70 Fun Facts About Old Testament

According to Genesis 1, on which day of creation did God make the sun, moon and stars?

Light itself was created on day one, but the 'two great lights' and the stars came three days later. Plants were made on day three, before the sun.

God made Eve from which part of Adam's body?

Adam himself was formed from the dust of the ground. God caused a deep sleep to fall on him before taking the rib.

Which son of Adam and Eve is described in Genesis 4 as 'a keeper of sheep'?

His brother Cain was 'a tiller of the ground', and the difference in their offerings led to the first murder in the Bible.

Who is the longest-lived person in the Bible, dying at 969 years old?

His grandson was Noah, and by the numbers in Genesis 5 he died in the very year of the flood. Adam lived to 930.

How long did the rain fall during Noah's flood, according to Genesis 7?

The waters then 'prevailed' on the earth for 150 days before beginning to recede, so Noah's family was aboard for about a year in total.

On which mountains did Noah's ark come to rest?

Ararat is in modern-day Turkey. Noah then sent out a raven and a dove to test whether the waters had gone down.

What did the dove bring back to Noah to show that the flood waters were going down?

The first time Noah sent the dove out it found nowhere to land; a week later it came back with the leaf, and a week after that it did not return at all.

After the flood, what did God set in the clouds as the sign he would never flood the earth again?

The King James text calls it simply 'my bow'. It is the first covenant sign in the Bible and applies to every living creature, not only people.

At the Tower of Babel, how did God stop the people finishing their city?

Genesis says the name Babel comes from this confounding of speech, and the people were scattered across the earth.

What was Abraham's name before God changed it, promising he would be 'a father of many nations'?

His wife's name changed too, from Sarai to Sarah. Their son Isaac was born when Abraham was a hundred years old.

When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, what did he find caught in a thicket to offer instead?

The animal was caught by its horns. Abraham named the place Jehovah-jireh, meaning 'the Lord will provide'.

What happened to Lot's wife when she looked back at Sodom?

The angels had warned the family not to look behind them as they fled. Jesus later said simply, 'Remember Lot's wife.'

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

The King James Version calls it 'pottage of lentiles'. Genesis says Esau 'despised his birthright' by trading it for a single meal.

In Jacob's famous dream at Bethel, what did he see reaching from earth to heaven?

Jacob was running away from Esau at the time and sleeping with a stone for a pillow. He set the stone up as a pillar when he woke.

After wrestling with a stranger all night, Jacob was given which new name?

The name is explained as 'a prince hast thou power with God and with men'. Jacob limped afterwards, because the stranger touched the hollow of his thigh.

Jacob showed that Joseph was his favourite son by giving him what gift?

Genesis says it was because Joseph was 'the son of his old age'. His jealous brothers later dipped the coat in goat's blood to fake his death.

For how many pieces of silver was Joseph sold to the merchants heading to Egypt?

The buyers were Ishmeelites, distant relatives descended from Abraham's son Ishmael. Thirty pieces of silver is the New Testament price paid to Judas.

In Pharaoh's dream of fat and thin cows, what did Joseph say the fat cows meant?

The thin cows meant seven years of famine, so Joseph advised storing grain, and Pharaoh made him second in command over Egypt.

Who found the baby Moses floating in a basket among the reeds of the river?

Moses' sister was watching nearby and offered to fetch a Hebrew nurse, so his own mother was paid to raise him.

When God first spoke to Moses in the wilderness, what was unusual about the burning bush?

Moses turned aside to see 'this great sight', and God told him to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.

What was the first of the ten plagues on Egypt?

Moses' brother struck the Nile with the rod in front of Pharaoh, and the fish died. Frogs came second; darkness was the ninth plague.

On the night of the first Passover, where were the Israelites told to put the blood of the lamb?

The blood on the two side posts and the top of the door was the sign for the final plague to pass over that home.

According to Exodus 14, what did God use to drive back the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross?

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the waters divided, standing as a wall on either side. Pharaoh's army was drowned when the waters returned.

What was the name of the bread-like food God sent to feed the Israelites in the wilderness?

The name is a play on the Hebrew for 'What is it?', because the people did not know what they were looking at. Quail were sent as meat.

Which is the first of the Ten Commandments?

The commandments were given at Mount Sinai. The first four concern God and the last six concern how people treat one another.

Which commandment comes with the promise 'that thy days may be long upon the land'?

It is the fifth commandment, and the New Testament calls it 'the first commandment with promise'.

While Moses was on the mountain, who made the golden calf for the people to worship?

Aaron collected the people's gold earrings and shaped the calf with a graving tool. Moses ground it to powder and made the people drink it.

Who is called 'the prophetess' in Exodus 15 and led the women in dancing after the Red Sea crossing?

She was the sister of Moses, and probably the girl who watched over the baby in the basket. Another prophetess appears much later, in Judges.

In the book of Numbers, which prophet was scolded by his own talking donkey?

The donkey had stopped three times because it could see an angel with a drawn sword that its rider could not. Balak was the king who had hired him.

Of the twelve spies sent into Canaan, which two were allowed to enter the promised land?

The other ten spread fear about giants in the land. Everyone else of that generation died in the wilderness during forty years of wandering.

How did the walls of Jericho fall in the book of Joshua?

The Israelites marched around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh, and the wall 'fell down flat'.

Where did Rahab hide the two Israelite spies in Jericho?

She lived on the city wall and let the spies down by a rope. A scarlet cord in her window marked her house to be spared.

How many men were left in Gideon's army after God had him send the rest home?

He started with 32,000. The final 300 were chosen by how they drank water from a stream, and they defeated the Midianites with trumpets, jars and torches.

Samson finally told Delilah the secret of his strength. What was it?

He was a Nazarite from birth. Delilah had a man shave his seven locks while he slept, and the Philistines put out his eyes.

With what unlikely weapon did Samson kill a thousand Philistines?

He was so thirsty afterwards that God opened a spring for him at the spot. Shamgar, an earlier judge, killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.

Which woman is described in Judges as a prophetess who judged the nation 'at that time'?

She sat under a palm tree to give judgment and summoned the general Barak to fight Sisera. Jael was the woman who killed Sisera with a tent peg.

To whom did Ruth say, 'whither thou goest, I will go... thy people shall be my people'?

Ruth was a Moabite widow who refused to abandon her Israelite mother-in-law. Her great-grandson was King David.

Ruth gleaned grain in the fields of a wealthy relative, whom she later married. What was his name?

Their son Obed became the grandfather of David, which puts Ruth, a foreigner, in the family line of the greatest king of the Israelites.

Hannah prayed for a child and promised to give him to the Lord. Which prophet was that child?

She named him because she had 'asked him of the Lord', and left him at the tabernacle with the priest Eli once he was weaned.

What did Hannah's son finally answer when God called him by name in the tabernacle at night?

Three times he ran to Eli, thinking the old priest had called him, before Eli realised who was speaking. 'Here am I; send me' is a different prophet's reply.

How did the prophet anoint Saul as the first king of the Israelites?

Saul had come looking for his father's lost donkeys. The prophet later anointed David the same way while Saul was still king.

Goliath, the Philistine champion, came from which city?

The King James text gives his height as 'six cubits and a span', roughly nine and a half feet. All four options were Philistine cities.

Where did David's stone strike Goliath?

David had picked five smooth stones from the brook but needed only one. He then used Goliath's own sword to cut off his head.

Before he was king, David was brought to Saul's court to do what whenever an evil spirit troubled Saul?

Saul was 'refreshed' by the music, which is one reason David is remembered as the psalmist. Later Saul threw a javelin at him while he played.

Which son of King Saul became David's closest friend, so that 'his soul was knit with the soul of David'?

Jonathan gave David his robe, sword and bow, and warned him when Saul tried to kill him. Absalom was David's own rebellious son.

Two women both claimed the same baby. How did King Solomon propose to settle it?

The real mother begged him to give the child to the other woman rather than harm it, which showed Solomon who was telling the truth.

Which royal visitor travelled to Jerusalem 'to prove' Solomon 'with hard questions'?

She arrived with camels carrying spices, gold and precious stones, and left saying that the half had not been told her.

Which birds fed the prophet Elijah bread and meat by the brook Cherith during a drought?

When the brook dried up, God sent him to a widow in Zarephath whose jar of meal and cruse of oil never ran out.

On Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest. What happened when Elijah prayed?

Elijah had drenched the altar with twelve barrels of water first. The fire even licked up the water in the trench around it.

How did Elijah leave the earth, according to 2 Kings 2?

A chariot and horses of fire separated him from Elisha first. Moses is the one whose burial place on Nebo was never found.

How many times did Elisha tell Naaman to dip in the Jordan to cure his leprosy?

Naaman was furious at first, saying the rivers of Damascus were better, but his servants persuaded him to try. His skin came back 'like unto the flesh of a little child'.

How old was Josiah when he became king of Judah?

He reigned thirty-one years and led a great reform after the book of the law was found in the temple. Joash was crowned even younger, at seven.

Which Jewish festival comes from the book of Esther?

The name comes from 'Pur', the lot Haman cast to choose the day for destroying the Jews. Esther's courage before King Ahasuerus turned the plot around.

Job's three friends came to comfort him after his suffering. Which of these was NOT one of them?

Elihu is a younger man who speaks later in the book, after the three friends run out of arguments. God ends up rebuking the three for not speaking rightly.

'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want' is the opening line of which chapter in the book of Psalms?

It is traditionally attributed to David, who had been a shepherd himself. Psalm 51 is his prayer of repentance and Psalm 100 is a psalm of thanksgiving.

In the prophet's vision of God's throne, how many wings did each seraph have?

Two covered the face, two covered the feet and two were for flying. One seraph touched the prophet's lips with a live coal to cleanse him.

Which prophet was told to prophesy to a valley full of dry bones, which then came together and lived?

The bones stand for the whole exiled nation, and the vision promises they will be brought back to their land.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to do what?

The furnace was heated seven times hotter than usual, yet the king saw four men walking in the fire, unharmed. Praying toward Jerusalem is what got Daniel thrown to the lions.

At King Belshazzar's feast, what mysterious thing appeared and wrote on the palace wall?

Daniel read the words 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin' as a judgment on the king. Belshazzar was killed that same night.

What did Daniel and his friends ask to eat instead of the king's rich food for a ten-day test in Babylon?

The King James word is 'pulse', meaning food grown from seed. After ten days they looked healthier than the young men eating from the king's table.

Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. How long was he inside it?

He had been running from the mission God had given him. Jesus later compared the three days to his own time in the tomb.

To which 'great city' was Jonah sent to preach?

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the Israelites' great enemy, which is why Jonah fled in the opposite direction. The whole city, even the animals, put on sackcloth and repented.

Nehemiah left the Persian court to lead which building project in Jerusalem?

He was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes and finished the wall in fifty-two days despite threats from Sanballat and Tobiah. The temple had already been rebuilt under Zerubbabel.

Mahershalalhashbaz, the longest personal name in the Bible, appears in which book?

It was the name of one of the prophet's sons, and means roughly 'quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil', a warning about the coming Assyrian invasion.

How many books are in the Old Testament of a Protestant Bible?

Add the 27 books of the New Testament for the familiar total of 66. Catholic Bibles count 46 because they include the deuterocanonical books.

What name is given to the first five books of the Old Testament, which correspond to the Jewish Torah?

The word is Greek for 'five scrolls'. The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation, and the Decalogue is another name for the Ten Commandments.

How many books does the Catholic Old Testament contain, compared with 39 in most Protestant Bibles?

Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches include up to 49; the extras are the deuterocanonical books such as Tobit and Judith.

In which city did the translation of Hebrew scriptures into Greek begin around 280 BC?

The work, supposedly commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, produced the Septuagint, later the early Church's main Old Testament.

Which pope commissioned Jerome in 382 AD to produce what became the Latin Vulgate?

Jerome's prologues labelled some Septuagint portions absent from the Hebrew Bible as apocrypha, a view the Reformers later revived.

What is the Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible, used by Aramaic-speaking Christians, called?

Other early versions appeared in Coptic, the everyday language of Egypt in the first Christian centuries.