130 Fun Facts About Christmas Bible

Which angel told Mary that she would conceive and bear a son?

Luke has the same angel visit John the Baptist's father in the Temple first, and the Book of Daniel is the only book of the Hebrew Bible that names him.

In which town of Galilee was Mary living when the angel visited her?

Luke calls Mary a virgin betrothed to Joseph; the town later gave Jesus the label the Gospels render as 'the Nazarene'.

Where did Mary lay the newborn Jesus after wrapping him in swaddling clothes?

The Greek word usually translated 'inn', katalyma, may in fact mean the guest room of a private house.

In Luke, which Roman emperor ordered the census that sent Joseph to Bethlehem?

Joseph had to go to Bethlehem because he was of the house of David, and Bethlehem was David's city.

According to Luke, the registration took place while which man was governor of Syria?

Historians place his census in AD 6, roughly a decade after Herod the Great died, which is why the nativity's chronology is still argued over.

Who were told of the birth by an angel while keeping watch over their flocks at night?

They stood near the bottom of the social ladder in first-century Judea, which is usually taken as the point of the story.

The angels' words 'Glory to God in the highest' open which Latin hymn of the Mass?

It is also called the Greater Doxology, to distinguish it from the short Gloria Patri.

What three gifts did the Magi bring to the infant Jesus?

Marco Polo's Travels read them as symbols: gold for a king, frankincense for a god, and myrrh for healing power over death.

The Bible never says how many Magi there were. In Syriac Christian tradition, how many are there?

The Western figure of three is only inferred from the number of gifts.

The Western names Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar first appear in a chronicle dating from when?

Syrian Christians call them Larvandad, Gushnasaph and Hormisdas, while the Ethiopian church knows them as Hor, Karsudan and Basanater.

Relics said to be the bones of the Magi are enshrined where?

Archbishop Rainald von Dassel had them moved there in 1162, and Marco Polo later claimed to have been shown the Magi's tombs in Persia.

In Matthew's account, in what kind of building did the Magi find the child with his mother?

Crib scenes that show the Magi arriving on the night of the birth combine two separate episodes for convenience.

The Greek word magos comes from Old Persian and referred to the priestly caste of which religion?

Some translations call them astrologers; by around AD 300 Christians were promoting them to kings to fit Old Testament prophecy.

In Matthew, Herod ordered the killing of the boys around Bethlehem up to what age?

Josephus catalogued many of Herod's crimes, including the murder of three of his own sons, but never mentions this one.

Matthew links the massacre to 'Rachel weeping for her children', a line from which prophet?

The very next verses of that chapter turn to hope and restoration, which has puzzled commentators.

To which country did Joseph take the family to escape Herod?

On the way back they avoided Judea because Herod's son Archelaus now ruled it, and settled in Galilee instead.

The name Immanuel, which Matthew quotes from the prophets, means what?

The original oracle was a sign given to King Ahaz during the Syro-Ephraimite War of the 730s BC.

Matthew's genealogy of Jesus is arranged in three sets of how many generations?

Fourteen is the gematria, or numerical value, of the name David in Hebrew letters.

Matthew's genealogy starts with Abraham. Luke's works backwards from Jesus to whom?

The two lists even disagree on Joseph's father, whom Matthew names Jacob and Luke names Heli.

Besides Mary, which four women does Matthew name in his genealogy of Jesus?

Bathsheba is not named at all but called 'the wife of Uriah', and all four stories involve a scandal or an outsider.

In Matthew, the townspeople describe Jesus by his father's trade. What do they call him?

The Greek word tekton can cover any builder or craftsman, not only one who works in wood.

How does the angel deliver every message to Joseph in Matthew's Gospel?

Matthew is drawing a parallel with the Old Testament Joseph, another son of a Jacob whose dreams carried him to Pharaoh's court.

The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Yeshua, which is a form of which Old Testament name?

The root y-sh-ayin means 'to deliver' or 'to rescue', which is why the angel says the child will save his people.

Which priest was struck mute for doubting the angel who announced his son's birth?

He got his voice back only when he wrote 'His name is John' on a tablet at the boy's circumcision.

John the Baptist's mother, described by Luke as a relative of Mary, was called what?

Her greeting 'Blessed are you among women' became part of the Hail Mary, and her unborn son leaped at Mary's arrival.

John the Baptist's father served as a priest in which division of the priesthood?

His wife was descended from Aaron too, making John a priest's child on both sides.

Mary's song of praise in Luke 1 is known by which Latin name?

It echoes the Song of Hannah from 1 Samuel and is sung daily at Vespers and Anglican Evensong.

Which canticle did John the Baptist's father sing at his son's circumcision?

The Roman Catholic Church sings it every morning at Lauds.

Which righteous man in Jerusalem was promised he would not die before seeing the Messiah?

He warned Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul, and Orthodox tradition makes him one of the seventy translators of the Septuagint.

Which Latin canticle, sung at Compline and Evensong, is taken from Luke 2:29–32?

The title comes from its opening words in the Vulgate, 'Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord'.

Anna the prophetess, who spoke about the infant Jesus in the Temple, belonged to which tribe?

Luke calls her the daughter of Phanuel, a widow of eighty-four who never left the Temple.

At the Presentation in the Temple, what did Mary and Joseph offer, using the option the Law allowed for the poor?

Leviticus 12 let a mother who could not afford a lamb bring a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons instead.

How many days after his birth was Jesus presented in the Temple in Jerusalem?

Leviticus required forty days of purification for the mother after the birth of a boy.

The Feast of the Presentation, forty days after Christmas on 2 February, is popularly known by what name?

The name comes from the procession with lit candles, and it is the traditional last day for taking down Christmas decorations if you missed Twelfth Night.

According to Luke 2:21, Jesus was circumcised and named on which day after his birth?

That is why 1 January was for centuries the Feast of the Circumcision, now the Solemnity of Mary in the Roman calendar.

Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the feast day of which apostle, 30 November?

That puts Advent Sunday somewhere between 27 November and 3 December every year.

On which Sunday of Advent is the rose-coloured candle lit?

It is Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin for 'rejoice'; the rest of the season is violet, though some Lutherans prefer blue.

Johann Hinrich Wichern, credited with the Advent wreath, ran a mission school in which city?

The children at his Rauhes Haus asked every day whether Christmas had come, so he built a wreath with a candle for each day.

The seven 'O Antiphons' sung at Vespers from 17 to 23 December were combined into which hymn?

Read backwards, the initials of the Latin titles spell 'Ero cras', 'Tomorrow, I will be there'.

In the Western church, 6 January commemorates the visit of the Magi under which feast name?

Eastern Christians mark Jesus's baptism in the Jordan on the same day and call it Theophany.

The Feast of the Annunciation falls on 25 March. How long before Christmas is that?

When Dionysius Exiguus set up the Anno Domini system in 525, he began the year on 25 March, and many countries kept it as New Year's Day for centuries.

John the Baptist's birth falls on 24 June because Luke places the Annunciation in which month of his mother's pregnancy?

Six months before Christmas gives 24 June, a date the Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran calendars all keep.

The earliest document to put Jesus's birthday on 25 December is a Roman calendar known as what?

That part of it was written in Rome in AD 336, and it lists the same date as the birthday of the sun god Sol Invictus.

Some Eastern churches keep Christmas on 7 January because they follow which calendar?

Their 25 December currently lands thirteen days later than the civil one.

The Byzantine Nativity Fast before Christmas lasts how many days?

It runs from 15 November to 24 December, far longer than the four Sundays of Western Advent.

Which saint staged the first nativity scene with live actors, at Greccio in 1223?

He had been shown the Grotto of the Nativity on a visit to the Holy Land, and Bonaventure later described the scene in his biography.

The crib's ox and donkey allude to 'the ox knoweth his owner', a verse from which prophet?

The seventh-century Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is another likely source for the animals.

Which Mexican tradition re-enacts Mary and Joseph's search for lodging over nine nights before Christmas?

The nine nights stand for the months of Mary's pregnancy, and the custom dates to Augustinian friars in 1586.

A Christingle is a lit candle set into which fruit?

Moravian bishop Johannes de Watteville began it in 1747 with just a candle and a red ribbon; nobody knows when the fruit arrived.

26 December is the feast of which saint, the first Christian martyr?

In Ireland and the Isle of Man the day was traditionally marked by hunting the wren.

On which day of December do Western churches keep the Feast of the Holy Innocents, or Childermas?

The Byzantine liturgy speaks of 14,000 victims, though Bethlehem was too small to have had more than about twenty boys of that age.

In Ireland, 6 January is Nollaig na mBan. What does that Irish name mean?

It is also called Old Christmas, a leftover from the days when the old-calendar date was still in use.

Which Roman emperor originally commissioned the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem?

It burned in the Samaritan revolts and was rebuilt by Justinian; in 2012 it became the first World Heritage Site listed under Palestine.

Herod the Great was born in which region, south of Judea?

The Roman Senate unexpectedly named him King of the Jews, and he later rebuilt the Second Temple.

Counting Christmas Day as day one, the traditional 12 days of Christmas end on which January date?

The Council of Tours fixed the season in 567, declaring the whole stretch from Christmas to 6 January festive.

The English word Christmas is a shortened form of which phrase?

It is recorded as Cristesmaesse in 1038; the Old English alternative was simply 'Nativity'.

Pope Sixtus III brought Midnight Mass to Rome in 430 at which basilica?

The custom was first described by the pilgrim Egeria, who saw a midnight vigil at Bethlehem around 381.

England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647. Which colonial American town outlawed it in 1659?

Governor Edmund Andros lifted the ban in 1681, but Christmas did not become fashionable there until the mid-1800s.

Saint Nicholas, whose secret gift-giving lies behind Santa Claus, was bishop of which city?

His most famous legend has him dropping gold through a window on three nights to pay three sisters' dowries.

What does the Hebrew name Bethlehem literally mean?

The Arabic form reads as 'house of meat', and the Bible first mentions the town as the place where Rachel died.

Which two Gospels contain no account of Jesus's birth at all?

Only two Gospels tell the story, and they share almost nothing beyond Bethlehem, Mary, Joseph and a divine conception.

Which two Gospels contain accounts of the birth of Jesus?

Both agree Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David.

Kepler linked the Star of Bethlehem to a triple Jupiter–Saturn conjunction in which year?

Halley's Comet was visible in 12 BC, another candidate some have proposed.

Which Old Testament seer prophesied 'There shall arise a star out of Jacob'?

Origen cited Balaam's prophecy in Numbers as foretelling the star at Jesus's birth.

In Matthew, the Magi say they saw the star where?

They came seeking 'the one who has been born king of the Jews'.

After visiting Jesus, why did the Magi return home by another route?

Herod had asked them to report back so he could 'worship' the child too.

Before Cologne, the supposed relics of the Magi were kept from 344 in which Italian city?

Tradition says they were first taken to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

In which city did Herod the Great die of the illness later called 'Herod's Evil'?

His agonising final illness became known as 'Herod's Evil'.

Herod the Great is famous for rebuilding and expanding which structure in Jerusalem?

The Western Wall is part of the expanded temple platform he built.

Herod ruled Judea as a client king of which power?

He seized the throne from the Hasmonean Antigonus after a war between 37 and 34 BCE.

Which son of Herod ruled Judea when Joseph returned from Egypt, prompting a move to Galilee?

Archelaus was so violent that Rome deposed him in AD 6.

'Out of Egypt I called my son', cited by Matthew, comes from which prophet?

The quotation is Hosea 11:1, cited in Matthew 2:15.

Which historian recorded many of Herod's misdeeds but never mentions the Massacre of the Innocents?

Josephus did record Herod's murder of three of his own sons.

Which words open Gabriel's greeting to Mary in the Douay-Rheims translation of Luke 1:28?

The King James Version renders it 'Hail, thou that art highly favoured'.

Where did Mary go 'with haste' after the Annunciation?

She went to the house of Zacharias to greet Elizabeth.

What happened when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting at the Visitation?

Elizabeth was 'filled with the Holy Ghost' and blessed Mary among women.

The Hebrew Bible identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of which king?

The New Testament accordingly calls it the 'City of David'.

Bethlehem lies roughly how far south of Jerusalem?

It is now the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate in the West Bank.

A 2012 dig found a seal reading 'From the town of Bethlehem to the King' in which script?

The bulla was the first archaeological confirmation of Bethlehem as a city in the Kingdom of Judah.

In which Old Testament book does the angel Gabriel appear to explain visions to a prophet?

Gabriel is named in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran.

The Greek word tektōn, used of Joseph, is translated 'carpenter' but more broadly means what?

It shares a root with the English words 'technical' and 'technology'.

Which Byzantine emperor rebuilt the Church of the Nativity after a sixth-century fire?

He added a narthex and replaced the octagonal sanctuary with a cruciform transept.

In 2012 the Church of the Nativity became the first World Heritage Site listed under which state?

A major renovation of the church began in September 2013.

Frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of which genus?

It is also called olibanum and is used in incense and perfume.

Myrrh is a gum-resin extracted from thorny trees of which genus?

In Marco Polo's account, myrrh symbolises healing power over death.

The 'almah' prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was addressed to which king of Judah?

The Hebrew word almah was rendered parthenos, 'virgin', in the Greek Septuagint.

Which Greek Old Testament rendered the Hebrew 'almah' as 'parthenos' (virgin)?

Matthew picked up the reading as a messianic prophecy of the Virgin birth.

Herod the Great built a harbour using hydraulic cement at which city?

Herod's building programme also included Masada and the expanded Second Temple.

Luke's genealogy traces Jesus's descent from David through which little-known son?

Matthew's genealogy instead runs through Solomon.

What is the Italian word for a nativity scene?

Crèche is the French term; some languages simply call the scene a 'Bethlehem'.

Historians date the first recorded Roman celebration of Christmas on 25 December to which year?

The Roman festival of Sol Invictus had been held on 25 December since AD 274.

December 25 was the traditional date of which astronomical event in the Roman Empire?

The Roman feast Dies Natalis Solis Invicti was held on that date from AD 274.

Most scholars place the actual birth of Jesus in which range of years?

Herod, who was alive at the birth in Matthew's account, died in 4 BC according to most scholars.

Which monk devised the Anno Domini system of counting years in 525?

He created it for his Easter tables; the system was not widely used until the 9th century.

The Hail Mary prayer is built from two greetings to Mary found in which Gospel?

They are Gabriel's words at the Annunciation and Elizabeth's at the Visitation.

Handel's Messiah was first performed in April 1742 in which city?

Charles Jennens compiled the text from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter.

Which Philadelphia priest wrote the words of 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' in 1868?

His organist Lewis Redner wrote the American tune, 'St. Louis'; Britain sings it to 'Forest Green'.

'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' is usually sung to a melody by which composer?

The tune came from an 1840 cantata for the 400th anniversary of the printing press.

Who wrote the words of 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' in 1739?

It first appeared as 'Hymn for Christmas-Day' in Hymns and Sacred Poems.

'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks' is attributed to which Poet Laureate?

It appeared in Tate and Brady's 1700 supplement to their New Version of the Psalms.

'Silent Night' was first performed in 1818 in Oberndorf, near which Austrian city?

Franz Xaver Gruber composed it to words by the priest Joseph Mohr.

'Silent Night' was declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in which year?

It is among the most recorded Christmas songs, with more than 137,000 known recordings.

'Away in a Manger' was long wrongly attributed to which religious reformer?

It is now thought to be wholly American in origin, first published in the late 19th century.

Who wrote the carol 'We Three Kings' in 1857?

Hopkins was rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and wrote it for a New York pageant.

'O Come, All Ye Faithful' is known by which original Latin title?

Authorship has been attributed to John Francis Wade, John Reading and even King John IV of Portugal.

'The First Nowell' is a traditional carol from which part of England?

It is listed as number 682 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

'O Holy Night' is based on the 1847 French poem 'Minuit, chrétiens' by whom?

Adolphe Adam set it to music and John Sullivan Dwight wrote the familiar English version.

'Good King Wenceslas' goes out to give alms on the feast of which saint?

John Mason Neale wrote the words in 1853 to a 13th-century spring carol tune.

Besides the Magi's visit, Epiphany commemorates the baptism of Jesus and which miracle?

Eastern Christians call the feast Theophany and focus on the baptism in the Jordan.

Which Gospel opens with the words 'In the beginning was the Word'?

Christians read the prologue as an account of the incarnation, though it contains no nativity story.

The Tree of Jesse in art shows the ancestors of Jesus rising from Jesse, the father of which king?

It is based on a passage in Isaiah describing the descent of the Messiah.

The 'X' in 'Xmas' comes from which Greek letter?

It is the first letter of Christós; the abbreviation dates back to the 16th century.

Jesus is referred to in the Quran throughout how many surahs?

He is usually called Īsā ibn Maryam, Jesus son of Mary.

The Greek word kataluma, translated 'inn' in Luke 2:7, may more accurately mean what?

Bethlehem's guest rooms would have been full of relatives arriving for the census.

Which Moabite ancestor of David, and so of Jesus, married Boaz in Bethlehem?

Ruth was David's great-grandmother.

Which matriarch is said to be buried on the road to Ephrath, just outside Bethlehem?

Matthew's 'Rachel weeping for her children' evokes her tomb near the town.

The word 'Advent' comes from the Latin adventus, meaning what?

It translates the Greek parousia, which originally referred to the Second Coming.

'The Little Drummer Boy' was written in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis under what original title?

Bing Crosby recorded a famous duet version with David Bowie in 1977.

Bach's Christmas Oratorio is made up of how many parts, each a cantata for a feast day?

It is catalogued as BWV 248 and was intended for church performance over the Christmas season.

'In the Bleak Midwinter' began as a poem by which English poet?

Gustav Holst's tune 'Cranham' was published in the 1906 English Hymnal.

Which antiquarian popularised 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' in his 1833 carol collection?

The book was Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern; the carol is also known as 'Tidings of Comfort and Joy'.

Boston's 1659 Puritan ban on celebrating Christmas carried a fine of how much?

Governor Edmund Andros revoked the ban in 1681.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was named on Christmas Eve 1741 by a bishop of which church?

Nicolaus Zinzendorf christened the settlement on the Lehigh River.

Luke addresses his Gospel to a man whose name means 'Lover of God'. What is it?

Most interpreters see Theophilus as a Christian convert and Luke's literary patron.

Which Old Testament prophet's book does Matthew cite for the ruler who 'shall come' out of Bethlehem?

The chief priests quote it to Herod: 'out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel'.

In Isaiah 9:6, the child whose 'government shall be upon his shoulder' is given which title?

The verse also names him 'Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father', and was applied to the Messiah in the Aramaic Targum.

At what age does Luke say Jesus was found debating teachers in the Temple, after lingering in Jerusalem?

The Finding in the Temple is the only event of Jesus's later childhood recorded in a canonical gospel.

For which feast had the Holy Family travelled to Jerusalem when the boy Jesus stayed behind in the Temple?

Luke 2:41-52 says they went 'according to the custom' with a large group of relatives and friends.

On learning Mary was pregnant, what did Joseph intend to do before an angel intervened in a dream?

The angel told him to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus, 'because it is he who will save his people from their sins'.

Besides washing and oiling, with what were newborns rubbed before being wrapped in biblical swaddling cloths?

Swaddling clothes were bandage-like strips of cloth; Luke 2:7 is the most famous biblical mention.