Biblical Trivia Flashcards
The stories in the Bible
Old Testament - Genesis: The Creation (process)
Day 1: Light and Darkness (day and night)
Day 2: Heaven (firmament)
Day 3: Earth (dry land), complete with grass, herbs, trees
Day 4: Lights in the firmament of heaven (sun, moon, stars)
Day 5: Animals of sea and sky
Day 6: Beasts of the earth and man in God’s own image
Day 7: Rest
Old Testament - Genesis: The Creation (quotes)
(opening line) “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
(cycle of creation) “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
(assessment) “And God saw the light, that it was good…”
(classification) “And God called the light day…”
Old Testament - Genesis: The Fall (general)
God creates Adam and tells him Eden is his for the taking except for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Eve, created from Adam’s rib, is duped by a serpent (Satan in disguise) into eating the fruit. → Fall of Man
Samuel Johnson on John Milton’s [Paradise Lost} : “None ever wished it longer” (concerned only with first two chapters of Genesis)
Old Testament - Genesis: The Fall (Adam)
Adam: “the man” in Hebrew
“formed… of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”
Old Testament - Genesis: Cain and Abel
Sons of Eve.
Cain “a tiller of the ground”
Abel “a keeper of sheep”
Cain kills Abel because God appreciated Abel’s offering more than his. Is driven to east of Eden, out of God’s sight, bearing “the mark of Cain”. (“whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”)
John Steinbeck [East of Eden (1952)]
Eve has another son named Seth.
Old Testament - Genesis: The Flood
“the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually.”
“two and two of all flesh” (picks Noah to assemble his family, build an ark, and collect animals)
“neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.” (seeming regret)
Old Testament - Genesis: The Tower of Babel
People of Shem decide to build a tower that will reach Heaven. God scatters the generations all over the earth, “confound[ed] the languages of the earth.”
Old Testament - Genesis: Abraham and Isaac
Devout Abraham and Sarah cannot conceive, Sarah recommends Abraham conceive with Sarah’s Egyptian maid Hagar. Ishmael is born, no one is enthused.
God tells Abraham he will be “father of many nations” and his generations will inherit land then known as Canaan. Abraham and Sarah are both old when finally the son between them, Isaac, is born. God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering, Abraham unflinchingly sets out to do so, God stops him at the last minute.
(religious faith - Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard [Fear and Trembling])
Old Testament - Genesis: Nimrod
Noah - Ham - Cush -Nimrod. “A mighty hunter before the Lord … began to be mighty in the earth.”
In some versions, asks to be worshiped, and murders all babies to prevent Abraham - the one who will end idolatry - from being born. Tries to burn Abraham when confronted, is driven mad due to a mosquito entering his brain.
Old Testament - Genesis: Ham
Son of Noah along with Shem and Japheth, father of Cush. Egypt is referred to “Land of Ham”.
Sees Noah sleeping naked and drunk, tells Shem and Japheth. The two brothers cover Noah in clothes while not looking at him naked. Noah curses Ham and his offspring, Canaan, saying Canaan and his brethren will be servants of Shem and Japheth.
Old Testament - Genesis: Lot
Journeys with his uncle Abram (Abraham), bickers so badly that he separates. Chooses to go neither North nor South and goes beyond Jordan (bad choice), Abraham heads south to Hebron and stays within Canaan.
Flees from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (tried to offer his daughters so that men of Sodom would not sleep with angels). During this, his wife is turned to pillar of salt; Lot is made drunk and raped by his daughters in their desire of children.
Old Testament - Genesis: Lot’s Wife
“Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.” (disobeys this)
Old Testament - Genesis: Sodom and Gomorrah
Synonymous with impenitent sin and divine retribution. Neighboring Zoar (Bela, where Lot fled) was the only neighboring city spared from fire and brimstone.
Abraham pleaded to spare the cities if 50 righteous people were found in them (lowered the numbers until reaching 10)
Old Testament - Genesis: Jacob (later Israel)
Son of Isaac and Rebekah, grandson of Abraham, ancestor of Israel. Younger twin brother of Esau (later Edom).
Pastoralist. Jacob deceives and obtains his birthright, flees Esau, God tells him he will receive lands and offspring. Works for his uncle Laban to marry his cousin Rachel, duped into marrying Leah then works again. Name is changed to Israel on the way back to Palestine.
Old Testament - Genesis: Esau (later Edom)
Son of Isaac and Rebekah, grandson of Abraham, ancestor of Edomites. Older twin brother of Jacob (later Israel).
Nomadic hunter, covered in hair. Jacob makes him trade his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, receives blind Isaac’s blessings and inheritance instead of him (Rebekah encouraged him in this even though Esau already agreed to concede inheritance). Esau eventually accepts Jacob’s gifts after returning from Laban.
Old Testament - Genesis: Joseph (intro)
Rachel’s first and Jacob’s eleventh son, preference of Jacob is shown by his “long coat of many colors.”
Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, tempted by Protiphar’s wife and thrown to prison, becomes vizier (second most powerful in Egypt, next to the Paraoh). Jacob leaves Canaan and settles in Egypt because of this.
Old Testament - Genesis: Joseph (dreams)
Jacob: his brothers’ grains bowing to his, sun and moon and eleven stars bowing to him
Cup-bearer: three budding branches, bearing grapes, the bearer squeezing them to a cup and giving it to the Pharaoh (being reinstated as the cup-bearer. He did not remember to mention Joseph until Pharaoh’s dream)
Baker: three baskets of bread for the Pharaoh, birds eating out of the baskets (being hanged in three days)
Pharaoh: seven lean cows devouring seven fat cows, seven withered ears of corn devouring fat ears of corn (seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. surplus grain helps Egypt thrive in famine)
Old Testament - Genesis: Judah
Suggests Joseph be thrown into a cistern instead of killed.
On Joseph’s brothers’ first visit to Egypt, half-brother Simeon is held at hostage and Joseph’s full-brother Benjamin is requested. Joseph frames Benjamin of stealing and attempts to make him a slave as a test to his brothers, Judah offers himself.
Receives firstborn title due to his change (Messianic King).
Old Testament - Exodus (intro)
Life of Moses, central prophet in Judaism. First five books of the Bible = Torah = “five books of Moses”.
1) Born of Jochebed, sent down the river due to the order to kill all Hebrew children. Adopted by daughter of the Pharaoh, grows up as Egyptian prince, kills slave-driver whipping Hebrew slave.
2) Burning bush as God. Tools to convince: rod that turns into a snake, a hand that goes from leprous to non-leprous hand.
3) Ten Plagues (pools of water becoming blood, plagues of frogs and locusts, hail with fire - fire and brimstone … death of all firstborns whose doors not marked with lamb’s blood. Hebrews and Hebrew sympathizers spared)
4) Goes to Canaan after crossing the Red sea. Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not kill”).
Old Testament - Exodus: Aaron
Moses’ brother, lived with his older sister Miriam in eastern-border of Egypt (Goshen, where Jacob settled). Serves as spokesperson (prophet) for Moses when he confronts Pharaoh about the Israelites. Becomes first high priest of the Israelites.
