Bible Geography Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
98 free Bible Geography trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This Bible geography trivia quiz walks through the places behind the stories, from Ur and the mountains of Ararat to Patmos and Rome. It covers the land of Israel and its neighbours: Bethlehem and Nazareth, Jericho and Hebron, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, Mount Sinai, Mount Nebo, Mount Carmel and the Mount of Olives, Capernaum, Cana, Bethany and Emmaus. It also follows the exiles and the apostles abroad: Goshen in Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon and Damascus, then Paul's world of Tarsus, Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, Athens and Malta. Expect questions on which river Jesus was baptised in, which lake is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, where the disciples were first called Christians, which island received the Book of Revelation, and where Moses saw the Promised Land. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who knows the main stories, a third need a closer knowledge of the map, and the rest reward people who know the modern names and locations of the ancient sites. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the places before publishing, and each question carries the sentence that establishes it. If you think one is wrong, use the report button and we will look again.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does the Hebrew name of Bethlehem, Bet Lehem, literally mean?
House of bread
House of bread: yet the Book of Ruth opens with a famine that drove Naomi's family out of Bethlehem to Moab.
Q 02Which king does the Hebrew Bible identify as having been born in Bethlehem?
David
David: Samuel turned down Jesse's seven older sons before the youngest was fetched in from the sheep and anointed.
Q 03Which Nazareth basilica is built over the grotto Catholics venerate as the Virgin Mary's home?
The Annunciation
The Annunciation: Pope Paul VI visited the shrine in 1964 while it was still under construction, five years before its 1969 consecration.
Q 04Which biblical 'city of palm trees' was the first the Israelites captured in the Promised Land?
Jericho
Jericho: when its walls fell, only Rahab and her family were spared, because she had hidden Joshua's two spies.
Q 05Which chief tax collector, according to Luke, gave half his goods to the poor after meeting Jesus?
Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus: too short to see Jesus over the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree, and Jesus called him down and stayed at his house.
Q 06Which Philistine city does the Bible name as the giant Goliath's hometown?
Gath
Gath: when the Philistines carried the captured Ark of the Covenant there, the city's men were struck with tumors.
Q 07Which two events does the Bible place in the Jordan River?
The Israelites' crossing and Jesus's baptism
The Israelites' crossing and Jesus's baptism: Joshua says the river's waters parted so the people could cross on dry ground.
Q 08Which lake, called Kinneret in Hebrew, is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth?
The Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee: when a storm filled the disciples' boat with waves, Jesus rebuked the wind and the lake fell calm.
Q 09Where did Jesus pray on the night Judas betrayed him, according to Matthew and Mark?
Gethsemane
Gethsemane: while he prayed, Peter, James and John kept falling asleep, and he told them the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Q 10Which name for the Dead Sea appears in the Hebrew Bible?
Sea of Salt
Sea of Salt: Ezekiel foretold that its waters would be healed and would teem with fish.
Q 11Roughly how much saltier than the ocean is the Dead Sea?
Nearly tenfold
Nearly tenfold: fish swept in by the Jordan die quickly, and the dense brine keeps bathers floating.
Q 12On which mountain, known in Arabic as Jabal Musa, is Moses said to have received the Ten Commandments?
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai: coming down and finding the Israelites dancing around a golden calf, Moses smashed the stone tablets.
Q 13From which mountain in modern Jordan did Moses view the Promised Land before he died?
Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo: God let Moses see the land from its summit, but had told him he would never enter it.
Q 21On the road to which village did two disciples walk with the risen Jesus without recognizing him?
Emmaus
Emmaus: their eyes were opened only when he blessed their evening meal, and then he vanished from their sight.
Q 22In which region of Egypt did Pharaoh allow Jacob's family to settle in the time of Joseph?
Goshen
Goshen: Exodus says the plagues of flies and hail struck Egypt but spared the land where the Israelites lived.
Q 23Where does Genesis say Noah's Ark came to rest?
The mountains of Ararat
Scholars note that Ararat is the Hebrew name for the kingdom of Urartu, so the text may mean the wider region.
Q 14On which mountain did Elijah challenge 450 prophets of Baal to a contest of fire?
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel: Baal's prophets called on their god all day with no answer, but fire fell on the altar Elijah had soaked with water.
Q 15According to Acts, from which hill did Jesus ascend to heaven?
The Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives: two men in white told the watching disciples that Jesus would return the same way they had seen him go.
Q 16In 2 Samuel, the name Zion first refers to what?
The Jebusite fortress David captured
The Jebusite fortress David captured: he moved into the fort and renamed it the City of David.
Q 17In which city did Abraham buy the Cave of the Patriarchs as a burial place for Sarah?
Hebron
Hebron: Ephron the Hittite offered the cave as a gift, but Abraham insisted on paying the full price for it.
Q 18Which lakeside town does Matthew say Jesus made his home after leaving Nazareth?
Capernaum
Capernaum: Jesus later denounced the town because it did not repent despite the miracles he did there.
Q 19At which Galilean village did Jesus turn water into wine, according to John's Gospel?
Cana
Cana: the steward, not knowing where the wine had come from, praised the groom for saving the best wine until last.
Q 20Which town near Jerusalem is the setting for the raising of Lazarus in John's Gospel?
Bethany
Bethany: told that his friend Lazarus was sick, Jesus deliberately stayed where he was for two more days before setting out.
Q 24To which land did Moses flee after killing an Egyptian?
Midian
Midian: when shepherds drove a priest's daughters from a well, Moses helped them, and he married one of them, Zipporah.
Q 25From which city does Genesis say Terah set out with his son Abram and grandson Lot?
Ur of the Chaldees
Ur of the Chaldees: they were bound for another land but settled in Haran along the way, and Terah died there.
Q 26Which prophet cried out that Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days?
Jonah
Jonah: when the city repented and God spared it, Jonah was not relieved but very angry.
Q 27The ruins of ancient Nineveh lie within which modern Iraqi city, on the Tigris's eastern bank?
Mosul
Mosul: in the 1840s Austen Henry Layard dug there and took thousands of tablets from Ashurbanipal's library back to England.
Q 28Genesis 11:9 interprets the name Babel, the Hebrew form of Babylon, to mean what?
Confusion
Confusion: Genesis links Babel to the Hebrew verb balal, to confuse, because God jumbled the builders' one language and they stopped building.
Q 29Which Damascus road, named in Acts 9:11 in Paul's conversion story, was the Roman city's main east-west artery?
Straight Street
Straight Street: blinded on the road, Paul waited in a house there for three days until Ananias came and his sight returned.
Q 30At which Jerusalem pool did Jesus heal a man who had been ill for 38 years?
The Pool of Bethesda
The Pool of Bethesda: the man complained that no one would lower him in when the water stirred, so Jesus told him to take up his bed and walk.