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

Two weeks ago, I started this quiz journey through the Bible.  It all pertains to poems found in each book of the Bible, at least those that have them.  This confirms the first twenty books of the Bible have them, although two of the books this time were sparse.

This quiz will be simple.  I will quote a verse or two, maybe three, from what is formatted in the Bible as poetry.  Note: Two books in this second set of books of the CSB (1 Kings – Proverbs) have no verses formatted as poetry, but there is a verse containing poetry in each book – at least based on the definitions given below between the Questions and Answers.  One of those two poems was formatted as poetry in the NIV.  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?

As for the two books with no formatted poetry in the CSB, think about the short history books after First and Second Chronicles.  Oops!  There are three of those, but one has a very distinct poem.

This quiz might seem difficult, but do not panic.  Many of these poems relate to well-known stories in the Bible.  Some poems are well-known.  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 books of the Bible from 1 Kings through Proverbs.

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	“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
2	Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;     make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him;     tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name;     let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
3	“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
4	“He is good;     his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, …
5	Her children arise and call her blessed;     her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things,     but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;     but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done,     and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
6	“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
7	My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?     Why are you so far from saving me,     so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,     by night, but I find no rest.
8	“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,     and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;     may the name of the Lord be praised.”
9	“‘Virgin Daughter Zion     despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem     tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?     Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?     Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers     you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said,     “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains,     the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars,     the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts,     the finest of its forests.
10	“What share do we have in David,     what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel!     Look after your own house, David!” So all the Israelites went home.

As of yet, I have not checked every book in the Bible, but I have the second ten books accounted for here.  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	“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.	Nehemiah 9:36-37	Ezra read the Law and then the Levites led all Israel in this song of confession of sin.
2	Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;     make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him;     tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name;     let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.	1 Chronicles 16:8-10	David instructed Asaph to lead everyone in this song when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem
3	“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”	Esther 4:16	Queen Esther cannot approach King Xerxes unless the scepter is extended, but she must tell him of the plot to exterminate all Jews throughout the empire.  She asks for fasting before she goes to the King
4	“He is good;     his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, …	Ezra 3:11b	The sons of Asaph led the people The foundation of the temple had been completed.
5	Her children arise and call her blessed;     her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things,     but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;     but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done,     and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.	Proverbs 31:28-31	King Lemuel, but some say this is a pen name for King Solomon, passing on the wisdom of Bathsheba This is the ending of the description of a woman of noble character
6	“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.	1 Kings 8:23b-24	Solomon This is his prayer during the dedication of the temple
7	My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?     Why are you so far from saving me,     so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,     by night, but I find no rest.	Psalm 22:1-2	Psalm of David The Lament is quoted or alluded to 15 times in the New Testament, often called the fifth gospel by the early church. Quoted by Jesus while on the cross.
8	“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,     and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;     may the name of the Lord be praised.”	Job 1:21b	Job After his wealth was gone and his children were all killed, Job tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshiped God.
9	“‘Virgin Daughter Zion     despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem     tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?     Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?     Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers     you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said,     “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains,     the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars,     the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts,     the finest of its forests.	2 Kings 19:21b-23	The Lord instructed Isaiah to speak Sennacherib’s commander had taunted God and all the people, trying to frighten them into surrender instead of being attacked the next morning, but the Lord would ensure that the Assyrians did not attack with over 100,000 soldiers dying at the hands of the Angel of Death.
10	“What share do we have in David,     what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel!     Look after your own house, David!” So all the Israelites went home.	2 Chronicles 10:16b	Jeroboam Jeroboam led the northern tribes in a rebellion and the nation was split.   This was also said, roughly, by Sheba son of Bikri after David returned when Absalom was killed

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is We are Messengers singing God Be the Glory.

Here is William Matthews singing Glory to Glory.

Here is the Asidors with JR and Lorraine Gratuito singing Song of Glory.

If you cannot remember these songs, just sing the Doxology or the Gloria Patri.  We need to praise and glorify God more each day.

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.