Final Exam Characters

Question 1

the king of Persia during the time of Esther, identified as Xerxes I (486-465); deposed Vashti and replaced her with Esther; sealed Haman’s edict to annihilate the Jews; honored Mordecai; hanged Haman; issued edict allowing Jews to defend themselves; promoted Mordecai

Answer 1

Ahasuerus

Question 2

Seleucid king who persecuted the Jews of Judea during the Maccabean period; he called himself Epiphanes, meaning “divine one”

Answer 2

Antiochus IV

Question 3

son of Nabonidus who ruled in is father’s absence; according to Daniel 5, he was king when Babylon fell

Answer 3

Belshazzar

Question 4

Persian monarch who founded the Medo-Persian Empire in the sixth century BCE and allowed the Judean refugees to return to their homeland after the Babylonian exile

Answer 4

Cyrus the Great

Question 5

a Judean who was taken into Babylonian captivity by Nebuchadrezzar; a Jewish hero

Answer 5

Daniel

Question 6

a Jewish heroine of the Diaspora who became queen of Persia under Xerxes I, called Ahasuerus in the story; she secured the safety of the Jews when they were threatened with genocide; her story is told in the book that carries her name

Answer 6

Esther

Question 7

a priest and teacher of the Torah; he led a group of Jewish refugees back to Judea from Babylonia in the fifth century BCE during the reign of Artaxerxes I and imposed the Torah of Moses as civil law

Answer 7

Ezra

Question 8

the wicked opponent of Mordecai and the Jews in the book of Esther

Answer 8

Haman

Question 9

a righteous man whom God tested by disaster and personal suffering; in the end, God restored his wealth and family

Answer 9

Job

Question 10

a second-century BCE Judean who led the Jewish Maccabean revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid occupation of Jerusalem and Judea

Answer 10

Judas Maccabee

Question 11

the uncle of Esther who looked after her and urged her to do everything in her power to effect the deliverance of the Jews throughout the Persian Empire

Answer 11

Mordecai

Question 12

Monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire who invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 587

Answer 12

Nebuchadnezzar

Question 13

the Jewish cupbearer of Artaxerxes of Persia in the fifth century BCE; appointed governor of Judea, he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile

Answer 13

Nehemiah

Question 14

the dynasty of Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great, who ruled Syria and Asia Minor after Alexander’s death; rule in Palestine was ended by the Maccabees in the second century BCE

Answer 14

Seleucid

Question 15

a prince of Judah who led the first return of Judean refugees from Babylonian exile in 538 BCE; temple rebuilding began, but due to economic hardship and local opposition it was not completed at that time

Answer 15

Sheshbazzar

Question 16

a member of the royal Davidic line, an heir to the throne of Judah, who led a second group of Jews back to Palestine during the reign of Darius I; he was appointed governor of Judea by Cyrus, king of Persia; this group succeeded in completing the temple in Jerusalem in 515, called the second temple

Answer 16

Zerubbabel

Question 17

deported to Babylon with Daniel; name changed from Azariah; refused defilement by food; refused idol worship; saved from furnace

Answer 17

Abednego

Question 18

king of Persia; allowed rebuilding of temple under Ezra and of walls of Jerusalem under his cupbearer Nehemiah

Answer 18

Artaxerxes

Question 19

king of Persia at the time of Zerubbabel’s return; the second temple was completed during his reign; the book of Esther also takes place during his reign

Answer 19

Darius

Question 20

angel who interpreted Daniel’s visions

Answer 20

Gabriel

Question 21

priest who started the Maccabean revolt

Answer 21

Mattathias

Question 22

Hebrew exiled to Babylon; name changed from Mishael; refused defilement by food; refused to worship idol; saved from furnace

Answer 22

Meshach

Question 23

archangel; warrior in angelic realm, protector of Israel; has special oversight over the people of Judah

Answer 23

Michael

Question 24

Hebrew exiled to Babylon; name changed from Hananiah; refused defilement by food; refused to worship idol; saved from furnace

Answer 24

Shadrach

Question 25

Persian queen replaced by Esther

Answer 25

Vashti

Question 26

student of Aristotle; Greek military victor who conquers a majority of the middle east and assimilates Greek culture into the conquered nations; time before him is Hellenic and time after him is Hellenistic

Answer 26

Alexander the Great