Can You Get an “A” on This Bible Spelling Test?

By: Tasha Moore
Image: rmfox / E+ / Getty Images

About This Quiz

You've put it off long enough! Here, you get to conquer those difficult biblical names of ancient people, places and things. Zero in on the hard-to-read words that you often skip over when flipping through the Good Book.

Pronouncing names like Onesiphorus, Rabshakeh and Ephratah will take some practice, so if ever you wince over terms such as these while reading scriptures, why not double back and attempt to loop your tongue around those difficult syllables? This Bible spelling test should grant added incentive for the chore. By the end of this challenge, your brand new contextual knowledge of these entities will come in handy.

Seldom were tough and testy terms revealed in the Bible without elucidation. In the Old Testament especially, God instructed believers to give children names that connoted God's perception of the people at the moment or his aspirations for them. For example, when the children of Israel fell out of God's favor, as they so often did, God told Hosea that his child should be called Lo-Ruhamah, because God decided to rescind the mercy he had once bestowed upon the people. Hosea and Gomer's daughter was a human reminder that the people needed to get their holy act together in order to fall back in God's good graces.

Other meaningful names await your scrutiny on this spelling exercise. Perfect your spelling and heighten your understanding!

Gospels Mark and Matthew spell the name differently. How do you spell it?

Mark 5:1 refers to this place as "the country of the Gadarenes," while Matthew 8:28 calls the location "the country of the Gergesenes." According to Matthew's account, Jesus cleansed two men who were possessed of devils in Gergesenes.

Jesus and his disciples needed to cross a sea in order to get there. What is the correct spelling?

Gennesaret is taken from Matthew 14:34, which describes how Jesus and his disciples had "gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret." They did so after Jesus had commanded that his disciples cross over the Sea of Galilee.

Who urges a rebellion in 2 Kings?

In 2 Kings 18:28 the Rabshakeh, or "chief of the officers," speaks directly to the people instead of Hezekiah's officials, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria." In subsequent verses, the people are encouraged to rise up against King Hezekiah.

There are at least five references to ________ in the Old Testament; one is of the fourth king of Judah?

In 1 Kings 22:4, Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah. The name also references the son of Ahilud, who was King David's recorder in 2 Samuel 8:16. The son of Paruah in 1 Kings 4:17 and the son of Nimshi in 2 Kings 9:2 go by the name, and Joel 3:2 identifies a "valley of Jehoshaphat."

A king of Babylon set whom free in the book of Jeremiah?

Jeremiah 52 explains how "Evil-merodach king of Babylon...lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah," releasing him after 37 years of captivity. Jehoiachin was granted a seat of honor "above the throne of the kings...in Babylon," according to Jeremiah 52:32.

He is related to Jesus, according to Matthew, though his name is spelled differently in the gospel. Does this hint help you to choose the right answer?

According to Ezra 5:2, Zerubbabel was the "son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua [or Joshua] the son of Jozadak." He is also listed in the genealogy of Jesus as "Zorobabel" in Matthew 1:13 of the New Testament.

The Israelites' recalcitrance inspired the descriptor of ________?

Numbers informs how God provided quail meat after the children of Israel had complained. Numbers 32 confirms that "the people stood up all that day, and...night, and all the next day" gathering quail which angered God, who named that place Kibroth-Hattaavah, meaning "graves of lustful craving."

Identify the spelling of the biblical woman who corrected Moses's mistake.

In Exodus 4, Zipporah, first wife of Moses, corrects her husband's error of failing to uphold the covenant of circumcision. She "took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at [Moses's] feet," according to Exodus 4:25.

Pedahzur's son and Apostle Paul's teacher shared what name?

The name Gamaliel is attributed to two biblical figures. Act 22:3 mentions Gamaliel, who was a Pharisee and Apostle Paul's teacher. Another Gamaliel figure was the "son of Pedahzur," according to Numbers 1:10.

Do you notice prophet Daniel's other name?

The Babylonians gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, according to Daniel 1: "Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar." Daniel was among those whom the Babylonians had taken into captivity.

How well do you understand the natural disturbance that threw Apostle Paul off course?

Euroclydon is a term only found in the New Testament book of Acts, where it is described as "a tempestuous wind." The mighty wind arose from the island of Crete, which was south of where Apostle Paul had been sailing.

Have you figured out the heavy sleeper who was brought back to life?

Acts tells the story of Eutychus, who went to sleep and fell out of a window to his death while listening to Apostle Paul preach. Acts 20:10 confirms that "Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, 'Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.'" Paul brought Eutychus back to life.

It was one of many territories that God gave Judah. What is the exact name?

The book of Joshua recounts how the Israelites settled in Canaan after Joshua defeated the Canaanites. Judah seized more than one hundred cities, as mentioned in Joshua 15, including the lowland city of En-Gannim.

The name ________ refers to a burial ground, a birthplace and a biblical wife?

Rachel was buried in "Ephrath" according to Genesis 35. "Ephrath" is the name of Caleb's second wife in 1 Chronicles 2:19, and the ancient name of Bethlehem, specified in Micah 5:2 as "Bethlehem Ephratah."

The last chapter in ________ is a lyrical poem.

Habakkuk 3:1 specifies the name of chapter three: "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet." Habakkuk's book is the eighth book of the minor prophets. The prophet's response to God's judgment comprises Habakkuk 3:2-19, which is in lyrical form.

Is it difficult for you to recognize the biblical figure who captured prominent Jews as spoils of war?

Also spelled "Nebuchadrezzar" in Jeremiah 21:2, Nebuchadnezzar is so-spelled in 2 Kings 24:1, which describes him as "king of Babylon." The son of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar captured the Jews after defeating Jerusalem.

What is the name of the children of Israel's fifth cycle of movement?

Hor-Hagidgad is the name of an Israelite wilderness camp. Numbers 33 indicates that the people "removed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at Hor-Hagidgad." Early on in the chapter, Moses begins recording their journeys; Hor-Hagidgad was the fifth trip.

Do you know the name of a Philistine giant and enemy of David?

According to 2 Samuel 21, David's nephew Abishai "succoured [Ishbi-Benob]...and killed him." Ishbi-Benob "was of the sons of the giant" who carried a spear that "weighed three hundred shekels," which roughly equals seven and a half pounds.

The name ________ symbolized a major reversal.

Lo-Ruhamah was Hosea's daughter, whom God instructed Hosea to so-name because God no longer "[had] mercy upon the house of Israel." The name Lo-Ruhamah symbolizes the reversal of God's love that God explicitly had expressed for Israel in Deuteronomy 7.

Jair "took" this and other small towns. Have you figured out the spelling?

As stated in Joshua 12:5, the children of Israel did not expel the Maachathites, but dwelled with them. Deuteronomy 3:14 documents that Maachathi is of the Bashan region. Deuteronomy and Numbers 32 explain how Jair, "the son of Manasseh," seized this and other settlements.

Where were Abraham and Sarah buried?

Referenced in Genesis 23, Machpelah is the plot of land that Abraham purchased as a burial site for Sarah. Years later, Abraham was buried in the same cave at the time of his passing, according to Genesis 25:10: "The field which Abraham purchased...there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife."

According to biblical scholars, it means "a place of shepherds." What is its name?

In Joshua 10:10, God routed kings of the Amorites "and slew them...and chased them...and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah." Makkedah was the final battle stage for the enemy troops that rose up against Israel.

Identify the correct Euphrates city:

Second Chronicles 35:20 mentions Carchemish, which was an ancient city positioned at the upper reaches of the Euphrates River. King Necho of Egypt assembled a large army to war against the city, "and Josiah went out against him."

God delivered Jerusalem from whose assault?

Second Chronicles 32 details how during the reign of Hezekiah, "Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself." Second Kings 19:36 proves that the Assyrian king later retreated, "went and returned...at Nineveh."

Disobedience allowed whom to capture Israel?

Of the five Assyrian kings with the name Shalmaneser, one figure is named in the Bible, specifically in 2 Kings: "Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it." God allowed Israel to be carried "away...unto Assyria...because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God."

Choose the body of water that flows from the Taurus Mountains.

Scholars identify Hiddekel as the Hebrew word for the Tigris River of Mesopotamia. This 1,150-mile river springs from Armenia's Taurus Mountains and is included among several waterways that irrigated the garden of Eden, according to Genesis 2:14.

At least one Old Testament figure with the label ________ was a ruler.

Second Kings offers a tale of Zedekiah, one of five Old Testament male entities of the same name. The Zedekiah of 2 Kings was Josiah's son and the last king of Judah whose rulership signaled the end of Judah as a sovereign nation.

Is it difficult for you to identify the son of Saul?

Second Samuel 2 confirms that Ishbosheth was Saul's fourth son. His name was changed from "Eshbaal." Ishbosheth reigned over Israel for two years before he was slain by two of his captains.

One figure who went by the name ultimately divorced his pagan wife. What's the correct spelling?

In 2 Kings 25, Gedaliah is whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed as governor of Judah. Gedaliah referenced in Ezra 10:18 was "among the sons of the priests ...that had taken strange wives."

Whose former name was "Merib-Baal"?

The Mephibosheth of 2 Samuel 9:6 was Saul's grandson and Jonathan's son. Merib-Baal is also a name that this biblical figure went by, but he took the name Mephibosheth since Baal was associated with idol worship.

Name the Old Testament figure who lived a long life.

Methuselah was Enoch's son and Noah's grandfather; he is also of Jesus's lineage, as confirmed in Luke 3:37 where he is referred to as "Mathusala." Methuselah lived longer than any other biblical figure.

Choose the name of a duke and a wife:

Genesis 36:2 lists Aholibamah as one of Esau's three wives: "Esau took his wives...Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah...and Bashemath..." Aholibamah also refers to an Edomite duke in Genesis 36:41.

At least one of the men with the name ________ was a Gittite.

Obed-edom is the name of several Old Testament men. Second Samuel 6:10 presents a Gittite with the name, while Obed-edom in 1 Chronicles 15:18 is a Levite who assisted with the transport of the ark to Jerusalem.

There are cities with the name. Can you figure out the correct answer?

There are at least three cities in the Old Testament with the name Beth-Shemesh. In Joshua 19:22, Beth-Shemesh is referred to as a city in Issachar positioned between the Jordan River and Mount Tabor.

Both Old Testament men named ________ assisted David.

Ahimelech was a Hittite and David's friend when David took cover in the wilderness from King Saul, according to 1 Samuel 26:6. In 1 Samuel 22, the name indicates a high priest at Nob who assisted David during his escape from Saul.

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