Bible People With Funny Sounding Names Trivia Game | Religion

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Some names in the Bible are out of the ordinary and funny sounding, at least to many English speaking people in today's world of space travel and social media. Take Bukki, for example. That's a name I suspect most people will never come across. Yet, there are two men in the Old Testament who share such a name. One of them was the son of Jogli who was a chief of the tribe of Dan. According to Scripture, what role did Bukki, the son of Jogli, play in the Bible? (Numbers 34:22)

Answer: Appointed to help divide the land of Canaan

Bukki, according to Numbers 34:22, was one of the ten men appointed to divide the land of Canaan between the tribes of Israel. As stated in the question, he was the son of Jogli and a chief of the tribe of Dan. However, not much is known about him as he doesn't get a lot of coverage in the Old Testament.

There is a second Bukki in the Bible. According to Scripture, the second Bukki was a high priest who was the father of Uzzi and the son of Abishua.

According to the Website Biblical-Baby-Names.com, the name Bukki means 'wasting' and is pronounced 'book-kee'.

When I hear the name Bukki, I am sometimes reminded of the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. Rather than hearing him shout 'Me Want Cookie', I imagine him saying 'Me Want Bukki!'

2. Dodo is definitely not a name I would want to give to a child. Yet, there are three different men in the Old Testament who shared the name. Out of the four descriptions below, three of them describe the Biblical characters Dodo and one does not. What choice DOES NOT match with the name Dodo?

Answer: A servant for Elisha

Out of the three men called Dodo in the Bible, none served as a servant for Elisha.

The first man called Dodo was a descendant of Issachar, as per Judges 10:1.
The second man called Dodo was an Ahohite, the father of Eleazar, who was one of "three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated," as per 2 Samuel 23:9 and 1 Chronicles 11:12.
The third Dodo was from Bethlehem, the father of Elhanan, who was one of David's thirty Mighty Men, as per 2 Samuel 23:24.

There is no documentation in Scripture of Dodo serving as a servant for Elisha, a prophet of God. As pr 2 Kings 5:20, Gehazi was Elisha's servant.

While Dodo is a funny sounding name to most ears in the English world, it actually means 'father's brother', or 'uncle', according to Wikipedia.

Fortunately, in the English world, the name Dodo has gone the way of the dodo bird. In other words, it is extinct.

3. Our third question involves a name with, wouldn't you know it, three letters. The name is none other than Ehi, as mentioned in Genesis 46:21. Out of the four descriptions below, what one applies to Ehi?

Answer: Third son of Benjamin

Ehi was the third son of Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob.

In addition to having a funny-sounding name with three letters, the man had three different names. In addition to Ehi, he is called Ahahrah in 1 Chronicles 8:1 and Ahiram in Numbers 26:38.

However, little is known about Ehi/Ahahrah/Ahiram as he is mentioned in passing reference.

According to Wikipedia, Ehi means 'my brother'.

When I hear the name Ehi, I am somehow reminded of a cowboy in the Wild West of the United States and Canada exclaiming 'Yeehaw!'

4. The next person we move on to is called Pallu. According to Wikipedia, Pallu can mean 'marvellous' and 'hidden'. Who was Pallu? (Genesis 46:9)

Answer: The son of Reuben

According to Genesis 46:9, Pallu was a son of Reuben. However, not much is known about him as he is mentioned in passing reference. According to Numbers 26:8, the son of Pallu was Eliab. Numbers 26:5 goes on to state descendants of Pallu were known as Palluites.

Wikipedia reports that, in addition to being a Biblical name, pallu can mean the loose end of a sari.

When I hear the name Pallu, I am sometimes reminded of Robin Williams when he starred on the television series 'Mork and Mindy' in the late '70s and early '80s. Rather than hear Williams say 'Nanu, Nanu', I picture him saying 'Pallu, Pallu'.

5. 1 Samuel 4:19-22 tells of the wife of Phineas dying while giving birth to a son, just after the Philistines captured the Ark of God. What was the name she gave the son just before she died?

Answer: Ichabod

To answer this question correctly, one doesn't have to possess any Biblical knowledge. All one needs is the ability to pick out a funny sounding name and in this case, the obvious choice, in my opinion at least, is Ichabod.

The name of Phineas' wife who died giving birth to Ichabod is not given in Scripture. After the deaths of her husband Phineas, along with her father-in-law Eli and brother-in-law Hophni as well as the capture of the Ark of God by the Philistines, the woman went into labor. 1 Samuel 4:21-22, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, 'The glory has departed from Israel!' because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, 'The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured'."

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Ichabod means 'inglorious'.

I suspect if someone had the name Ichabod today, they would quickly earn the nickname Ich, which is even more unpalatable than Ichabod.

6. Another funny sounding name, at least to my ears, is Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. According to 2 Samuel 4:4, Mephibosheth suffered from a handicap. Out of the four choices below, what was the handicap?

Answer: Lame in his feet

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, and Scripture reports he was "lame in his feet." David and Mephibosheth's father were the best of friends. This, even though Jonathan's father Saul devoted much of his latter life trying to kill David. 2 Samuel 9:7 states that David restored to Mephibosheth all the land that once belonged to his grandfather Saul and he ensured he would "always" dine at his table with him.

According to Wikipedia, Mephibosheth means 'out of my mouth proceeds reproach', and 'dispeller of shame'.

I suspect if a person today had the name Mephibsoheth, he would quickly earn the nickname 'Meth', short for methamphetamine, an illegal and addictive street drug.

7. No quiz about funny sounding names in the Bible would be complete without the name Nimrod. He's a character mentioned in Genesis 10:9. What does his name mean?

Answer: Mighty hunter

According to Scripture, the father of Nimrod was Cush. Nimrod was also a grandson of Ham and a great-grandson of Noah. Genesis 10:9 describes him as "a mighty hunter before the LORD". According to Wikipedia, tradition has it Nimrod was the leader of the group of people who built the Tower of Babel.

A friend of mine states he actually once knew a person with the first name Nimrod. The person, however, preferred to be called Rod. I wonder why?

8. Without question, one of the funniest-sounding names in the entire Bible has to be Zelophehad. Using the New King James Version of the Bible, his name appears no less than eleven times in Scripture. Out of the four choices below, with which cause is Zelophehad indirectly connected? (Numbers 27:1-7)

Answer: Women's rights

Zelophehad indirectly is connected with women's rights. According to Scripture, Zelophehad had five daughters and no sons and when he died they were left without an inheritance to land. Numbers 27:2 tells of the daughters making their case before Moses, Eleazar the priest and "the leaders of the whole assembly.

Verses 3 and 4 in the NKJV quote the women as saying: "'Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers.'"

Verses 6 to 11 tell of Moses taking the case before God with the LORD telling Moses the women had a valid point.

"'The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right,' the LORD is quoted as telling Moses. 'You shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them."

According to Numbers 27:1, the daughter's names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.

According to Wikipedia, Zelophehad means 'the shade or tingling of fear'.

9. Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, has a name that remains incredibly popular thousands of years later. However, after Joseph ascended to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, he was given a new name -- Zaphenath-Paneah. Who gave Joseph the new name? (Genesis 41:45)

Answer: The Pharaoh

Joseph was given the name Zaphenath-Paneah, by the Pharaoh, as per Genesis 41:45. According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Zaphenath-Paneah probably means 'The God Speaks and Lives'. Genesis 41:45 also states Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Phera, priest of On, became Joseph's wife. According to verse 46, Joseph was 30 years old at the time.

In case anyone is interested, Zaphenath-Paneah contains fifteen letters and one hyphen.

10. And finally, at eighteen-letters and three hyphens, the longest name in the Bible is Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. In what book in the Old Testament do you find the funny-sounding name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz?

Answer: Isaiah

The name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz appears in Isaiah 8:1 and notes in the NKJV Study Bible state the name means "Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty." (In the KJV, the name appears as Mahershalalhashbaz.)

The Website Christiananswers.net has this to say about the highly unusual name: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz -- "A name Isaiah was commanded first to write in large characters on a tablet, and afterwards to give as a symbolical name to a son that was to be born to him (Isaiah 8:1, 3), as denoting the sudden attack on Damascus and Syria by the Assyrian army."

Isaiah 8:1-4 states: "Moreover the LORD said to me, 'Take a large scroll, and write on it with a man's pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.' Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, 'Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria."

Source: Author Cowrofl

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Bible People With Funny Sounding Names Quiz

This quiz takes a look at ten Bible characters who have funny sounding names, at least in the case of my ears accustomed to 21st century English. How many of the characters can you identify? (The NKJV and NIV were used for this quiz.)

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