15 Bible Trivia Questions That Go Beyond the Basics

You can know the Bible pretty well and still get humbled by Bible trivia in a hurry. The big stories are easy enough to remember. It's the names, places, and oddly specific details hiding between them that can make you stare at the screen thinking, "I know this one..." right before your brain goes completely blank.

This round skips the questions from our first quiz and pulls 15 completely different ones from both the Old and New Testaments. Some are pretty friendly. A few get into the weeds. Every answer below is tied directly to the biblical text rather than later tradition, so we're sticking with what Scripture actually says.

Answer: Jonah.

After Jonah tried to flee from the mission God had given him, he was thrown into the sea during a violent storm. Jonah 1:17 says the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow him.

Jonah remained inside the fish for three days and three nights. The Bible calls it a great fish, so the familiar description of it as a whale goes beyond what the text actually specifies.

Answer: Samson.

Samson told Delilah that he had been dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth and that no razor had been used on his head.

In Judges 16, Delilah had a man shave Samson's seven locks while he slept. His strength left him, and the passage also makes the deeper point that Samson did not realize the Lord had left him.

Answer: Joseph.

In Genesis 41, Pharaoh dreamed about seven healthy cows being eaten by seven thin cows. He also dreamed about seven healthy heads of grain being swallowed by seven thin ones.

Joseph explained that the dreams pointed to seven years of abundance followed by seven years of severe famine. Pharaoh then placed Joseph in authority over Egypt to prepare for what was coming.

Answer: Jericho.

According to Joshua 6, the Israelites marched around Jericho once a day for six days while priests carried trumpets and the Ark of the Covenant.

On the seventh day, they circled the city seven times. After the priests sounded their trumpets and the people shouted, the wall fell down.

Answer: Elijah.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah confronted 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and challenged them to prepare a sacrifice without setting fire to it themselves.

The prophets of Baal called on their god without an answer. Elijah then prayed to the Lord, and fire consumed his sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water around the altar.

Answer: Daniel.

Daniel 6 says Daniel continued praying to God despite a royal decree prohibiting petitions to anyone other than King Darius for 30 days.

Daniel was thrown into a lions' den as punishment, but God sent an angel and shut the lions' mouths. The next morning, the king found Daniel alive and unharmed.

Answer: Naomi.

Ruth married one of the sons of Naomi and Elimelech after the family moved from Bethlehem to Moab during a famine.

After both women were widowed, Ruth chose to remain with Naomi rather than return to her own family. Their return to Bethlehem sets the rest of the Book of Ruth in motion.

Answer: Hadassah.

Esther 2:7 identifies her as Hadassah, who was also known as Esther. After the deaths of her parents, she was raised by her relative Mordecai.

Esther eventually became queen and later risked her life by approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of her people.

Answer: James and John.

Mark 3:17 says Jesus gave James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John the name Boanerges, which the Gospel explains as meaning "Sons of Thunder."

James and John were fishermen before following Jesus and were also part of the smaller group of disciples present at several major moments in the Gospels.

Answer: Zacchaeus.

Luke 19 describes Zacchaeus as a wealthy chief tax collector in Jericho who wanted to see Jesus but couldn't see over the crowd because he was short.

He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree. When Jesus reached the spot, he called Zacchaeus down and told him he would stay at his house that day.

Answer: Four days.

John 11 says that when Jesus arrived near Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Jesus later went to the tomb and called Lazarus out. Lazarus emerged alive, still wrapped in his burial cloths.

Answer: Matthias.

After Judas' death, the believers put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias.

Acts 1 says they prayed and cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. He was then numbered with the eleven apostles.

Answer: Stephen.

Stephen was one of seven men selected in Acts 6 to help oversee the daily distribution to widows within the early Christian community.

After Stephen addressed the council in Acts 7, an enraged crowd drove him out of the city and stoned him. Acts also notes that the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Answer: Philip.

In Acts 8, Philip encountered an Ethiopian court official who was traveling home from Jerusalem while reading from the Book of Isaiah.

Philip explained the passage and told him about Jesus. When they came to some water, the official asked to be baptized, and Philip baptized him.

Answer: Eutychus.

Acts 20 tells one of the more unexpected stories in the New Testament. Paul was speaking late into the night in Troas while a young man named Eutychus sat in a third-story window.

Eutychus fell asleep, dropped from the window, and was taken up dead. Paul went down to him, embraced him, and told the others not to be alarmed because his life was in him. The passage later says the believers brought the young man home alive. That was one memorable sermon.