50 Fun Facts About Bible Trivia for Teens

When David went out to face Goliath, what did he pick up from the brook to use with his sling?

He turned down Saul's armor and went out with only his staff, his sling and the stones.

Moses smashed the first stone tablets after seeing the Israelites worshipping what?

He had been on the mountain forty days and nights, and God later gave him a second set of tablets to place in the Ark.

According to Genesis, how long was Noah's ark?

That works out to roughly 440 feet, about one and a half football fields, and 50 cubits wide.

Jonah tried to run from God rather than preach to which city?

When he finally walked in and announced the city had forty days left, the people declared a fast and God spared them.

Which king reluctantly had Daniel thrown into the lions' den after Daniel kept praying to God?

The king's own officials had tricked him into signing the decree, and he rushed to the den at dawn to see if Daniel had survived.

During whose extravagant feast, with the temple's holy vessels used as cups, did a hand write on the wall?

The message meant his kingdom was about to be handed to the Medes and Persians, and Daniel was the only one who could read it.

Which Jewish holiday celebrates Queen Esther foiling Haman's plot to destroy the Jews of Persia?

Haman had been offended because Esther's cousin Mordecai refused to bow to him.

Who arranged for Samson's hair to be cut while he slept, costing him his strength?

The Philistines then blinded him, but his hair grew back in prison and he pulled down the temple of Dagon.

Joseph rose to become second-in-command of Egypt after correctly interpreting whose dreams?

He predicted seven years of plenty followed by seven of famine, which is exactly why his brothers later came begging for grain.

Methuselah is famous for living longer than anyone else in the Bible. How old was he when he died?

Some scholars think the huge ages in Genesis 5 come from an ancient mix-up between months and years.

Which chapter is the longest in the entire Bible?

It runs to 176 verses arranged as an acrostic, with each section starting with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

What is the shortest verse in the King James Bible?

It is John 11:35, and it is not actually the shortest in the original Greek.

The tax collector Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus in the crowd, so what did he do?

Jesus called him down by name and invited himself to dinner, and Zacchaeus promised to give away half of what he owned.

In John's Gospel, Jesus's first miracle, water into wine, was at a wedding in which town?

Jesus did it at his mother's request after the hosts ran out of wine.

What was the name of Ruth's mother-in-law, whom she refused to leave after both were widowed?

Ruth was a Moabite, and her great-grandson turned out to be King David.

After God whittled down his army, how many men did Gideon lead against the Midianites?

The final cut kept only the men who lapped water from their hands instead of kneeling to drink.

How much was Judas paid to betray Jesus, according to Matthew?

He later tried to give the money back, and when the priests refused it he threw it down and left.

Saul was struck blind by a light from heaven while travelling to which city to arrest Christians?

He stayed blind for three days without eating or drinking, and afterwards became the apostle Paul.

At the Last Supper, Jesus predicted that before the rooster crowed Peter would disown him how often?

Peter had been a fisherman from Bethsaida before Jesus called him.

Which apostle refused to believe Jesus had risen until he could see and touch the wounds himself?

His nickname stuck so hard that any skeptic today can be called a doubting Thomas.

Who is traditionally regarded as the first Christian martyr, stoned after addressing the Jewish council?

A young man named Saul, the future Paul, watched over the coats of the men who stoned him.

Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 people starting with what food?

It is the only miracle apart from the resurrection that appears in all four Gospels.

How many days had Lazarus been in the tomb when Jesus called him out?

Jesus deliberately waited two extra days before setting out for Bethany.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, which two people walked past the beaten traveller?

Samaritans and Jews despised each other, which is exactly why Jesus made the Samaritan the hero of the story.

After wasting his inheritance, the Prodigal Son took the lowest job he could find. What was it?

He was so hungry that he envied the pigs their food, which is when he decided to go home.

The walls of which city fell after the Israelites marched around it for seven days and blew their horns?

They circled once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh, then everyone shouted.

The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origin of what?

The name Babel plays on the Hebrew verb balal, meaning to jumble or confuse.

Cain and Abel had different jobs. What did Cain do for a living?

Abel was the shepherd, and God's preference for Abel's offering set off the first murder in the Bible.

Which king threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a fiery furnace for not bowing to his statue?

When he looked in he saw four figures walking unharmed in the flames, and the three came out without even smelling of smoke.

Which prophet challenged the prophets of Baal to see whose god would send fire?

He even mocked Baal's prophets, suggesting their god might be asleep or away on a trip.

King Solomon settled a dispute between two women who each claimed the same baby by suggesting what?

The real mother instantly gave up her claim to save the child, which told Solomon everything he needed to know.

Besides the stone tablets, what else does the Bible say was kept inside the Ark of the Covenant?

The Ark itself was an acacia-wood chest covered in gold and carried on poles by the Levites.

At Pentecost, what appeared over the disciples as they were filled with the Holy Spirit?

There was also a sound like a rushing wind, and the disciples began speaking in other languages.

The Book of Revelation opens with John receiving his visions on which island?

From there he addresses letters to the seven churches of Asia.

How many psalms are in the Book of Psalms in Jewish and Western Christian Bibles?

They are grouped into five books, probably to echo the five books of the Torah.

Job, the man who lost everything and stayed faithful, lived in which land?

Satan bet that Job only praised God because of his blessings, and God allowed the test.

Nehemiah led the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. How long did the job take despite constant opposition?

He had been cupbearer to the Persian king before asking permission to go home and rebuild.

What was the second of the ten plagues on Egypt?

The Egyptian magicians managed to conjure even more frogs, which did not exactly help.

What did Moses hold out over the sea so that God parted the waters for the Israelites?

Once everyone was across he lowered it again and the water closed over the pursuing Egyptian army.

John the Baptist lived in the wilderness on which diet?

He was later beheaded by Herod Antipas after criticising the king's marriage to his brother's wife.

What did Lot's wife become when she looked back at Sodom as it was destroyed?

Genesis never gives her a name, though some Jewish traditions call her Ado or Edith.

Esau sold his birthright to his twin Jacob in exchange for what?

He had come in famished from the fields and begged for some 'red pottage', a pun on his nickname Edom.

Which disciple climbed out of the boat and briefly walked on the water toward Jesus?

Only Matthew's Gospel includes this detail; he began to sink when he grew afraid of the storm.

How old was Jesus when his parents found him talking with the teachers in the Temple?

It took Mary and Joseph three days to find him after the Passover pilgrimage, and it is the only story of his later childhood in the Gospels.

Whose donkey spoke after being beaten for refusing to pass an angel in the road?

The donkey asks why it has been struck three times; only then is its rider allowed to see the angel himself.

Who was chosen by casting lots to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth apostle?

He beat Joseph called Barsabbas for the spot, and is never mentioned again in the New Testament.

Praying for a son at Shiloh, which woman was mistaken for a drunk by the priest Eli?

She promised the boy to God's service, and he grew up to be the prophet Samuel.

Which couple dropped dead after lying to Peter about money from a land sale?

The husband died first; his wife arrived three hours later, repeated the lie, and met the same fate.

Who dozed off during one of Paul's long sermons and fell from a third-storey window?

His name means 'fortunate' in Greek, which fits: Paul embraced him and brought him back to life, then everyone talked until dawn.

Which left-handed judge killed the Moabite king Eglon with a hidden short sword?

Being left-handed let him hide the blade on his right thigh, where guards did not think to check.