Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
- Genesis 28:14-15
“How familiar are you with places in the Bible? All the answers to the questions below begin with the letter “B”.
- J. Stephen Lang, The Whimsical Quizzical Bible Trivia Book
Note: I would have stated in the original quiz that all the questions focus on place names starting with “B”, but I eliminated those written in the reverse, giving the “B” name and asking for the significance or meaning of the name.
Disclaimer: Whenever I quote something from this book, I will include this disclaimer. The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is useful for instruction. Thus, none of Scripture could be considered “Trivia.” And if this quiz causes people to look up the answers, that is not trivial at all.
The Questions:
- What small town was the birthplace of both David and Jesus?
- All human beings spoke a common language until the Lord confused their tongues in what place?
- What town was usually named as being the southern limit of Israel?
- What region was ruled by King Og, noted for possessing an iron bed?
- What village was home to Jesus’ friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary?
- What Galilean city was home to the disciples Peter, Ander, and Philip?
- Where did Jacob have his dream of a stairway to heaven?
- Where was Moses buried?
- In what Philistine city were the bodies of the slain Saul and Jonathan put on display?
- What kingdom was ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar?
I will now give the Bible references for each of these questions, at least one for each question, if you needed to look them up, but also to provide a break between the questions and the answers.
The Bible References:
- 1 Samuel 17:12 and Matthew 2. The question could have been the place of Rachel’s death and burial (Genesis 35:19), but I went for the easy one, and the more significant. Or even where Naomi and Ruth moved (Ruth 1:22).
- Genesis 11:1-9
- Judges 20:1. Ten times in the NIV you will find the expression, relating to north to south, as from Dan to this town.
- You didn’t think they would all be easy did you? Oh, the Scripture reference? Number 21:33
- John 12:1
- John 1:44
- Genesis 28:10-22. Another question with this answer could be the city mentioned the most in the Bible that starts with a “B”, only second to Jerusalem.
- Deuteronomy 34:6
- 1 Samuel 31:10 and the people of Jabesh Gilead captured the bodies and buried them in Jabesh.
- 2 Kings 24:1
The Answers:
- Bethlehem
- Babel. Babel means “confusion.”
- Beersheba. There are a lot of place names beginning with “Beer” in Israel. “Beer” means “well,” an important thing to put on a map in an arid land.
- Bashan
- Bethany
- Bethsaida. Bethsaida was where Jesus healed a blind man. It is also one of the towns in Jesus’ curses. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. (Luke 10:13)
- Bethel.
- Beth Peor
- Beth Shan. With all these place names beginning with “Beth” you might be wondering. “Beth” means “house.”
- Babylon. The quoted book says that Babylon is mentioned about 250 times in the Bible, but the NIV mentions Babylon over 300 times.
Treat yourself to a bit of music from Boney M, now that the subject of Babylon has been brought up.
If this song, sung by a Euro-Caribbean disco-reggae group, seems familiar, go to Psalm 137 and Psalm 19:14 (KJV). Psalm 137 is a strange song. Their captors, the Babylonians, wanted their captives to entertain them with a song, so they did. Psalm 137 starts out as the song in the video says, singing a song although while in captivity we have no song in our hearts, but the last couple of verses of Psalm 137 calls for Babylon to be cursed. Obviously, their captors did not know their language.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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