Word Association -- Old Testament Characters #14 Quiz

Answer: Ishbosheth

Ishbosheth is the correct answer. It's a bit of a long story, but Ishbosheth was the son of Saul and after his father died he became king of Israel. However, the people of Judah enthroned David as their king and the Israelites were involved in a bloody civil was a result. The war came to an end with Ishbosheth's death.

2 Kings 4:4-8 in the NKJV explains Ishbosheth's gruesome death this way: "Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon. And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain. And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, 'Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.'"

Scripture goes on to state that the assassination angered David and he reacted by ordering the execution of the killers.

The chapter concludes by stating David's "young men" executed the assassins, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. Then they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

Answer: Michal

Michal is the correct answer. It's another long story, but Saul, the father of Michal, ordered David to produce the foreskins from 100 Philistines to win his daughter's hand, as he firmly believed David would be killed in the process and he would no longer have to contend with him. According to the 18th chapter of 1 Samuel, David killed twice as many Philistines as needed and easily won Michal's hand, much to the consternation of Saul.

Answer: Naomi

The account of Naomi referring to herself as Mara can be found in the first chapter of Ruth when she traveled to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth. In the NIV Bible, Ruth 1:19-20 states: "So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, 'Can this be Naomi?' 'Don't call me Naomi', she told them. 'Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter'." Notes in the NIV Study Bible state Naomi means 'pleasant' while Mara means 'bitter'. Naomi's husband was Elimelek and they had two sons -- Mahlon and Kilion and all three died, leaving their wives as widows.

However, there is no indication in Scripture as to how the three men died.

Answer: David

David served as king in Hebron before a civil war made him king of all the Israelites. At the conclusion of war, he moved his base of operations to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 5:3-5, gives this account: "Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah."

In the civil war, one side backed David and the other side backed Ishbosheth, Saul's son.

Answer: Abram

Abram, who would later become known as Abraham, is the correct answer. It's a bit of a long story, but basically God promised Abram He would make a great nation out of him with Genesis 15:5 stating his descendents would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Scripture states the LORD also said He would bless Abram and the families of the earth through him and He also promised Abram his people would live in a certain geographical area.

In Genesis 12:2-3, in the NKJV, the LORD tells Abram: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 15:18-21 goes on to state: "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates -- the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Answer: Noah

According to Genesis 6:14, Noah was commanded by the LORD to build a gigantic ark out of gopher wood. In what is one of the best known stories in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, the world was engulfed in a flood after rain fell continuously for forty days and nights and Noah and his wife and their three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) and their wives survived by taking refuge in the ark. According to Scripture, the ark was filled with animals, birds and "everything that creeps on the earth."

The story of the flood is told in the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters of Genesis.

According to Christiananswers.net, gopher wood is mentioned in only Genesis 6:14.

The Web site goes on to state: "Because no one knows for certain what 'gopher' means in this context, the King James Version and the New King James Version simply leave the word untranslated and say 'gopher' wood. Most modern English versions of the Bible translate it as 'cypress.' This is probably incorrect and is really only a guess supported by very weak evidence."

Answer: Zilpah

Zilpah was Leah's handmaiden and according to Genesis 30:9-12, she was given to Jacob as a wife and bore him two sons, Gad and Asher. Scripture records that Leah's father Laban had given Zilpah to her as an aide, as per Genesis 29:24. Little else is known about her. However, according to Wikipedia, Jewish tradition has it that Zilpah was buried in Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.

Answer: Obed

Boaz and Ruth are one of the better known couples in the Old Testament with the book of Ruth largely devoted to their romance. Obed was the name of their first son who ended up being the grandfather of David, as per Ruth 4:13-16.

Ruth 4:17 states Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David, one of the most prominent figures in the Old Testament.

Answer: Eglon

Eglon is the correct answer. According to Judges 3:15, Ehud was a left-handed Benjaminite who was a "deliverer" from God. The second judge of Israel is known for killing Eglon, the "very fat" king of Moab. Scripture goes into some gory details about the king's death. Judges 3:20-22, in the NIV Bible, states: "Ehud then approached him (Eglon) while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, 'I have a message from God for you.' As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it."

Answer: Ahaziah

Ahaziah is the correct answer. According to the first chapter of 2 Kings, Ahaziah sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if he would recover from the injuries sustained in a fall through a lattice in an upper room. The chapter concludes with Elijah admonishing Ahaziah for inquiring of Baal-Zebub.

2 Kings 1:16-17, in the NKJV, states: "Then he [Elijah] said to him, 'Thus says the Lord: 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.' So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. "