Christmas Bible Trivia
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177 free Christmas Bible trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
61 free Christmas Bible trivia questions with answers. This is Christmas Bible trivia for people who want the story as scripture actually tells it: the angel in Nazareth, the census, the shepherds in the fields, the Magi who arrive at a house rather than a stable, and Herod's fury. It also covers what the church did with the story afterwards: Advent and its rose candle, the O Antiphons, Epiphany, Candlemas, Midnight Mass, and Christmas customs from Mexico's Las Posadas to Ireland's Women's Christmas. Sixty-one questions run from easy (which angel visited Mary?) to genuinely difficult (which priestly division did John the Baptist's father belong to?). Roughly a third are Sunday-school easy, a third medium, and the rest are meant to trouble a seminary graduate. Use it for a church quiz night, a youth group, a family Christmas dinner, or a religious round in a general trivia night. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the nativity narratives, the individual figures, and the feasts of the season, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 177 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which angel told Mary that she would conceive and bear a son?
Gabriel
Gabriel: Luke 1:26-31 says the angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth and told Mary she would conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus.
Q 02In which town of Galilee was Mary living when the angel visited her?
Nazareth
Nazareth: Luke 1:26-27 says Gabriel was sent to 'a city of Galilee, named Nazareth', to a virgin betrothed to Joseph of the house of David.
Q 03Where did Mary lay the newborn Jesus after wrapping him in swaddling clothes?
A manger
A manger: Luke 2:7 says Mary 'wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn'.
Q 04In Luke, which Roman emperor ordered the census that sent Joseph to Bethlehem?
Augustus
Augustus: Luke 2:1 says 'there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed'; Joseph went to Bethlehem as a descendant of David.
Q 05According to Luke, the registration took place while which man was governor of Syria?
Quirinius
Quirinius: Luke 2:2 calls it 'the first census, when Quirinius was governor of Syria'. Josephus dates his census to AD 6, about a decade after Herod's death, so the chronology is disputed.
Q 06In Luke, which group is told of Jesus's birth by an angel that night?
Shepherds
Shepherds: Luke 2:8-11 says shepherds 'abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night' were told by an angel that a Saviour was born in Bethlehem.
Q 07Which Latin hymn of the Mass opens with the angels' words from Luke 2:14?
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo: the hymn opens with the angels' song of Luke 2:14, 'Glory to God in the highest', and is also called the Greater Doxology.
Q 08What three gifts did the Magi bring to the infant Jesus?
Gold, frankincense and myrrh
Gold, frankincense and myrrh: Matthew 2:11 lists the three gifts; a traditional reading makes gold a king's tribute, frankincense worship of God, and myrrh an anointing for burial.
Q 09Which psalm says 'the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts'?
Psalm 72
Psalm 72: verse 10 reads 'the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts', a verse that helped turn Matthew's Magi into kings.
Q 10Relics said to be the bones of the Magi are enshrined where?
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral: Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the relics to Cologne in 1164, and the gilded Shrine of the Three Kings behind the high altar was made to hold them.
Q 11In Matthew's account, in what kind of building did the Magi find the child with his mother?
A house
A house: Matthew 2:11 says the Magi 'were come into the house' and saw the child with Mary; crib scenes that put them at the manger merge two separate episodes.
Q 12The Greek word magos comes from Old Persian and referred to the priestly caste of which religion?
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism: magos comes via Old Persian magus, the priestly class of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia; some translations render Matthew's magoi as 'astrologers' or 'wise men'.
Q 13In Matthew, Herod ordered the killing of the boys around Bethlehem up to what age?
Two years and under
Q 21How does the angel deliver every message to Joseph in Matthew's Gospel?
In dreams
In dreams: every angelic message to Joseph in Matthew (1:20, 2:13, 2:19, 2:22) comes 'in a dream', echoing the Old Testament Joseph, another son of a Jacob, whose dreams took him to Pharaoh's court.
Q 22The name Jesus is a Greek form of which Old Testament name?
Joshua
Joshua: Jesus renders the Hebrew Yeshua, a late form of Yehoshua (Joshua), from the root y-sh-ayin, 'to save', which is why the angel says the child 'shall save his people from their sins'.
Q 23Which priest was struck mute for doubting the angel who announced his son's birth?
Zechariah
Josephus catalogued many of Herod's crimes, including the murder of three of his own sons, but never mentions this one.
Q 14Matthew links the massacre to 'Rachel weeping for her children', a line from which prophet?
Jeremiah
Jeremiah: Matthew 2:18 quotes Jeremiah 31:15, 'Rachel weeping for her children', and the verses that follow in Jeremiah turn to hope and restoration.
Q 15To which country did Joseph take the family to escape Herod?
Egypt
Egypt: Matthew 2:13-15 has the angel tell Joseph to 'flee into Egypt', where the family stayed until Herod's death, fulfilling 'Out of Egypt have I called my son'.
Q 16The name Immanuel, which Matthew quotes from the prophets, means what?
God with us
God with us: Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 and adds 'which being interpreted is, God with us'; the Hebrew Immanu-El joins immanu, 'with us', and El, 'God'.
Q 17Matthew's genealogy of Jesus is arranged in three sets of how many generations?
Fourteen
Fourteen is the gematria, or numerical value, of the name David in Hebrew letters.
Q 18Luke's genealogy works backwards from Jesus to which man?
Adam
Adam: Luke 3:23-38 runs from Joseph back through David and Abraham to 'Adam, which was the son of God', whereas Matthew starts with Abraham.
Q 19Besides Mary, which four women appear in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus?
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba: Matthew 1 lists Tamar, Rahab and Ruth by name and Bathsheba only as 'the wife of Uriah'; each story involves a scandal or an outsider.
Q 20In Matthew 13:55, what do the people of Jesus's home town call him?
The carpenter's son
The carpenter's son: in Matthew 13:55 the people of his home town ask 'Is not this the carpenter's son?', naming Joseph's trade; Mark 6:3 calls Jesus himself 'the carpenter'.
Zechariah: Luke 1:20 has Gabriel strike the priest Zechariah dumb for doubting; his speech returned only when he wrote 'His name is John' at the boy's circumcision.
Q 24John the Baptist's mother, described by Luke as a relative of Mary, was called what?
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: Luke 1:5 names Zechariah's wife Elizabeth, 'of the daughters of Aaron', and in Luke 1:36 Gabriel calls her Mary's kinswoman, already expecting John.
Q 25John the Baptist's father served as a priest in which division of the priesthood?
Abijah
Abijah: Luke 1:5 says Zechariah was 'of the course of Abia', the eighth of the 24 priestly divisions listed in 1 Chronicles 24; Elizabeth too was 'of the daughters of Aaron'.
Q 26Mary's song of praise in Luke 1 is known by which Latin name?
Magnificat
Magnificat: Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55 takes its name from the Vulgate's opening 'Magnificat anima mea Dominum'; it echoes Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2 and is sung at Vespers and Evensong.
Q 27Which canticle did John the Baptist's father sing at his son's circumcision?
Benedictus
Benedictus: after regaining his speech at John's circumcision, Zechariah prophesied 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel' (Luke 1:68-79), a canticle sung every morning at Lauds.
Q 28Which righteous man in Jerusalem was promised he would not die before seeing the Messiah?
Simeon
Simeon: Luke 2:25-26 says the Holy Spirit promised the righteous Simeon he would not die before seeing 'the Lord's Christ'; he also told Mary a sword would pierce her soul.
Q 29Which Latin canticle, sung at Compline and Evensong, is taken from Luke 2:29–32?
Nunc dimittis
Nunc dimittis: Simeon's canticle in Luke 2:29-32 is named from the Vulgate's opening 'Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine', 'Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord'.
Q 30Anna the prophetess, who spoke about the infant Jesus in the Temple, belonged to which tribe?
Asher
Asher: Luke 2:36 introduces 'one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser', a widow of eighty-four who never left the Temple.