers and sisters refer to a broader range of family members such as cousins or close relatives, or possibly step-siblings.

Regardless, no names of sisters are given.

Answer: Samson

Samson was a killing machine when it came to battling the Philistines, long-time adversaries of the Israelites. Judges 15:15-17 tells of Samson taking a fresh jawbone of a donkey and using it to kill 1,000 Philistines,

Samson was a judge of Israel who was known for his immense strength. However, he is perhaps best known for being betrayed by his lover Delilah. It is assumed Delilah was a Philistine but there is no conclusive proof of this. However, Judges 16:4 says she lived in the Valley of Sorek, traditionally Philistine territory.

Some theologians believe she may have been a Hebrew woman working for the Philistines or a prostitute.

Answer: Isaiah

The prophet of God who had his lips cleansed with a hot coal was Isaiah. Little in the way of direct details are given in Scripture, however.

Isaiah 6:5-8 explains things this way: "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: 'Behold, this has touched your lips;
your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.' Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'"

Answer: Job

We've all had bad days, but I suspect no one playing this quiz has had a day as bad as the one Job experienced. His 'bad day' was heart-breaking, mind-numbing and horrific.

On the same day, Job's seven sons and three daughters and an unspecified number of servants were all killed. On top of this, he lost all of his livestock. According to Job 1:3, that included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys.

The Book of Job ends on a happy note with Chapter 42 telling of seven more sons and three daughters being born to Job and his wife and God blessing him with twice as many livestock as he had in the beginning.