Nine out of Ten: Old Testament Trivia -- #8 Quiz

Answer: Adonijah

Adonijah is the correct answer. While David was advanced in years, Adonijah set himself up as king. However, Bathsheba, David's most famous wife, and mother of Solomon, thwarted Adonijah's scheme and Solomon became king, as per David's plans. In 1 Kings 2:25, Solomon instructs Benaiah to kill Adonijah, and so ends the story of a would-be king.

Answer: Haman

It was a classic case of "what goes around, comes around." Haman, of course, had a diabolical plan to have all the Jews exterminated in the vast area ruled by the man who is known as King Ahasuerus in the NKJV Bible and King Xerxes in the NIV Bible.

He was thwarted in his attempt by Queen Esther and according to the seventh chapter of Esther, he ended up being hanged on the very gallows he had erected for the execution of Mordecai, the cousin of the queen.

Answer: Achan

The correct answer is Achan. According to the seventh chapter of Joshua, after Achan stole a large amount of booty, described as "accursed things", in the capture of Jericho, the LORD turned against the Israelites and they were defeated in battle at Ai. It's one of those long stories, but the Israelites invaded Jericho and were attempting to conquer Ai as it had been allocated to them as 'The Promised Land.'

Joshua 7:21, in the NKJV, tells of Achan making his confession of guilt to Joshua: "When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

After Achan made his confession, his fate was sealed.

Joshua 7:22-26 states: "So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.' So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day."

After the execution of Achan, Scripture goes on to tell of the Israelites successfully conquering Ai. In other words, it was a glorious victory after the devastating defeat.

The Web site Christiananswers.net reports Achan means "one who troubles."

Answer: Saul

Saul was the first king of Israel and although his reign started smoothly, it ended in chaos with Saul committing suicide.

According to the 31st chapter of 1 Samuel, Saul was critically injured in battle with the Philistines and pleaded with his armor bearer to kill him with a sword. 1 Samuel 31:4-6, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Then Saul said to his armorbearer, 'Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.' But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day."

Just prior to this incident, Saul's three sons -- Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua -- were killed in battle, as per 1 Samuel 31:2.

Answer: Uz

Job lived in the land of Uz, as per Job 1:1 in both the NKJV and the NIV. According to the Web site Christiananswers.net, Uz may have been named after Uz, the son of Aram, who settled the region. Uz is also mentioned in various other passages in the Old Testament, including Jeremiah 25:20 and Lamentations 4:21.

Answer: Er

Er is the correct answer. However, little in the way of details are given about the man and why he was put to death. He was the first-born son of Judah and his wife was Tamar. Genesis 38:6-7, in the NKJV, states: "Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him."

The 38th chapter of Genesis goes on to tell of Er's younger brother Onan being put to death by the LORD as well.

Answer: Rebekah

Rebekah is the correct answer. The account of her giving birth to twin boys (Esau and Jacob) is found in the 25th chapter of Genesis. According to Scripture, Esau became a skillful hunter while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.

According to Genesis 25:26, Isaac favored Esau while Rebekah favored Jacob.

Answer: Uzziah

Uzziah is the correct answer. Scripture states he became king at the tender age of 16 and started well. However, after Uzziah became powerful, his pride apparently led to his downfall. Similar to other kings, Uzziah was unfaithful to the LORD, Scripture states. He was afflicted with leprosy after he had an altercation with 80 priests of the LORD in the sanctuary of the temple of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 26:19-20, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the LORD had struck him."

Answer: Seventy

It might come as a surprise to some, but David was seventy years old when he died. 2 Samuel 5:4-5, in the NKJV, offers this information: "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."

Prior to his death, David was frail and in failing health, giving the impression he would've been older than seventy.

For example, the first chapter of 1 Kings, tells of David's servants coming up with a plan to find the top young woman in Israel to sleep with him simply to keep him warm.

1 Kings 1:1-4 tells what happened: "When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his attendants said to him, 'Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.' Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her."

Although David was seventy at the time of his death, notes in the NKJV Study Bible state "the long years of warfare had doubtlessly taken their toll."

The notes also have this to say about Abishag being used to keep David warm: "Using a healthy person's body warmth to care for a sick person is a medical procedure noted by the second century Greek physician Galen and the Jewish historian Josephus."

Answer: Ahasuerus

In the NIV Bible, King Ahasuerus is known as Xerxes. According to Esther 1:1, Ahasuerus/Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. The book of Esther begins with the account of the king making Esther his queen during the third year of his reign.

It would put things in motion for Esther to play a pivotal role in preventing the extermination of Jews in the immense area ruled by Ahasuerus/Xerxes.