Joseph (Son of Jacob)
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50 free Joseph (Son of Jacob) trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Joseph's story fills the closing chapters of Genesis and reads like a novel: a favored son, a family betrayal, a slave who rises to run a kingdom, and a reunion that hinges on forgiveness. It is one of the first Bible stories many children learn, and one that adults keep finding new layers in. This quiz follows the whole arc. It starts with the teenage dreamer and his jealous brothers, moves through his time serving an Egyptian officer and his time in prison, then on to Pharaoh's troubling dreams, the famine and the brothers' tense journeys to buy food. Later questions cover the family's move to Egypt, Jacob's final blessings, Joseph's last wishes and the way the story has been retold in other books, on stage and on screen. It suits Sunday school classes, children's Bible quizzes, youth groups and Bible study leaders, with easier questions for young players and tougher ones for adults who know Genesis well. Every answer comes with a short explanation tied to the text.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which gift from Jacob did Joseph's jealous brothers later dip in goat's blood and carry home?
A coat of many colors
A coat of many colors marked Joseph as the favorite, so his brothers stripped it off him before selling him and used it to convince Jacob that he was dead.
Q 02For how many pieces of silver did Joseph's brothers sell him to traders heading for Egypt?
20
At 20 pieces of silver the sale was a compromise: one brother argued there was no profit in killing Joseph when they could sell him instead.
Q 03In the dream Joseph explained for Pharaoh, which seven fat creatures were eaten by seven thin ones?
Cows
Cows came first, then a second dream repeated the warning with heads of grain, and Joseph said the doubling meant God had settled the matter and would act soon.
Q 04In Joseph's second dream, what bowed down to him alongside the sun and the moon?
Eleven stars
Eleven stars bowed in the dream, and this time even Jacob scolded Joseph, asking whether his father, mother and brothers were really going to kneel before him.
Q 05When his brothers first came to Egypt to buy grain, what did Joseph accuse them of being?
Spies
Spies was the charge, and Joseph used it to test them: he kept one brother in custody and demanded they come back with the youngest to prove their story.
Q 06Which leader carried Joseph's bones out of Egypt, keeping a promise made generations earlier?
Moses
Moses took the bones along at the Exodus because a dying Joseph had made his family swear not to leave his remains behind in Egypt.
Q 07Which composer turned Joseph's story into a pop cantata for a London school with lyricist Tim Rice?
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote it as a 15-minute piece for a school choir, and it grew into a full-length musical that reached the West End and Broadway.
Q 08After walking free from prison, how did Pharaoh's cupbearer repay Joseph's request to be remembered?
Forgot him
Forgot him is the Bible's blunt verdict, though Joseph had asked only to be mentioned to Pharaoh; the cupbearer's memory came back when the king had dreams no one could explain.
Q 09Where did Joseph's brothers throw him while they sat down to eat and decided his fate?
Into an empty pit
Into an empty pit they threw him, a hole with no water in it, and while he was down there a caravan bound for Egypt came into view.
Q 10Which symbol of authority did Pharaoh hand Joseph along with fine linen robes and a gold chain?
His signet ring
His signet ring came off Pharaoh's own hand, and with it Joseph, hurried out of a dungeon earlier that day, was set over all the land of Egypt.
Q 11Which wife of Jacob, long unable to have children, finally became the mother of Joseph?
Rachel
Rachel was the wife Jacob loved most, which helps explain why her firstborn became his favorite; she later died bringing her second son into the world.
Q 12By what other name, given after a night of wrestling, does Genesis call Joseph's father Jacob?
Israel
Israel is the name the Joseph story keeps switching to for Jacob, and it passed from him to the nation descended from his twelve sons.
Q 13According to Genesis, why did Jacob love Joseph more than all his other children?
Born in his old age
Born in his old age is the reason Genesis gives, and Jacob's open favoritism left the other brothers unable to speak a friendly word to Joseph.
Q 21Which post did Potiphar, the Egyptian who bought Joseph, hold in Pharaoh's service?
Captain of the guard
Captain of the guard meant the royal prison stood in Potiphar's own house, the very place where Joseph would later be locked up.
Q 22What did Potiphar place in Joseph's hands after seeing that everything he did prospered?
His entire household
His entire household ran so smoothly under Joseph that Potiphar stopped thinking about anything except the food on his own plate.
Q 23What reason did Joseph give Potiphar's wife for refusing her advances day after day?
It was a sin against God
Q 14What did the teenage Joseph bring home to Jacob after tending the flocks with his brothers?
A bad report
A bad report about his brothers is the first thing Joseph does in the story, so the family tension was simmering before any special gift or dream arrived.
Q 15In Joseph's first dream, what belonging to his brothers gathered around and bowed to his own?
Their sheaves
Their sheaves bowed to his in the field, and the brothers got the point at once, asking whether he really meant to reign over them.
Q 16What did Joseph's brothers lead Jacob to believe had killed his favorite son?
A wild animal
A wild animal was the cover story the brothers agreed on before Joseph even reached them, and Jacob supplied it himself when he saw the blood.
Q 17Which eldest brother talked the others out of killing Joseph, secretly planning to bring him home?
Reuben
Reuben meant to rescue Joseph later, but the sale went ahead without him, and he tore his clothes in grief when he came back and found his brother gone.
Q 18Which brother proposed selling Joseph and later offered himself as a slave to spare the youngest?
Judah
Judah made both speeches, and the second, a plea to stay behind so that their father would not lose another son, moved Joseph to tears and to reveal who he was.
Q 19Which traders, their camels loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, bought Joseph from his brothers?
Ishmaelites
Ishmaelites on the road from Gilead to Egypt made the purchase, and Genesis also calls the merchants Midianites in the same breath.
Q 20What did Jacob put on around his waist while mourning Joseph for many days?
Sackcloth
Sackcloth was the rough fabric of grief, and Jacob refused every attempt at comfort, saying he would go down to the grave still mourning his son.
It was a sin against God, Joseph told her, and a betrayal of the master who had trusted him, and she kept pressing him day after day until he fled.
Q 24What did Potiphar's wife hold on to as false proof that Joseph had attacked her?
His cloak
His cloak stayed in her grip when Joseph ran from the house, and she kept it beside her until her husband came home to hear her version.
Q 25Which fruit did Pharaoh's cupbearer dream of pressing, a dream Joseph read as a promise of freedom?
Grapes
Grapes grew on a vine with three branches in the dream, and Joseph read the branches as three days until the cupbearer would be serving Pharaoh again.
Q 26In the dream Joseph read for Pharaoh's baker, which creatures ate from the baskets on his head?
Birds
Birds pecking at the bread were the bad omen, and Joseph had to tell the baker that within three days Pharaoh would have him hanged.
Q 27On what occasion did Pharaoh free his cupbearer and hang his baker, just as Joseph had foretold?
His own birthday
His own birthday feast, held on the third day after the dreams, is where Pharaoh dealt with both men in front of all his servants.
Q 28What did Joseph do, besides changing his clothes, before being rushed from the dungeon to Pharaoh?
Shaved
Shaved and freshly dressed, Joseph went straight from the dungeon to the court, where he told Pharaoh the power to explain dreams was God's, not his.
Q 29Joseph told Pharaoh that the seven good heads of grain in his dream stood for seven what?
Years
Years of plenty would give way to a famine so severe that the good times would be forgotten, Joseph warned, and he advised storing food while the harvests lasted.
Q 30Which Egyptian woman did Pharaoh give Joseph as a wife, later the mother of his two sons?
Asenath
Asenath was the daughter of Potiphera of On, and Pharaoh arranged the marriage in the same breath as he gave Joseph a new Egyptian name.