Bible People Who Were Imprisoned Quiz

Answer: Joseph

Joseph is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Potiphar's wife (no name is given) attempted to seduce Joseph and when she was spurned, she accused him of trying to force himself onto her.

Joseph fled after the woman attempted to lure him into bed with her, and he left behind his cloak. Shortly afterward, the woman produced Joseph's clothing to Potiphar, citing it as proof Joseph had attempted to make sport of her. Joseph would end up being tossed in prison as a result.

After a number of twists and turns, Scripture tells of Joseph ascending to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, surpassed by only the Pharaoh.

Answer: Samson

Samson was imprisoned by the Philistines after his Philistine lover Delilah betrayed him, as per Judges 16.

The story of Samson and Delilah is one of the most colorful ones in the Old Testament. According to Scripture, Samson was a judge of Israel and his long hair was the secret to his strength; when his locks were cut by Delilah, he lost his power. Scripture states she was offered a massive amount of money by the lords of the Philistines for the betrayal. With his hair cut, Samson lost his strength and ended up being imprisoned by the Philistines.

Samson, however, would have his final hurrah. With his hair partially grown back, the 16th chapter of Judges states he used his remaining strength to get revenge against the Philistines who had taken him captive. While the Philistine rulers were offering "a great sacrifice" to Dagon their god, it was decided to bring out Samson for "entertainment" purposes. A crucial mistake was made when Samson was placed by the pillars that supported the temple.

According to Judges 16:30, Samson pushed with all his might on the pillar, causing the building to collapse. No details are given about the number of people who died, with Scripture simply stating Samson killed many more when he died than when he lived.

Answer: Spying

Ten of Joseph's brothers who traveled to Egypt to buy food during a famine were charged with spying and imprisoned for three days, as per Genesis 42:14-17. The charges of spying were brought against them by none other than Joseph, the brother they had sold into slavery a number of years before. However, according to Scripture, Joseph's brothers did not recognize him.

The charges of spying and subsequent incarceration was apparently all part of a plan by Joseph to be re-united with his younger brother, Benjamin. Scripture states Benjamin stayed in Canaan and did not make the trip to Egypt largely because his father Jacob did not want him to disappear from the scene like Joseph. (Joseph and Benjamin were both sons of Rachel while the ten other sons were sons of Jacob's wife Leah and his two concubines, Zilpah and Bilhah.)

Scripture goes on to tell of Joseph eventually revealing his true identity to his brothers, with the extended family of Jacob moving to Egypt to be with Joseph who had ascended to become the second most powerful man in Egypt.

Answer: Jeremiah

Jeremiah is the correct answer as per Jeremiah 37-38.

According to Scripture he was initially imprisoned because Irijah, captain of the guard, falsely accused him of defecting to the Chaldeans, enemies of Judah. Later, Zedekiah, the king of Judah, would call for Jeremiah from prison and ask him if he had received word from the LORD about the situation at hand. Pulling no punches, Jeremiah told the king he would be captured and delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

Scripture goes on to state Jeremiah was then commanded to the court of the prison and given a piece of bread daily. Later, he would be thrown into a horrific dungeon where he would almost die of starvation. Once again, Zedekiah would call upon Jeremiah to give a prophesy about the future, and once again Jeremiah told him Jerusalem would be captured.

After this, Jeremiah was placed in the court of the prison, where he remained until the Babylonians captured the city.

Answer: Hanani

Hanani told King Asa the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and ended up paying for it when he was tossed into prison. To paraphrase Scripture, Hanani was punished because the king didn't want to hear the truth. Instead, he wanted him to prophesy about things he would like to hear.

According to Scripture, Hanani denounced the king for forming an alliance with the the Syrians and not relying upon the LORD. As part of his prophecy, Hanani told Asa he done "foolishly" and that in the future he would be plagued with wars. Scripture goes on to tell of the king being enraged and ordering Hanani to be tossed into prison. Details can be found in 2 Chronicles 16:1-10.

Answer: Zedekiah

The 39th chapter of Jeremiah tells of Zedekiah's capture by the Babylonian army. He certainly didn't receive any preferential treatment. 2 Kings 25:6-7 tells of the Babylonians killing Zedekiah's sons "before his eyes." The deaths of his sons would be one of the last things he saw as Scripture goes on to tell of Zedekiah's eyes being put out. After this, he was bound with bronze shackles and taken to Babylon as a prisoner.

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. 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: An angel set them free

The correct answer is an angel set them free. Details can be found in Acts 5:17-29. Scripture states an angel of the Lord opened the doors, telling them to "go stand in the temple" and preach the Gospel message.

Scripture goes on to tell of the officials heeding the advice of Gamaliel, a Pharisee and teacher of the law. Gamaliel said the followers of Jesus should be left alone, because if their message is not of God, it would eventually come to nothing.

Gamaliel's decision would be a game changer, with members of the early church being allowed to freely preach the news of a resurrected Jesus Christ.

Answer: Paul and Silas

Paul and Silas were an amazing couple. According to Scripture, they were stripped, beaten, flogged and then thrown into prison in Philippi; later that day, around midnight, they were heard singing hymns and praying.

According to Acts 16:16-40, Silas and Paul ended up before the magistrates after they drove demons out of a slave girl who was capable of telling people's fortunes. With the demons no longer living in her, she lost the ability to tell fortunes and her owners were furious as she brought them much profit, Scripture states.

Acts 16:19 states the owners of the slave girl seized Paul and Silas and "dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities". And this is where things turned ugly. Scripture states a crowd ended up attacking the two church workers and after they were stripped, flogged and severely beaten, they were thrown into prison. Despite their sorry condition, Silas and Paul "were praying and singing hymns to God" shortly after midnight with their feet in stocks!

Then a miracle took place. According to Scripture there was an earthquake and "immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed." And then things get even more incredible. The dynamic duo stayed put and did not make a break for it. When the jailer was amazed to find out his prized prisoners had not escaped, Silas and Paul seized the opportunity to convert him to Christianity. Acts 16:34 states the jailer's entire household came to believe in God.

Philippi is also the community in which Paul converted Lydia, the seller of purple cloth, to Christianity. Going strictly by Scripture, she was the first believer of a resurrected Jesus Christ in Europe.

Answer: John the Baptist

John the Baptist denounced the marriage of King Herod to Herodias and he paid dearly for it. According to Scripture, John was imprisoned and then the vindictive and conniving Herodias was successful in getting her husband to order his beheading. Scripture states she had been married to Philip, Herod's brother, before her marriage to Herod.

Matthew 14:6-12 reports Herod hosted a lavish birthday party for himself and when Herodias' daughter, who is not named, danced at the reception, Herod was so pleased he told the girl he would give her whatever she asked for. Prompted by her mother, the girl requested John the Baptist's head on a platter.

Scripture goes on to tell of a macabre scene in which John the Baptist's head was given to the girl on a platter and she in turn gave the platter to her mother.

Answer: Peter

Peter is the correct answer. Details of his miraculous escape from prison only to have difficulty entering a house of friends can be found in Acts 12:3-19.

According to Scripture, Peter was set free from prison by an angel. However, when he made his way to the house of Christian friends, he had difficulty getting inside.

It was all because of Rhoda, a highly-excitable servant girl who went to answer the door at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, after Peter's escape. Scripture states that, when Rhoda heard Peter's voice, she went to tell the other occupants he was at the door and left him frantically knocking. Scripture states there were a number of Christians inside the house praying for Peter's safety. It's a good thing Peter was not being chased by would-be captors, as he would have been easily captured and locked up once again.

Peter's escape from prison and the difficulty he had in entering the house of Mary can be found in Acts 12:3-19.

This was actually Peter's second jailbreak. The first one is reported in Acts 5:17-29. The fifth chapter of Acts tells of Peter being jailed with other apostles for preaching the news of a resurrected Jesus Christ. However, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, enabling Peter and the other apostles to escape. As per instructions from the angel, the jail-breakers went back to the temple and continued to preach the Gospel message.