Image: JoeLena / E+ / Getty Images
About This Quiz
The people of the Bible lived in a much different world than our own. There was no modern technology: no cars, computers, machines, et cetera. Knowledge of science was limited. Medicine was primitive. Lepers were turned away by society. People who might have had mental illnesses were thought to be possessed by evil spirits. Many people lived simple lives as farmers or shepherds.Â
Given this type of environment, it makes sense that many biblical stories revolve around basic things like clothes, food, animals and natural objects. These are the objects that biblical people would be most familiar with. Often, a simple object comes to represent much more than it appears to be. For instance, the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, often portrayed as an apple, becomes a symbol of illicit pleasure, because it's the one thing that Adam and Eve are told not to eat. But, thanks to human nature, they go ahead and eat it anyway.Â
Because of its length and complexity, we'll be impressed if you can name more than 11 of these things from the Bible. To everything there is a season, and now is the season to rock this quiz!
Adam's rib
After deciding that Adam should not be alone, God takes one of Adam's ribs and uses it to create Eve. She is to be Adam's helper and companion — and, in a way, his partner in crime!
Dust
A tree
An apple
Advertisement
A demon
A worm
A serpent
The Bible calls the serpent a clever animal, and indeed it manipulates Eve into tasting the fruit from the tree of knowledge. After that, she and Adam can no longer stay in Eden, their paradise.
A fox
Advertisement
A temple
An ark
Fed up with humanity's wickedness, God decides to flood the earth, sparing no one except Noah, his family and two of each animal. So he tells Noah to get to work building a giant ark, or ship.
A fortress
A moat
Advertisement
A flock of sheep
A gold cup
A silver crown
A colorful coat
Jacob gives his favorite son, Joseph, an ornate, colorful coat, which makes Joseph's brothers crazy with jealousy! Who knew an amazing technicolor dream coat could cause so much trouble?
Advertisement
Stalks of corn
Sheaves of grain
Joseph dreams that his brothers' sheaves of grain bow down to his sheaf of grain. When he shares this dream with his brothers, they naturally don't take it well and begin to plot against him.
Camels
Sheep
Advertisement
A giant clay pot
Solomon's temple
The Ark of the Covenant
The Book of Exodus describes how God gives Moses specific instructions on how to construct the Ark of the Covenant in which to keep the 10 Commandments. Moses makes it out of shittim wood and covers it in gold.
A cave in Mount Sinai
Advertisement
His tunic
His robe
His hat
His sandals
Moses is tending his flock when he first encounters God. Before God tells Moses about his mission to free the Israelites, he commands Moses to take off his sandals. He's standing on holy ground, after all!
Advertisement
A burning bush
Moses notices that while the bush is on fire, the fire is not consuming it. Then the Lord calls to Moses and tells him that he has been chosen to lead God's people out of slavery.
A shepherd's crook
A raging river
A gust of wind
Advertisement
A rock
A staff
God reassures Moses that he will be able to show signs of God's power to the Egyptians, to convince them to free the Israelites. For instance, Moses can throw down his staff, and it will become a snake.
A bread roll
A papyrus roll
Advertisement
Silver
Rubies
Jade
Frankincense
No, they couldn't bring the baby Jesus a box of diapers, but they brought gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The last two are resins taken from a tree and used in perfumes.
Advertisement
A tree
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits Jericho, where Zacchaeus longs to see him. Because he is short, he climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus. To his and everyone else's surprise, Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus' house.
A ladder
A mountain
A balcony
Advertisement
A glass elevator
A floating sailboat
A chariot of fire
God sends a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire to collect Elijah and bring him to heaven. Elisha witnesses this event and takes Elijah's cloak, thereby gaining Elijah's powers.
A tornado
Advertisement
Brick
Stick
Fruit
Stone
Pharisees bring a woman guilty of adultery before Jesus, asking if they should stone her. Jesus says that the person who is without sin should throw the first stone. Everyone walks away.
Advertisement
A bassinet
A manger
Because there's no room in the inn when they arrive in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph stay in a stable, where Mary gives birth. She lays Jesus in a manger, which is a feeding trough for the animals.
A basket of reeds
A field of clover
Advertisement
A lion's den
The Garden of Eden
The belly of a fish
Rather than preach in Nineveh, Jonah tries to flee on a ship. But God sends a great storm and Jonah ends up in the sea, where he's swallowed by a big fish. Lucky for him, the fish spits him out after three days.
A nest of vipers
Advertisement
Honey
Rice
Corn
Manna
If the Israelites are going to wander the desert for 40 years, they'll need some food! The Lord provides something edible in the form of manna, which comes each morning with the dew.
Advertisement
A golden ox
A goose
A pillar of salt
Lot and his family must flee Sodom before God destroys it for its wickedness. Lot's wife disobeys God's warning not to look back, and she's turned into a pillar of salt as a consequence.
A pile of ash
Advertisement
A spear
A slingshot
No one thinks the young shepherd boy, David, has a chance against the giant Philistine warrior, Goliath. But with God's help, David strikes Goliath in the temple with a shot from his slingshot and kills the foe.
A bow and arrow
A donkey's jawbone
Advertisement
Money
Jewelry
Clothes
Jesus is led to Golgotha, "the place of the skull," to be executed. After crucifying him, the soldiers gamble for his clothes. They also put a sign on his cross that says "King of the Jews."
Staff
Advertisement
A falcon
An angel
A lamb
A calf
With Moses up on the mountain for 40 days, the Israelites get anxious and decide to make an idol to worship. So they collect all their jewelry, melt it down and form a golden calf. Moses is not pleased.
Advertisement
Stone tablets
God sent Moses down the mountain with the stone tablets, but when Moses saw the Israelites worshiping an idol, he broke the tablets in anger. Hey, there's a commandment against worshiping other gods!
Pieces of pottery
Tapestries
Spinning orbs
Advertisement
A bag of gold
Frankincense and myrrh
The crown
30 pieces of silver
Judas agrees to turn over Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. After Jesus is arrested, Judas is filled with remorse and tries to return the money. But it's too late; the wheels have been set in motion.
Advertisement
Tar
Mud
Jesus tells his disciples that the blind man was not born blind through any sin, but so that God can show his powers. He then mixes dirt and saliva to make mud, rubs it on the man's eyes and gives him sight.
Perfume
Wine
Advertisement
Boils
Hail
Frogs
When Pharaoh refuses to let the enslaved Israelites go, God sends a plague of frogs on Egypt. Thousands of frogs come out of the Nile and swarm over the people. Sounds like God has a jump on the Egyptians!
Locusts
Advertisement
Doorposts
The last of the 10 plagues of Egypt is the death of the firstborns. Moses tells the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and put the lamb's blood on their doorposts, so the Lord will pass over their homes.
Windows
Floors
Chimneys
Advertisement
Gold
Silver
Brass
Clay
Nebuchadnezzar dreams of an idol with a gold head, silver arms, brass body, iron legs and clay feet. Daniel interprets the dream to mean that the Babylonian empire will fall due to this weak clay.
Advertisement
Grain of sand
Baby sparrow
Mustard seed
Jesus often uses parables to teach lessons. In this case, he describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a mustard seed, which starts out smaller than other seeds but grows into a great tree.
Gold coin
Advertisement
A camel
A gold cup
A pair of sandals
A silver coin
In the parable of the lost coin, a woman with 10 coins searches the entire house when she loses one. When she finds it, she rejoices with all her friends. The lost coin represents a sinner who comes back to God.
Advertisement
Jail
A lion's den
Babylonian ruler Darius reluctantly throws Daniel into the lion's den for breaking a law by praying to God. But Daniel's faith in God prompts an angel to seal the lions' mouths shut.
A fiery furnace
A sea full of sharks
Advertisement
Blood
In the first demonstration of his might, God has Aaron hold his staff out over the river and turns all the water into blood. The Egyptians can't drink it, and all the fish die.
Wine
Mud
Milk
Advertisement
The Tower of Babel crumbling
A golden idol melting
A hand writing on the wall
The arrogant king has a party with cups from the Lord's temple. He then sees the "writing on the wall." Daniel informs him that the message means he will soon lose his kingdom — and he does.
A cup tipping over
Advertisement
A piece of bread
A knife
A lamp
In one of his parables, Jesus explains that no one would place a lamp under a bushel, or bowl. In the same way, people who have the light of Jesus' message should not try to conceal it, but let it shine.
A bottle of perfume
Advertisement
A yoke
A heavy necklace
A collar
A millstone
A millstone is a heavy rock used to crush grain. If a person has a millstone hung around their neck and goes for a swim, they will drown. Jesus says this is an apt punishment for someone who harms a child.
Advertisement
A mouse
A rotten egg
A stinkbug
A dead fly
The well-known expression "fly in the ointment" comes from this Bible verse. Just as a dead fly will stink up an aromatic ointment, so will people's folly overpower their wisdom and honor.
Advertisement
Light
Genesis shares the creation story. In the beginning, there is only darkness until God says, "Let there be light." Therefore, he creates light and dark and assigns them to day and night.
Life
Man
Creation
Advertisement
Jackals
Demons
Hornets
Wolves
Jesus warns his followers of false prophets, who are like ferocious wolves disguised as harmless lambs. The biblical expression "a wolf in sheep's clothing" is used to describe an enemy in disguise.
Advertisement
The stars
The sun
The Book of Ecclesiastes presents the philosophical musings of a king of Jerusalem. In the first chapter, he proclaims that people's actions are meaningless because everyone dies in the end.
The moon
The earth
Advertisement
A column of fire
A map
A star
As the Book of Matthew explains, the Magi follow a star to find baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They do not tell King Herod where to find Jesus because God warns them in a dream that Herod means him harm.
A cloud of smoke
Advertisement
A beam of light
A dove
Jesus asks his cousin John the Baptist to baptize him. John thinks that Jesus should baptize him instead, but Jesus insists. Then the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove.
An angel
A lamb
Advertisement
Drums
Trumpet
Harp
Saul is plagued by an "evil spirit," so he seeks someone to play the harp for him. David fulfills the job nicely, and his harp playing helps soothe Saul when he's feeling troubled.
Lute
Advertisement
You Got:
/40
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
