Q 01/05

In Genesis, what becomes of Babel once its builders can no longer understand each other?

A) It is burned down

B) It is finished later

C) It is flooded

D) It is left unfinished

Answer · why

D) It is left unfinished

It is left unfinished. Genesis says only that they 'left off to build the city'; the tower blown down by storm winds comes from a later prophecy quote...

Q 02/05

In the Babel story, what does God do first when the builders start their tower?

A) Sends forty days of rain

B) Comes down to look at it

C) Strikes it with lightning

D) Shakes the earth beneath it

Answer · why

B) Comes down to look at it

Comes down to look at it. Genesis says 'the Lord came down to see the city and the tower', so the building meant to touch heaven is one God has to des...

Q 03/05

In which land do the builders of Babel settle before starting their tower?

A) Moab

B) Shinar

C) Canaan

D) Goshen

Answer · why

B) Shinar

Shinar. It is the Bible's name for southern Mesopotamia, so the story plants its overreaching city on the very plain where the real Babylon stood.

Q 04/05

According to Genesis, what did Babel's builders use in place of stone and mortar?

A) Baked brick and bitumen slime

B) Mud brick and chopped straw

C) Sun-dried brick and wet clay

D) Rough brick and lime plaster

Answer · why

A) Baked brick and bitumen slime

Baked brick and bitumen slime. A rabbinic legend adds that the builders sat down and wept whenever a brick fell from the tower, but paid no heed when ...

Q 05/05

In Genesis, what did Babel's builders hope to avoid by making a name for themselves?

A) Being conquered from the east

B) Being starved by a great famine

C) Being scattered over the earth

D) Being struck by plague

Answer · why

C) Being scattered over the earth

Being scattered over the earth. The story turns on the irony: the one fate they built the city to prevent is exactly the fate God hands them.