49 Fun Facts About Women of the Bible

Before God renamed her in Genesis 17, Abraham's wife was known by what name?

Both forms likely come from the same Hebrew root meaning 'important woman'; Abram was renamed Abraham in the same passage.

According to Genesis, how old was Sarah when she died?

Abraham bought the cave near Hebron to bury her, the first land the Israelites owned in Canaan.

After an angel found her by a desert spring, Hagar gave God a name usually translated as what?

The name is often rendered 'the God who sees me', and the well was called Beer-lahai-roi.

Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, came from which nation?

Later she found a wife for Ishmael from her own homeland while they lived in the Desert of Paran.

How did Abraham's servant recognise Rebekah as the right wife for Isaac at the well?

He had prayed for exactly that sign, and she kept drawing until all ten camels were full.

Rachel died giving birth to which son of Jacob?

She named him Ben-Oni, 'son of my mourning', but Jacob renamed him.

Genesis 29:17 describes Leah with a phrase usually translated as having what kind of eyes?

Commentators still argue whether the Hebrew word means 'delicate' or simply 'weak'.

Leah traded what to Rachel in exchange for a night with Jacob?

The plant was prized as a fertility charm; Leah went on to bear Issachar and Zebulun.

Deborah delivered her judgments while sitting beneath what kind of tree?

It stood between Ramah and Bethel and became known simply as the Palm of Deborah.

Which Israelite commander refused to march against Sisera unless Deborah went with him?

Deborah agreed but warned that the glory of the victory would go to a woman instead of him.

Jael killed the fleeing general Sisera with what?

The Song of Deborah, which celebrates the deed, is often called the oldest poem in the Bible.

When Sisera asked Jael for water, what did she give him instead?

The warm drink helped send him to sleep, and she covered him with a blanket first.

Jael is traditionally described as the wife of which Kenite?

His clan was at peace with King Jabin, which is why Sisera believed he would be safe with her.

Ruth, the great-grandmother of David, belonged to which people?

Deuteronomy barred her nation from the assembly of Israel, which makes her place in David's line all the more striking.

Which of Naomi's daughters-in-law turned back to her own people rather than go to Bethlehem?

Rabbinic legend later made her an ancestor of Goliath, in pointed contrast to Ruth's line.

Returning widowed to Bethlehem, Naomi told the townspeople to call her by what name instead?

The name means 'bitter', because 'the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me'.

When Hannah prayed silently at the sanctuary in Shiloh, the priest Eli assumed she was what?

Once she explained her vow, he blessed her, and her son Samuel was born within the year.

Before David, Bathsheba was married to which soldier?

David had him carry his own death warrant to the front line at the siege of Rabbah.

Abigail's wealthy husband, whose name means 'fool', insulted David. What was his name?

Ten days after Abigail told him what she had done, 'God struck' him and he died, and David married her.

Because Abigail called herself a 'handmaid', her name became an English word for what?

Swift, Fielding, Trollope and Charlotte Bronte all use it that way.

Esther is first introduced by a Hebrew name meaning 'myrtle tree'. What is it?

Her Persian name may come from Ishtar or the Persian word for 'star'.

Esther was raised by which cousin, whose refusal to bow to Haman set the plot in motion?

He also uncovered an assassination plot against the king, a service recorded in the royal annals.

Esther's rescue of the Jews of Persia is celebrated on which holiday?

The name comes from the lots Haman cast to choose the date for the massacre.

Which adviser urged Ahasuerus to replace Queen Vashti after she refused to appear?

He argued that every wife in Persia would otherwise start disobeying her husband.

Jezebel was a princess of which Phoenician city before she married King Ahab?

Her father Ithobaal I was its king; classical genealogies even make her a great-aunt of Dido of Carthage.

Jezebel had which man executed on false blasphemy charges so Ahab could take his vineyard?

The execution was staged with two witnesses to keep it technically legal.

After Jezebel was thrown from a window and eaten by dogs, which parts of her body were left to bury?

She had put on make-up and a formal wig to face Jehu from the window.

Rahab hid Joshua's two spies on her roof under what?

Flax and barley ripen together in the Jordan valley, so the stalks would have been drying on the roof at harvest time.

Rahab of Jericho married Salmon and became the mother of which man in the line of David?

Matthew's genealogy of Jesus lists her, spelled Rachab in the King James Version.

Delilah is described as a woman from which valley?

She is the only woman in Samson's story who is given a name.

Each Philistine lord offered Delilah how many pieces of silver to learn the secret of Samson's strength?

Her third failed attempt involved weaving his hair into a loom.

The prophetess Huldah was consulted about a newly found book of the Law under which king?

Some scholars call her the first person to declare a written text to be Holy Scripture.

Huldah's husband Shallum held what post at the royal court?

The Huldah Gates in the Temple Mount's southern wall are named after her.

Mary's song of praise after Elizabeth's greeting is known by what Latin name?

It closely echoes Hannah's song of thanksgiving in 1 Samuel 2.

Luke says Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was descended from which priestly ancestor?

Her husband Zechariah was struck mute until the boy was named.

According to Luke, how many demons had Jesus cast out of Mary Magdalene?

Medieval preachers later reinterpreted them as the seven deadly sins.

Which pope's sermon in 591 first cast Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute?

He merged her with the unnamed 'sinful woman' of Luke 7 and with Mary of Bethany; the Eastern churches never accepted the mash-up.

In John's gospel, whom did Mary Magdalene mistake the risen Jesus for outside the tomb?

She recognised him only when he said her name, and answered 'Rabbouni'.

Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus' feet with about a pint of which costly perfume?

Judas complained it could have been sold for a year's wages.

Lydia, the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe, earned her money selling what?

Her home city of Thyatira was famous for its red-purple dye, and the Catholic Church made her patroness of dyers.

Priscilla and her husband Aquila shared what trade with Paul?

The couple had been expelled from Rome under Claudius before Paul lodged with them in Corinth.

Priscilla and Aquila took aside which eloquent preacher and 'explained the way of God more accurately'?

Some scholars have proposed Priscilla as the anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Dorcas, the charitable seamstress raised from the dead by Peter, was also known by which Aramaic name?

Both names mean 'gazelle', and the dorcas gazelle still carries her Greek name.

Paul commends Phoebe as a deacon of the church in which port town near Corinth?

She is the only woman in the New Testament explicitly called a deacon.

The Hebrew name of Eve is most commonly understood to mean what?

Some scholars also link it to an Aramaic word for 'snake', a pun the rabbis enjoyed.

Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was the daughter of which priest of Midian?

Moses met her at a well after driving off shepherds who were harassing her and her six sisters.

At an inn on the road, Zipporah saved Moses' life by circumcising their son with what?

She then declared 'Surely you are a husband of blood to me', one of the most puzzling lines in Exodus.

Saul set the bride price for his daughter Michal at how many Philistine foreskins?

David came back with double the number.

Whom does Paul greet as 'outstanding among the apostles', a woman later masculinised as 'Junias'?

The first named author to call her a man was Giles of Rome in the 13th century.