Old Testament Scrambles Quiz | Bible Word Play

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Proverbs 30:25 - "The ___ are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer."

Answer: ants

The book of Proverbs offers practical wisdom and guidance. Proverbs 30 is introduced as being the wisdom of Agur son of Jakeh. Proverbs 24-28 list four small animals that are wise, namely ants, conies, locusts and spiders. Other translations list rock badgers and lizards in place of conies and spiders.

As for Proverbs 30:25, its lesson has been interpreted as promoting hard work and being proactive.

2. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from 1 Samuel 17:35 - "And I went out after him, and ___ him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and ___ him, and slew him."

Answer: smote

The word fitting the blank is 'smote', the past tense of the verb 'smite', meaning to strike sharply with the hand or something held in the hand. 1 Samuel 17 tells the story of David and Goliath. In verses 32-37, David is making his case to Saul that he should be allowed to answer the challenge from Goliath the Philistine.

He explains how killed both a lion and a bear which were threatening his father's sheep.

3. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from 1 Kings 21:14 - "Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is ___, and is dead."

Answer: stoned

Death by stoning was not uncommon in those times. The story narrated in 1 Kings 21 was that Samarian king Ahab desired Naboth's vineyard but Naboth declined to give it up. Ahab's wife Jezebel then cooked up a scheme resulting in Naboth being stoned to death, freeing up the vineyard for Ahab. Elijah then denounced Ahab and Jezebel with the result that Ahab repented.

The incident also led to Elijah's prophesy of Jezebel's death by dog (1 Kings 21:23).

4. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Exodus 25:33 - "Three bowls made like unto ___, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like ___ in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick."

Answer: almonds

Exodus 25 gives descriptions for the making of the tabernacle and the design of its furnishings. Exodus 25:31 onward specifies the golden lampstand (menorah) design with the cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and flowers.

5. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Ezekiel 19:7 - "And he knew their ___ palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was ___, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring."

Answer: desolate

Ezekiel 19:2-9 uses a lioness and her cubs as a metaphor. The Judean prince referenced in Ezekiel 19:7 was one of two who fought and were captured. The first 'lion' was taken to Egypt, the second to Babylon. The passage is part of a series of oracles warning of impending judgement.

6. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from 2 Samuel 3:33 - "And the king ___ over Abner, and said, Did Abner as a fool dieth?"

Answer: lamented

The word sought is 'lamented'. Abner, commander of Saul's army, had only recently brokered a peace between Saul and David when Abner was treacherously killed by Joab at Hebron. David distanced himself from the killing by mourning the death publicly. He answered his own question in the following verse, in effect refusing to allow Abner's manner of death to define his legacy.

7. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Ezra 8:26 - "I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty ___ of silver, and silver vessels an hundred ___, and of gold an hundred ___;"

Answer: talents

A talent was a unit of weight used for precious metals in Biblical times. It was an economically sizeable amount and often used in the Bible when it came to the payment of tribute or offerings to temples. One talent was roughly 32-41 kg (70-90 lb). This particular offering was from Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and was accompanied by Ezra and various Israeli exiles being returned from Babylon.

8. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Deuteronomy 22:15 - "Then shall the father of the ___, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the ___'s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:"

Answer: damsel

Deuteronomy 22 lists various laws with the one at 22:15 being one connected to marriage violations. In this one, where a husband claims his wife was not virgin when he married her, the verse 22:15 sets out part of the process for resolving the matter. The KJV uses the word 'damsel' where others use 'daughter' or 'young woman'.

9. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Job 6:30 - "Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my ___ discern perverse things?"

Answer: taste

In Job 6, Job starts by lamenting his weakness and then criticizes Eliphaz while defending himself. By the end of the chapter he is challenging his friends to point out his error. Earlier Job had compared Eliphaz's words with unsavoury or sorrowful food (Job 6:6 and 6:7) so the use of the word 'taste' in the final verse (Job 6:30) is perhaps a reference back to that in this translation.

10. Using letters from OLD TESTAMENT, place the word missing from Genesis 19:26 - "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of ___."

Answer: salt

Genesis 19 records the events around the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Having successfully bargained for the life and safety of his guests, Lot is warned to leave and admonished not look back. His wife however ignores the warning and is turned into a pillar of salt when she looks back. Lot and his two daughters survive.

Source: Author suomy

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Old Testament Scrambles Trivia Quiz

This selection of verses from the King James Version of the Bible all come from the Old Testament. The missing words also all come from the words OLD TESTAMENT. Find which words fill the gaps.

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