Biblical Oddities -- #9 Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Zedekiah

Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, met a gruesome fate when the land was captured by the Babylonian army. Jeremiah 39:6-7 tells of Zedekiah's unstated number of sons being killed before his eyes. To make matters even worse, his eyes were gouged out and he was bound with bronze shackles and taken to Babylon as a prisoner.

According to 2 Kings 24:19-20 and Jeremiah 52:2-3, Zedekiah did "evil in the sight of the LORD".

He was a son of Josiah, and his mother's name was Hamutal.

Answer: Luke

When it comes to the Gospel with the most accounts of parables told by Jesus, Luke is the clear winner. It contains 28 different parables compared to 20 parables in Matthew followed by Mark with 9.

Surprisingly, there is not a single parable recorded in the Gospel of John.

Answer: John

It might come as a surprise for some, but the Gospel with the fewest accounts of the miracles of Jesus is John.

There are only eight accounts of Christ's miracles in John. This compares with accounts of 22 miracles in Luke, 21 in Matthew and 19 in Mark,

Rather than report about miracles, the Gospel of John concentrates on informing the reader Christ is the only begotten Son of God and salvation is through His name.

Answer: Potiphar's wife

Potiphar's wife was the evil and vindictive woman who falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape. According to Scripture, Joseph was a servant in the household of Potiphar and his unnamed wife and the woman had longing eyes for the young Hebrew.

When Joseph turned down her advances for intimacy, she was deeply offended and falsely accused him of attempted rape.

As a result, Joseph ended up being tossed into prison. Miraculously, he would gain his freedom and rise to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, surpassed by only the Pharaoh.

For complete details, see Genesis 39:1-23)

Answer: Zephaniah

Zephaniah, a great-great grandson of Hezekiah, wrote the book in the Old Testament that bears his name.

The Book of Zephaniah is one of twelve books that comprise the Minor Prophet section in the Protestant Bible. The books are called 'minor' simply because they are shorter than books written by the likes of Jeremiah and Isaiah. However, books in the Minor Prophet section are regarded as every bit as important.

Zephaniah condemned idolatry in Judah and declared the people would face harsh judgment. He also wrote about blessings to come at a future date.

We know Zephaniah was a great-great grandson of Hezekiah due to his lineage, which is documented in Zephaniah 1:1.

Answer: Ahaziah

Ahaziah, king of Israel, succumbed to his injuries after he fell through an upper room lattice in his palace.

Scripture tells of Ahaziah sending messengers to meet with the prophets of Baal to find out if he would live. However, Elijah intercepted the messengers and declared the king would die from his injures.

Sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

Ahaziah was a son of Ahab and Jezebel, two of the most notorious figures in the Old Testament.

Answer: Sarah

Surprisingly for some, the first woman to have her death reported in the Old Testament is not Eve. The woman is Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

According to Scripture, she miraculously gave birth to Isaac when she was 90 years old and her husband was 100. Sarah was 127 years old at the time of her death, as per Genesis 23:1.

Answer: Nadab

Nadab, along with his brother Abihu, were consumed by fire from the presence of the LORD for their unholy worship practice. The two men were sons of Aaron and served in the Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting.

Leviticus 10:1-2 gives this explanation about their deaths: "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD."

No further details are provided. However, it is generally agreed Nadab and Abihu did something in direct contravention of God's instructions, possibly involving wrong coals, timing, or method. Their failure to follow instructions was seen as a serious lack of reverence.

Answer: Elijah

Elijah, in a supernatural feat of strength, outran King Ahab and his chariot drawn by a team of horses, as per 1 Kings 18:44-46.

The astounding event took place on the heels of Elijah being the clear winner in a showdown with 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. As part of the showdown, the prophets of Baal called on their god while Elijah called on the LORD to ignite sacrificial offerings on Mount Carmel.

Scripture goes on to tell of Elijah outracing Ahab and his team of royal horses from Mount Carmel to Jezreel, a distance of about 17 miles, or about 27 kilometres.

Verse 46 in the NKJV simply explains things this way: "Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."

Answer: Gomer

Prostitutes are mentioned numerous times in the Old and New Testaments, but only three of them are identified by name. The three prostitutes named are Gomer, Rahab and Tamar.

Incredibly, Gomer ended up marrying Hosea, a prophet of God. According to Scripture, Hosea received divine instructions to marry a prostitute to illustrate how far Israel had departed from God.

Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who gave safe haven to two Israelite spies and for her assistance, she and her family were spared when the Israelites conquered the city. Matthew 1:5 tells of Rahab becoming the wife of Salmon and being part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

When it comes to Tamar, it is a grey area indeed. However, Scripture tells of her acting as a prostitute in a specific instance and becoming impregnated by her father-in-law Judah. This even though Judah didn't know he was intimate with his daughter-in-law.