He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

• 1 Kings 4:31

David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.

• 1 Chronicles 13:8

Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

• 1 Chronicles 16:42

The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

• Nehemiah 12:8

I wrote recently that there were bits of songs, at least poetry, in most of the books of the Bible.  I was thinking of the little bits of poetry that you find in most books of the Bible, but I had never looked and did the math.  So, as an engineer, I hate making a statement that I cannot back up with facts.

This quiz will be simple.  I will quote a verse or two, maybe three, from what is formatted in the Bible as poetry.  The primary question is what book of the Bible did this verse or two come from.  But then the bonus is twofold: Who said the poetry (if known)?  And what are the circumstances?

Editor’s Note: One line of one of the poems was not formatted as part of the poem in the NIV but was in the CSB.  One poem was not formatted as a poem at all in the NIV but was in the CSB.  And one poem is technically a poem but was not written as lines of poetry in either translation.

This quiz might seem difficult, but do not panic.  Many of these poems relate to well-known stories in the Bible.  Then, there might be a few that could be a toss up, but with many of them identified, you may not have to do a lot of guessing.

The verses are in alphabetical order and all from the Old Testament.  In fact, there is one poem in this quiz from all the first ten books of the Bible.

Since the primary answers are the Bible References, there will be no Bible Reference Section this week.

The Questions:

	Poetry	Book	who? And circumstances?
1	“‘Among those who approach me     I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people     I will be honored.’” Moses spoke, but he says that this is what the Lord said
2	“Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son     he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest     he will set up its gates.”
3	“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
4	“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,     in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;     travelers took to winding paths. Villagers in Israel would not fight;     they held back until I, Deborah, arose,     until I arose, a mother in Israel.
5	“My heart rejoices in the Lord;     in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies,     for I delight in your deliverance. “There is no one holy like the Lord;     there is no one besides you;     there is no Rock like our God. “Do not keep talking so proudly     or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows,     and by him deeds are weighed.
6	“‘“The Lord bless you     and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you     and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you     and give you peace.”’
7	The Lord is a warrior;     the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army     he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers     are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them;     they sank to the depths like a stone.
8	“Two nations are in your womb,     and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other,     and the older will serve the younger.”
9	“Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!
10	You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

As of yet, I have not checked every book in the Bible, but I have the first ten books accounted for here.  Then there are five wisdom books that are mostly poetry.  Many of the prophets use poetry.  And many books in the New Testament quote Old Testament poetry.  So, I am secure in my statement of most books having a bit of poetry.

But then again, what is biblical poetry?

Biblical poetry rarely rhymes, even in its original language.  While there are lines, meter is rarely considered.  But there are some things that are keys to look for, other than many translations format them differently.

Parallelism (grouped in two or three verses usually): lines saying the same thing, but using different words.  Or lines of contrast. Or lines building on a theme.

Other identifiers can be Figurative Language, Figurative Imagery, Repetition, Compression, and Emotional Expression.

Our present pastor preached a sermon some time ago about the transitions from prose to poetry.  He said that when that happens, you need to pay close attention.  God is trying to make a strong statement.  That is why I included the bonus about what the circumstances were when that poetry was inserted into the story.

Note that in one of these poems, Aaron remained silent when the poem was first uttered.  That may not be a great hint, but it points to the importance of the poem and the emotions involved.

Editor’s Note:  The Bible References in the answers below often use the letter “b” in that the first part of the verse gives away the person who said it.

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The Answers:

	Poetry	Book	who? And circumstances?
1	“‘Among those who approach me     I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people     I will be honored.’” Moses spoke, but he says that this is what the Lord said	Leviticus 10:3b	Nadab and Abihu had presented “unauthorized fire” before the Lord by burning incense improperly.  They were consumed.  Note that the verse ends with Aaron, the father of the two priests, remaining silent.
2	“Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son     he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest     he will set up its gates.”	Joshua 6:26	Joshua Upon the destruction of Jericho
3	“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”	Ruth 1:16b-17	Ruth When Ruth refused to return to Moab
4	“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,     in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;     travelers took to winding paths. Villagers in Israel would not fight;     they held back until I, Deborah, arose,     until I arose, a mother in Israel.	Judges 5:6-7	Deborah and Barak Deborah’s Song after defeating Sisera’s Canaanite Army (the king being Heber, the Kenite)
5	“My heart rejoices in the Lord;     in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies,     for I delight in your deliverance. “There is no one holy like the Lord;     there is no one besides you;     there is no Rock like our God. “Do not keep talking so proudly     or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows,     and by him deeds are weighed.	1 Samuel 2:1b-3	Hannah Hannah’s prayer after dedicating Samuel in service to God
6	“‘“The Lord bless you     and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you     and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you     and give you peace.”’	Numbers 6:24-26	The Lord to Moses to tell Aaron This is the Aaronic Blessing, given by God for the priests to use as a blessing for Israel
7	The Lord is a warrior;     the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army     he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers     are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them;     they sank to the depths like a stone.	Exodus 15:3-5	Moses and Miriam led this song with all the Israelites singing They had just crossed the Red Sea and they celebrated their escape from Egyptian tyranny
8	“Two nations are in your womb,     and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other,     and the older will serve the younger.”	Genesis 25:23b	The Lord spoke to Rebekah The twins were wrestling with each other in the womb, and Rebekah asked what was happening to her.
9	“Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!	2 Samuel 7:18b-19	David David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving after God declares His covenant with David
10	You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.	Deuteronomy 28:3-4	Moses In one of his addresses, he proclaims God’s Blessings if they obey Him, but then the next poetry is the negation of the same things if they disobey

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Phil Wickham singing What an Awesome God.  I am still including a song section for those who tried out this quiz, but these are human expressions and not the divinely inspired poems of Scripture.

Here is Brandon Lake singing That’s who I Praise. And you finally see Brandon Lake at the end.

Here is Micah Tyler singing Praise the Lord.

This quiz has “First” in the title.  I will not have these in consecutive weeks but stay tuned.  The next ten books of the Bible include some of the books of poetry…

And yes, I loved these videos. I needed a laugh.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.