King Saul
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50 free King Saul trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Saul's story is one of the great tragedies of the Old Testament. A shy young man from a minor family is picked out to be Israel's first king, wins his early battles, and then slowly loses everything: the backing of Samuel, who chose him, his peace of mind, and finally his throne to a young musician he once loved. This quiz follows him through 1 Samuel from start to finish: the search that led him to Samuel, the day he was chosen, his wars with the Philistines and the Amalekites, the commands he bent and the price he paid, his years hunting David through caves and deserts, the eerie night before his last battle and what became of his family afterwards. A few questions look at how his story lives on in music, language and other faiths. It works for Sunday school classes, youth groups, family devotions and Bible study leaders. The opening questions are ones children can answer from the best-known stories, and the later ones reward readers who know the chapters 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 strayed animals was young Saul searching for on his father's orders when he first met Samuel?
Donkeys
Donkeys led Saul to a kingdom: after three days of fruitless searching, his servant suggested consulting a local seer, who turned out to be expecting him.
Q 02Where was Saul found hiding when Israel's tribes met and the lot picked him as their first king?
Among the baggage
Among the baggage is where the reluctant king turned up, and only after the people inquired of the LORD where he was. They had to run and fetch him before they could cheer him.
Q 03Which instrument did young David play to soothe King Saul whenever a troubling spirit came over him?
Harp
Harp playing is what first brought David to court: a servant recommended a young man from Bethlehem as a skilled player, and the king grew so fond of him that he kept him.
Q 04Why did Saul walk alone into the cave at En Gedi where David and his men happened to be hiding?
To relieve himself
To relieve himself is the reason 1 Samuel gives, and it left the king defenceless. David crept close enough to kill him but only cut a piece from his clothing.
Q 05In which village did a disguised Saul consult a medium on the night before his final battle?
Endor
Endor was a risky trip for both of them: Saul himself had driven mediums out of the land, and the woman feared his request was a trap to get her killed.
Q 06What did Saul try to dress David in before the fight with Goliath, only for David to take it off?
His own armor
His own armor, with a bronze helmet and a coat of mail, was what Saul offered. David said he had not tested them and went out with a staff, a sling and five smooth stones.
Q 07Which weapon did a jealous Saul hurl at David, trying to pin him to the wall as he played music?
A spear
A spear was rarely out of Saul's hand in 1 Samuel, and David dodged it more than once. The king later threw one at his own son Jonathan for defending David.
Q 08Which common English saying comes from David's lament over Saul and Jonathan?
How the mighty have fallen
How the mighty have fallen is the refrain of the Song of the Bow, David's grief for a king who had hunted him for years. He ordered the people of Judah to learn it.
Q 09Which physical feature of Saul does 1 Samuel note both at his introduction and when he is made king?
His height
His height made Saul look the part of a king: he stood head and shoulders above the crowd, which made it all the stranger that he had just been hiding from it.
Q 10Saul came from which tribe, described in his own words as the smallest of the tribes of Israel?
Benjamin
Benjamin was also, Saul protested, home to the least important family of all: his own. Samuel answered by seating him at the head of about thirty guests.
Q 11Which daughter of Saul married David and later let him down through a window to escape her father?
Michal
Michal was Saul's younger daughter. Her older sister had been promised to David first, but when the time came she was married to another man instead.
Q 12Whom did Israel's elders say they wanted to resemble when they demanded the king who became Saul?
The other nations
The other nations had kings to lead them into battle, and Israel wanted the same. Samuel took the request as a rejection, and was told it was the LORD they had rejected.
Q 13Which act by Saul at Gilgal, done rather than keep waiting for Samuel, cost his family the throne?
Offering the sacrifice
Q 21Which animals did David say he had killed, to prove he was fit to face Goliath?
A lion and a bear
A lion and a bear had each raided his father's flock, David said, and he had killed both. Saul was persuaded and sent him out with a blessing.
Q 22On which mountain did Saul and three of his sons die in a rout by the Philistine army?
Mount Gilboa
Mount Gilboa saw Israel's army break and run. Towns across the valley were then abandoned to the Philistines, undoing much of what Saul had spent his reign fighting for.
Q 23Which Amalekite king did Saul take alive and spare, defying the order to destroy everything?
Agag
Agag walked up to Samuel cheerfully, sure that the danger had passed. Samuel cut him down himself, then never visited Saul again.
Offering the sacrifice was meant to wait for Samuel, but after seven days Saul's frightened army was slipping away. Samuel arrived just as he finished and said his kingdom would not last.
Q 14How did Saul die, hard-pressed by enemy archers, after his terrified aide refused to kill him?
He fell on his sword
He fell on his sword rather than be captured and abused, and his aide then did the same. A later messenger claimed to have finished the king off, and David had him executed.
Q 15What did Samuel pour on Saul's head from a small flask before kissing him and declaring him ruler?
Oil
Oil poured on the head made Saul the LORD's anointed, a title that later protected him: David refused to harm him because of it, even with the king at his mercy.
Q 16Which food did Jonathan taste, unaware that Saul had cursed any soldier who ate before evening?
Honey
Honey nearly cost Jonathan his life: the lot exposed him, Saul ordered his own son's death, and only the army's refusal to allow it saved him.
Q 17Which apostle, himself also called Saul, recalls King Saul's reign in a sermon recorded in Acts 13?
Paul
Paul told a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch that Saul reigned forty years before God removed him and raised up David, a man after his own heart.
Q 18Whose victory song enraged Saul by crediting David with ten times as many kills as the king?
The women of Israel
The women of Israel came out dancing with tambourines to greet the returning army. From that day on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
Q 19Which kind of leaders had guided Israel's scattered tribes before Saul became the first king?
Judges
Judges still led the tribes when Saul was young, and Samuel travelled a yearly circuit as one. The elders demanded a king when Samuel grew old and his sons proved unfit to follow him.
Q 20Which cheer did the whole crowd raise when Samuel presented Saul as the man the LORD had chosen?
Long live the king
Long live the king greeted Saul at his first public appearance, but not everyone was won over: some scoffed that he could never save them and brought him no gifts.
Q 24Which sound exposed Saul's claim that he had destroyed everything the Amalekites owned?
Bleating sheep
Bleating sheep and lowing cattle were plainly audible when Samuel arrived. Saul blamed the soldiers and said the best animals had been saved for the altar.
Q 25Who was the father of King Saul, in whose family tomb at Zela the king's bones were finally laid?
Kish
Kish had servants and livestock of his own, so Saul was no pauper. Years after the king's death, David moved his bones and Jonathan's into the family tomb.
Q 26To which hometown did Saul return after being made king, a town later known by his own name?
Gibeah
Gibeah stayed Saul's base for his whole reign: he held court there under a tamarisk tree, and messengers seeking help came to find him there.
Q 27What tore as Samuel turned to walk away from Saul, a sign that the kingdom was torn away?
The prophet's robe
The prophet's robe ripped in Saul's hand, and Samuel turned it into a verdict: the kingdom had been torn from him that day and given to a better man.
Q 28What did Saul cut into pieces and send throughout Israel to summon an army against the Ammonites?
A pair of oxen
A pair of oxen, chopped up and sent out with a threat that every shirker's animals would get the same, raised a huge army. Saul had just come in from working the fields behind them.
Q 29What did Nahash the Ammonite demand from each man of a besieged town before Saul marched to save it?
His right eye
His right eye was the price of surrender, meant to shame all Israel. The town won seven days' grace to seek help, and the news reached Saul just in time.
Q 30What did Jonathan use as a secret signal in a field to warn David that Saul meant to kill him?
Arrows
Arrows shot beyond a servant boy, with a shout that they lay farther on, told the hidden David to flee. The day before, Saul had hurled a weapon at Jonathan for taking David's side.