Bible Quiz: Old Testament
From Leviticus through the prophets — a river that stands up in a heap, a password nobody from Ephraim could say, a shoe handed over at a city gate, a king who went out looking for lost donkeys, a room built on a wall for a travelling prophet, and a valley full of dry bones. Genesis and Exodus have quizzes of their own, so this one starts where they stop. You get fifteen questions drawn from a bank of fifty-five, and every answer shows the verse behind it, so a miss still teaches you something.
That round moved through the rest of the Old Testament — the Law, the conquest of Canaan, the judges, the kings, the return from exile, the psalms and the prophets. A lot of ground for fifteen questions.
The Old Testament keeps pointing ahead. This helps you walk with the one it points to.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus walked two friends through Moses and all the prophets. This free 3-day sample picks up that same walk — short daily readings on what Jesus said and did, and what following him looks like in an ordinary week. Nothing to fall behind on.
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Common Questions About the Old Testament
What is in the Old Testament?
The Old Testament is the first and larger part of the Christian Bible. In most Protestant Bibles it holds 39 books, written mostly in Hebrew, with a few passages in Aramaic, over many centuries. The books are usually grouped into five kinds. The Law is the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The History books run from Joshua to Esther and follow Israel from entering Canaan, through the judges and the kings, to exile in Babylon and the return home. The Poetry and Wisdom books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Then come the Major Prophets, Isaiah through Daniel, and the twelve shorter Minor Prophets, Hosea through Malachi. “Major” and “minor” describe length, not importance. Jewish Bibles contain the same writings, arranged and counted differently.
Which parts of the Old Testament does this quiz cover?
This quiz picks up where our Genesis and Exodus quizzes leave off, so it does not repeat creation, the flood, the patriarchs or the plagues. The bank of fifty-five questions starts in Leviticus and Numbers, with the scapegoat and a talking donkey, then moves through Joshua’s crossing of the Jordan, the judges from Othniel to Samson, Ruth and Boaz at the city gate, Saul and David, the splitting of the kingdom after Solomon, Elijah’s and Elisha’s years, the fall and return under Cyrus, and Esther. It finishes in the books of poetry and the prophets, from Job’s whirlwind and Psalm 137 to Isaiah’s live coal, Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, Amos the herdman and Obadiah, the shortest book of all. Every question points to a chapter and verse you can open and read for yourself.
What are good Old Testament Bible quiz questions to practice?
The best practice questions come from turning points and from the small, specific details people remember a story by. In Joshua, that means the Jordan standing up in a heap, the twelve memorial stones at Gilgal, and Achan’s hidden silver at Ai. In Judges, it means the word “Shibboleth” and the book’s hard last line about everyone doing what was right in their own eyes. In Samuel and Kings, it means Saul’s lost donkeys, Nathan’s four words to David, “Thou art the man,” Rehoboam’s reply that split the kingdom, and Naaman washing seven times in the Jordan. From the prophets, people are often asked who saw the dry bones, who was a herdman, and who wrote “the just shall live by his faith.” Finish-the-verse questions from Joshua 24:15, Psalm 46:10 and Isaiah 40:31 are also quiz favourites, and all of these are in the bank above.
Is this Old Testament quiz good for Bible Quizzing, Sunday school or a study group?
Yes. It runs in study mode, which means every answer, right or wrong, shows the chapter and verse along with the actual King James wording, so a miss still teaches something. That makes it useful for Bible Quizzing teams reviewing Old Testament material, for a small group that has been reading through the history books, or for a Sunday school class that wants a quick check at the end of a unit. The questions lean toward what quizzers are usually asked: names, numbers, places, and who said which line to whom. Several are finish-the-verse, which helps with memory work. Because every round pulls fifteen questions at random from fifty-five, and shuffles the answers too, a group can play three or four rounds in one sitting and keep meeting new material. It works on a phone, with no account and nothing to download.
How long does the Old Testament quiz take, and can I play again?
A round is fifteen questions and takes most people about six minutes, a little longer if you stop to read the verse under each answer, which is the part worth slowing down for. You can play as many times as you like. Each new round draws a fresh set of questions from the bank and shuffles the order of the answers, so it will not feel the same twice. Nothing is saved, nothing is compared against other players, and there is no sign-up. Your score lasts until you close the page. A good way to use it is to play one round cold, notice which books caught you out, go and read those chapters, and then come back and see how far your number moves. When you are ready, scroll back up and start the Old Testament quiz above.