Can You Score More Than 24/30 on This Tricky Bible Literacy Test?

By: Isadora Teich
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Can You Score More Than 24/30 on This Tricky Bible Literacy Test?
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About This Quiz

Are your bible literacy skills godly? Throughout history, empires have been built on and fallen with the works of the Bible in hand. From ancient kingdoms to modern royalty, many were expected to be loyal to the God of the Old and New Testament. The Bible tells the mythic tales that explain our creation, the beginning of civilization and the salvation of mankind, and has countless fascinating characters and is jam-packed with earth-shattering events, but how well do you know them?   

The Bible is a dense work, with many translations conveying different things. The language used is often archaic, or very old school. This has resulted in many modern readers being unable to figure out how to grasp its meaning. To this day, experts and scholars still debate the stories of the Bible, like they have been doing for centuries. These works were written by many different people over many years, with different aims and agendas, who often contradict each other. With all of this in mind, it is not surprising that modern readers can often find the Bible a tricky read to fully grasp. 

If you are confident in your Bible knowledge, put your biblical literacy to the test with this quiz!  

Who betrayed Jesus?
Judas
While Judas is known for his betrayal of Jesus by sending him to his death in exchange for silver, some doubt if this was an actual betrayal. In Christian mythology, the sacrifice of Jesus is necessary for the salvation of mankind, which would not have happened without Judas.
Gad
Ahab
Job

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Who was the only female follower of Jesus?
Ruth
Deborah
Jael
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was the only female follower of Jesus. She traveled with him and is mentioned more throughout the Gospels than most of his other followers.

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Who cut Samson's hair, the source of his strength?
Delilah
Delilah was a Philistine courtesan who seduced Samson and betrayed him for silver. Her name means "dainty one."
Jacob
Jezebel
Sarah

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How many apostles did Jesus have originally?
1
6
12
Jesus had 12 apostles originally. They were Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Batholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Jude, Simon and Judas.
17

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How did Jesus turn 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish into enough food for 5000 people?
magic
prayer
After teaching a group of people in the mountains all day, the people were hungry and there was little food to go around. Jesus prayed over the little that they had, and God made it enough to feed everyone.
haggling
imagination

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Which of these miracles did Jesus perform himself?
parted the Red Sea
flight
walking on water
One of Jesus's most famous miracles is being able to walk on water. He does it in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John.
immaculate conception through prayer

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Does Satan kill anyone in the Old Testament?
yes
no
Satan is only mentioned as a general adversarial title a few times throughout the Old Testament. He only takes direct action as a character once in the "Book of Job," where he makes the observation that Job might only be faithful to God because God had blessed him with such material wealth.

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Which of these men was a king of Israel?
Jacob
Solomon
Solomon was known for his wisdom and wealth. He was the third and final king of united Israel.
Adam
Thomas

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What did David use to defeat Goliath in battle?
a rifle
a bow and arrow
his hands only
a slingshot
The people of Israel were fighting the Philistines when a giant Philistine named Goliath mocked God and the Israelites. Even though he was a young boy, David defended his god and people with a slingshot, killing Goliath.

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Who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt?
Moses
Moses, along with his brother Aaron and sister Miriam, led the Israelites out of centuries of slavery in Egypt. God spoke to Moses and told him to lead them to the promised land.
Jesus
Isaac
Benjamin

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Thomas the Apostle is known as "Doubting Thomas" because he doubted _____________.
Jesus' ressurection
When told of Jesus's resurrection, he doubted it. Thomas is also considered the patron saint of India, as according to tradition he traveled there and baptized people, founding the Saint Thomas Christians of India.
God's love
the death of Jesus
the emperor of Rome

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What did God create on the seventh day?
woman
birds
water
nothing
God created everything in 6 days, but nothing on the 7th day. On that day, he rested.

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What was so miraculous about Mary's pregnancy?
She was barren.
She was a virgin.
An angel came to Mary and told her that she would give birth, even though she was a virgin. This baby was Jesus.
She was an old woman.
She gave birth to twins.

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Which of these ailments did Jesus heal?
cancer
paralysis
A group of friends lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof of a crowded house Jesus was preaching in, in hopes that Jesus would heal him. Jesus told the man to get up and walk out of the house, and he did.
plague
tuberculosis

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Jesus's story of the Prodigal Son is the story of a man who does what?
leaves home
The man in this story steals his father's money and moves to a foreign land with it, only to use it all up and end up working on a farm eating food with pigs. He realizes that even the servants at his father's house are treated better and returns, where he is forgiven by his father.
becomes free from slavery
finds God
cheats death

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Jesus is often called ________ throughout the New Testament.
the patriarch
teacher
Many characters within the Old Testament refer to Jesus as teacher. This is because as well as performing miracles, he taught large groups and individuals through stories and by example.
scholar
the sun

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Who is known as one of the wickedest women in the Bible?
Sarah
Deborah
Jezebel
Jezebel was the strong-willed wife of King Ahab of Northern Israel, who was notoriously weak. She persecuted worshippers of God, schemed and was known as a corrupt queen.
Rachel

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Why did God choose to flood the earth and kill almost everything he had created in Genesis 6-9?
He got tired of it.
People forgot about him.
Many years after creation, the people God had created forgot about him and were living wickedly in his eyes, so he decided to start over. He selected Noah, his family, and a pair of every animal to survive, but killed everything else.
to fulfill a prophecy
Satan tricked him.

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What did King Solomon ask for from God to help him rule Israel?
riches
weapons
wisdom
Solomon asks God for the wisdom to rule his people justly and know good from evil. God is pleased by this and offers Solomon "more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had or will have again."
love

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What carried Jonah back to Nineveh when he tried to sail to Spain to escape God's plan for him?
a bird of paradise
a pirate ship
a large fish
Jonah was told to go and preach at Nineveh, and give them a warning as a wicked city on the verge of destruction. Jonah did not want to do it and tried to escape on a boat to Spain, only to be stopped by a storm of God, thrown into the sea and carried back to land by a large fish.
the wind

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What did God create on day one?
man
animals
the stars
light and darkness
According to the Bible, God created the earth in 6 days. On day one he gave rough form to creation and made light and darkness.

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Which biblical character had prophetic dreams?
Joseph
Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, who gave him the beautiful multicolored coat he is famous for. Joseph had prophetic dreams from an early age and eventually used them to become powerful and save his family even after his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Abraham
Judas
Thomas

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Which of these men was a son of King David?
Solomon
King David is a clever king who wrote many psalms and is favored by God. He fathered Solomon by Bathsheba, a woman whose husband he had killed to hide their affair.
Ahab
Levi
Elijah

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Who was the first person to die?
Adam
Esau
Jael
Abel
Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve. Jealous that his brother's sacrifice to God was more well-received than his, Cain killed Abel.

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What did Jesus cure Lazarus of?
blindness
death
Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead days after he had died. This is one of his miracles through God.
insanity
paralysis

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All people initially shared the same:
language
After seeing people come together to build the Tower of Babel, God felt that they might become too powerful if they continued working together. To prevent this, he scattered everyone around the globe and mixed up our languages.
king
religion
clothes

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Jesus said “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” In response to a group of men who wanted to punish a woman who had done what?
theft
black magic
prostitution
adultery
In John 8: 3-6 a group of men brings a woman before Jesus who has committed adultery, and ask if they should stone her to death as the Old Testament suggests. He says that only another person who has never committed a sin is fit to judge her and the others leave. Her life is spared.

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Who saved the Jewish people from mass murder in Persia?
Mary
Esther
Haman, a favorite of the Persian court, planned to use his influence to murder all of the Jews in Persia. Esther, chosen to be the next Queen of Persia due to her beauty, revealed her Jewish ancestry to the King and made him reverse the decree which would have had her people murdered.
The Queen of Sheba
Lot

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Which apostle replaced Judas after his betrayal?
Matthias
Matthias is venerated in Roman Catholicism and several other Christian denominations. He was not personally appointed by Jesus and not much is known about him.
Esau
Job
Peter

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The ___________ ruled Israel as it transitioned from a tribal society into a state.
angels
judges
The Judges were a series of 15 powerful rulers that fought to bring order to the chaos of pre-Israel society. They were Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Izban, Elon, Abdon, Samson, Eli and Samuel.
babylonians
demons

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Who was the first King of Israel?
Jonathan
Saul
Saul is a figure in both the Bible and the Koran. His kingship marks the change in Israel from a tribal society to a state.
David
Jehu

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Whose sons created the 12 tribes of Israel?
Jacob
Jacob had 12 sons who each founded a tribe of Israel. They were Joseph, Judah, Benjamin, Levi, Reuben, Simeon, Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, Naphtali, Gad and Dan.
Jesus
Abraham
Judas

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Crowds did what after Jesus was crucified?
tried to save him
wept
insulted him
Crowds yelled a number of cruel things at Jesus. They said things like: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself!"
ran away

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How many plagues did God rain down on Egypt?
3
7
10
God rained 10 plagues down on Egypt in order to free the Israelites. These were water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, diseased livestock, boils, fiery hail, locusts, darkness and the deaths of all the firstborn of Egypt.
15

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All people are descended from who?
Adam
Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. All people are descended from them.
John
Abraham
Joseph

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You Got:
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