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Bible Trivia Questions
Patriarchs, prophets, apostles and the order of the books, treated as literary and historical general knowledge. Play the round, then read every question and answer below.
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Bible questions turn up in almost every general quiz, because the text sits behind so much European literature, art and language. Treated as general knowledge, the material breaks into three parts: the narratives that most people half remember, the structure of the canon, and the history of how the text was written and translated.
This set covers both testaments in that spirit. The narrative questions ask who did what and where, without quoting the text. The structural questions cover the order and grouping of the books, which is the part people find hardest even when they know the stories well. The historical questions deal with original languages, ancient translations and manuscript discoveries. Nothing here asks about doctrine or interpretation, and the answers are the ones standard reference works give.
Genesis, Exodus and the law: bible trivia questions
Which book opens the Old Testament?
Answer: Genesis EasyIts name comes from a Greek word meaning origin or beginning.
Who is described as building an ark before a great flood?
Answer: Noah EasyThe account appears in the early chapters of Genesis.
Which garden is the setting of the opening story of Genesis?
Answer: The Garden of Eden EasyGethsemane appears much later, in the Gospel accounts.
Who led the Israelites out of Egypt according to the book of Exodus?
Answer: Moses EasyJoshua leads the people afterwards, into Canaan.
How many commandments are traditionally said to have been given to Moses on the mountain?
Answer: Ten EasyThey are listed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Which sea is parted in the Exodus account of the escape from Egypt?
Answer: The Red Sea EasyThe Hebrew phrase is often translated Sea of Reeds.
Which term is used for the first five books of the Bible?
Answer: The Pentateuch MediumIn Jewish tradition the same five books are called the Torah.
Which mountain is named in Exodus as the place where the law was given?
Answer: Mount Sinai MediumIt is also called Horeb in parts of the Hebrew Bible.
Who is named in Genesis as the father of Isaac?
Answer: Abraham MediumIsaac in turn is the father of Jacob.
How many sons of Jacob give their names to the tribes of Israel?
Answer: Twelve MediumJoseph's portion is usually counted through his two sons.
Judges, kings and prophets: bible trivia questions
Which young shepherd is said to have defeated the giant Goliath?
Answer: David EasyDavid later becomes king of Israel.
Which prophet is described as being swallowed by a great fish?
Answer: Jonah EasyThe book carrying his name is one of the shortest in the Old Testament.
Which strongman of the book of Judges is associated with Delilah?
Answer: Samson EasyHis strength is tied in the narrative to his uncut hair.
Which city's walls are described as falling in the book of Joshua?
Answer: Jericho EasyThe account follows seven days of marching around the city.
Which king is traditionally credited with building the first temple in Jerusalem?
Answer: Solomon MediumDavid is described as gathering materials but not building it.
Which prophet is described as being thrown into a den of lions?
Answer: Daniel MediumThe episode is set during the Babylonian and Persian period.
Which prophet is associated in the book of Kings with a contest on Mount Carmel?
Answer: Elijah HardElisha is his successor in the narrative.
Which empire is described in the Old Testament as taking the people of Judah into exile?
Answer: Babylon HardThe exile follows the fall of Jerusalem in the sixth century BC.
Which term describes the twelve shorter prophetic books at the end of the Old Testament?
Answer: The Minor Prophets HardThey are called minor for their length, not their importance.
Which Old Testament book records the return from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls?
Answer: Nehemiah HardIt is closely paired with the book of Ezra.
Jesus, the apostles and Paul: bible trivia questions
In which town do the Gospels of Matthew and Luke place the birth of Jesus?
Answer: Bethlehem EasyNazareth is where the Gospels say he grew up.
How many apostles did Jesus choose, according to the Gospels?
Answer: Twelve EasyThe number echoes the twelve tribes of Israel.
Which apostle is named in the Gospels as betraying Jesus?
Answer: Judas Iscariot EasyPeter is described as denying him rather than betraying him.
Which apostle is described in Acts as being converted on the road to Damascus?
Answer: Paul MediumHe is called Saul before the episode.
Which figure baptises Jesus in the Gospel accounts?
Answer: John the Baptist MediumThe Gospels place the baptism at the river Jordan.
Which Roman governor is named in the Gospels as presiding at the trial of Jesus?
Answer: Pontius Pilate HardFelix and Festus appear later, in the book of Acts.
Which letters of the New Testament are traditionally attributed to Paul?
Answer: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and others addressed to churches and individuals HardThe authorship of Hebrews is disputed and it is usually listed separately.
Books and structure: bible trivia questions
Which book of the New Testament comes first?
Answer: Matthew EasyMark is generally thought by scholars to have been written earliest, but Matthew is placed first.
Which four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels?
Answer: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John MediumActs follows John and is attributed to the same author as Luke.
Which book of the Bible comes last in the Christian canon?
Answer: Revelation MediumMalachi closes the Old Testament in Christian arrangements.
Which two books of the Old Testament are named after women?
Answer: Ruth and Esther MediumJudith appears in the Apocrypha rather than the Hebrew Bible.
Which book of the Bible is a collection of one hundred and fifty songs and poems?
Answer: Psalms MediumMany are traditionally attributed to David.
Which three Gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels?
Answer: Matthew, Mark and Luke HardThey share so much material that they can be set side by side.
Which book directly follows the four Gospels in the New Testament?
Answer: Acts of the Apostles HardIt narrates the spread of the early church after the Gospels close.
Which Old Testament book consists largely of a debate about undeserved suffering?
Answer: Job HardMost of the book is written as poetry between prose opening and closing sections.
Languages, translations and manuscripts: bible trivia questions
Which language was most of the Old Testament originally written in?
Answer: Hebrew MediumShort sections of Daniel and Ezra are in Aramaic.
Which language was the New Testament originally written in?
Answer: Greek MediumThe dialect is the common Koine Greek of the eastern Roman world.
Which Latin translation of the Bible was produced largely by Jerome in the fourth century?
Answer: The Vulgate HardThe Septuagint is the earlier Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
What is the Septuagint?
Answer: An ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures HardTradition connects it with seventy translators working in Alexandria.
Which English Bible translation was published in 1611 under a Stuart king?
Answer: The King James Version HardThe Geneva Bible was the leading English version before it.
Which name is given to the additional books included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not in the Hebrew Bible?
Answer: The Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books HardThey include Tobit, Judith and the books of Maccabees.
Which ancient manuscript find in the Judean desert included some of the oldest known biblical texts?
Answer: The Dead Sea Scrolls HardThey were discovered near Qumran from 1947 onwards.
Answer key
- Genesis
- Noah
- The Garden of Eden
- Moses
- David
- Ten
- Jonah
- Bethlehem
- Twelve
- Matthew
- Judas Iscariot
- The Red Sea
- Samson
- Jericho
- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
- The Pentateuch
- Revelation
- Solomon
- Ruth and Esther
- Mount Sinai
- Paul
- Psalms
- Daniel
- Abraham
- Twelve
- John the Baptist
- Hebrew
- Greek
- The Vulgate
- An ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures
- The King James Version
- Matthew, Mark and Luke
- Acts of the Apostles
- Elijah
- Babylon
- The Minor Prophets
- Pontius Pilate
- Job
- Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and others addressed to churches and individuals
- The Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books
- The Dead Sea Scrolls
- Nehemiah
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full bible list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
How many books are in the Protestant Bible, Old and New Testaments combined?
Answer: 66 books Thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New.
How many chapters does the book of Genesis have?
Answer: 50 chapters It ends with the death of Joseph in Egypt.
In what year were the first Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in caves near Qumran?
Answer: 1947 Bedouin shepherds found the first jars; further caves were explored into the 1950s.
Common mistakes in bible trivia
- Three wise men visited the infant Jesus.
Matthew's Gospel does not give a number. The tradition of three comes from the three gifts named: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
- Eve ate an apple in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis says only that they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. No species of fruit is named.
- Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
The book of Jonah says a great fish. The Greek word in Matthew's reference is often rendered whale, which is where the idea comes from.
- Noah took two of every animal onto the ark.
Genesis 6 speaks of pairs, but Genesis 7 adds that seven pairs of the clean animals and of birds were taken. The text gives both figures.
- Mary Magdalene is described in the Gospels as a prostitute.
No Gospel says so. Luke says seven demons had gone out of her, and she is named among the women at the tomb. The prostitute idea is a later tradition.
Running this round at a quiz night
Bible rounds draw mixed tables, so alternate a well-known story from Genesis or the Gospels with a structural question about books, languages or translations. That keeps churchgoers and non-churchgoers both in the game. Pace it evenly and avoid stacking three prophets in a row. Disputes come from spelling and naming: accept Judas or Judas Iscariot, Sinai or Mount Sinai, and say in advance that book names need not include the numeral. Stick to what the text says and steer clear of doctrine; if a table argues theology, the answer sheet is not the place to settle it. For tiebreakers use fixed counts such as the number of books or chapters, with the closest guess winning.
Frequently asked questions
Do all Bibles contain the same books?
No. Protestant Bibles follow the Hebrew canon for the Old Testament, while Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional books often called deuterocanonical or apocryphal. The New Testament of twenty-seven books is the same across these traditions.
Why do the questions avoid quoting the text?
Modern Bible translations are under copyright, so this set asks about people, places, events and the arrangement of the books rather than reproducing wording. That also keeps the questions answerable regardless of which translation a player grew up with.
Is the order of the books the same in Jewish and Christian Bibles?
The books largely overlap but the arrangement differs. The Hebrew Bible groups them as Torah, Prophets and Writings and ends with Chronicles, while Christian Old Testaments reorder them and end with the prophetic books.
Not in a quiz mood?
The question games are a different kind of round: no right answers, just prompts you read out and argue about. Would You RatherNever Have I EverTruth or DareThis or That