50 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving Bible

Which psalm's Hebrew title, 'Mizmor l'Todah', names it as a song for the thank offering in the Temple?

In English it opens 'Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands' and became the hymn 'All People That on Earth Do Dwell'. Rashi said it was recited over the todah sacrifice.

Complete the King James line: 'Enter into his gates with ______, and into his courts with praise.'

The next verse explains why: 'For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.'

Which psalm repeats 'for his mercy endureth for ever' in the second half of every verse?

Jewish tradition calls it the Great Hallel. It runs through creation, the Exodus and the conquest, answering each event with the same line.

Which psalm opens 'It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD' and is subtitled a song 'for the sabbath day'?

It is still recited in synagogues on Friday evening. Jewish tradition attributes Psalms 90 to 100 to Moses.

'Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his ______' (Psalm 103:2). Which word completes the verse?

The psalm then lists them: forgiveness, healing, redemption from destruction and satisfying your mouth with good things.

Jesus healed ten lepers on the way to Jerusalem, but only one came back to thank him. What was that man?

Jesus asked, 'Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?' The story appears only in Luke's Gospel.

Which Gospel is the only one to record the story of the ten lepers?

It sits in chapter 17, between teaching on forgiveness and a passage on the coming of the kingdom.

Before feeding the five thousand, Jesus took five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven and did what?

It is the only miracle apart from the resurrection that appears in all four Gospels. Twelve baskets of pieces were left over.

After the feeding of the four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did the disciples collect?

Jesus had 'given thanks' over seven loaves and a few small fish. This second miracle appears only in Matthew and Mark.

The word Eucharist, used for Holy Communion, comes from a Greek word meaning what?

At the Last Supper Jesus 'took the cup, and gave thanks' before passing it to the disciples. The Didache was already using the term by the end of the first century.

'Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.' Jesus prayed these words just before doing what?

He added that he said it aloud for the sake of the crowd, 'that they may believe that thou hast sent me', then called Lazarus out.

In one of Jesus's parables, which character prays 'God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are'?

The tax collector standing far off simply asks for mercy, and Jesus says he, not the proud man, went home justified.

Which elderly prophetess 'gave thanks likewise unto the Lord' when the infant Jesus was presented?

Luke says she was a widow of about 84 who never left the Temple. She spoke of the child to everyone waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Which verse reads (KJV) 'In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you'?

It follows two even shorter commands, 'Rejoice evermore' and 'Pray without ceasing'.

'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication...' opens a verse in which New Testament letter?

It is Philippians 4:6, and the reward follows in the next verse: 'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding'.

Colossians 3:17 says do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, doing what 'to God and the Father by him'?

Two verses earlier Paul writes 'and be ye thankful', and a verse before that tells them to sing psalms and hymns with grace in their hearts.

In Romans 1, the pagans 'became vain in their ______'. Which word fills the blank?

The result, he says, was that 'their foolish heart was darkened'. It is the New Testament's bluntest statement that ingratitude is a root sin.

Which letter says every creature of God is good 'if it be received with thanksgiving'?

Paul is arguing against teachers who banned certain foods and marriage. It is a favourite grace-before-dinner text.

'Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift' closes which chapter, one about a collection for the poor?

The whole chapter is about cheerful giving: 'God loveth a cheerful giver' is a few verses earlier.

Which Old Testament prophet prayed a psalm of thanksgiving from inside a great fish?

He had spent three days and nights inside. The prayer ends 'Salvation is of the LORD', and the fish promptly vomits him onto dry land.

Daniel was thrown to the lions for praying how many times a day toward Jerusalem?

King Darius had been tricked into banning prayer to anyone but himself for thirty days. Daniel simply carried on 'as he did aforetime'.

Hannah's Old Testament song of thanksgiving celebrates the birth of which son she had promised to God?

She had been barren and had promised the child to God. Her song, which begins 'My heart rejoiceth in the LORD', is often compared with Mary's Magnificat.

Mary's song of praise, the Magnificat, is spoken in Luke's Gospel when she visits which relative?

Elisabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist, who leapt in her womb at Mary's greeting. The Latin name comes from its first word, 'magnifies'.

'Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD.' What had just happened?

Miriam then took a timbrel and led the women in the same refrain. Some scholars think the Song of the Sea is the oldest text in the Bible.

'Then sang Deborah and Barak' opens a victory song in which book of the Bible?

They were celebrating the defeat of Jabin king of Canaan and his general Sisera, finished off by Jael with a tent peg.

How many extra years of life had God promised King Hezekiah after his illness?

The sign was the shadow going back ten degrees on the sundial of Ahaz. Isaiah 38 preserves 'the writing of Hezekiah' after his recovery.

On bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, David handed a psalm of thanks to which musician and his brethren?

The text, in 1 Chronicles 16, begins 'Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name'. Asaph's name is on twelve of the psalms.

At the dedication of Jerusalem's rebuilt wall, Nehemiah appointed 'two great companies' to do what?

One choir went right toward the dung gate, the other left, and they met at the house of God with trumpets and cymbals.

When the Second Temple's foundation was laid in Ezra 3, the young shouted for joy while the old men did what?

The noise of weeping and shouting mixed so that people could not tell one from the other, and it was heard far off.

In Leviticus 7, what had to accompany the animal sacrifice in a peace offering 'for a thanksgiving'?

The Hebrew name for this offering is todah, the same word behind Psalm 100's title.

Which Deuteronomy verse, 'When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD', grounds grace after meals?

The blessing is called Birkat Hamazon and is said after any meal with bread. Christian grace before meals is traced instead to Jesus and Paul praying before eating.

Deuteronomy 26's firstfruits speech begins 'A ______ ready to perish was my father'. What fills the blank?

It is a compressed history of Jacob going down to Egypt, slavery, and the Exodus, ending with the basket of produce set before the altar.

During which seven-day autumn harvest festival do Jews eat meals in temporary huts?

Also called the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, it marks the end of the agricultural year and doubles as a memorial of the wilderness wanderings.

Shavuot falls how many days after Passover, giving it its Greek name Pentecost?

Acts says the first Christian Pentecost happened on that day. The Book of Ruth, set during the harvest, is read in synagogues on Shavuot.

In Genesis 4, Cain brought 'the fruit of the ground' as an offering. What did Abel bring?

God had regard for Abel's gift but not Cain's, the quarrel that leads to the first murder. It is the Bible's first recorded offering.

Which king of Salem brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram after his rescue of Lot?

Abram gave him a tenth of everything, the Bible's first tithe. Psalm 110 and Hebrews later treat him as a type of Christ's priesthood.

In Acts 16, what happened after Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises at midnight in prison?

The jailer, about to kill himself, was stopped by Paul's shout that all the prisoners were still there, and was baptised that night with his household.

How many souls were aboard the ship in Paul's shipwreck voyage in Acts 27?

They had gone fourteen days without eating. After the meal they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat overboard, and everyone made it ashore on Malta.

In Revelation 11, who fall on their faces and say 'We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty'?

They are thanking God for taking his great power and beginning to reign, just after the seventh trumpet sounds.

Which English Bible translation, nicknamed the 'Breeches Bible', did the Pilgrims carry on the Mayflower?

Its first full edition appeared in 1560 and Shakespeare and Cromwell used it too. The nickname comes from its Genesis 3:7, where Adam and Eve make 'breeches'.

Which US president's 1863 proclamation set the last Thursday of November as a day of 'Thanksgiving and Praise'?

It came after Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, author of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb', had lobbied presidents for years for a national day.

Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart wrote 'Now Thank We All Our God' around 1636 during which conflict?

In the plague year of 1637 he was the only pastor left in Eilenburg and buried up to 50 people a day. Catherine Winkworth made the English translation.

'We Gather Together' was written in 1597 to celebrate a Dutch victory over which country?

Adrianus Valerius wrote it after the Battle of Turnhout. Under Philip II, Dutch Protestants had been forbidden to gather for worship, which gives the title its bite.

Who wrote the harvest hymn 'Come, Ye Thankful People, Come' in 1844?

He was rector of Aston Sandford in Buckinghamshire at the time, and first published it under the title 'After Harvest' with seven verses.

Which bishop wrote the Doxology 'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow' in 1674?

It was the closing verse of two hymns for morning and evening worship at Winchester College. It is usually sung to the tune Old 100th.

The English word 'grace', for a mealtime prayer, comes from which Latin phrase meaning 'act of thanks'?

The custom is traced to Jesus and Paul praying before they ate; Jewish practice adds a longer blessing after the meal.

Seventeenth-century accounts describe the Pilgrims' 1621 event not as a day of thanksgiving but as what?

It lasted three days at Plymouth, probably around Michaelmas. The first recorded civil day of thanksgiving in New England came two years later, in 1623.

Which psalm, beloved of mariners, thanks God for rescuing those who 'went down to the sea in ships'?

It opens Book 5 of the psalter with 'O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good' and also recalls desert wanderers, prisoners and the sick.

Psalm 118, 'O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good', is the last of which group of psalms?

The six Hallel psalms (113-118) are recited on Jewish festivals, with the final ten verses of Psalm 118 said twice.

Which Psalm 118 verse did Jesus quote to the chief priests, per Matthew's Gospel?

Crowds also quoted verses 25-26 of the same psalm, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord', at the triumphal entry.