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Bible Stumpers
Strange Things People Did in the BibleA prophet cooked over dung. A future king pretended to be insane. A strongman caught 300 foxes and tied their tails together. And that's just the beginning of this week's Stumpers. How well do you remember some of the Bible's most unusual scenes? Answer from memory, then reveal the answers to see how you score. 1. Who pretended to be insane before a Philistine king, scratching on doors and letting saliva run down his beard? Answer: David (before Achish, king of Gath) Reference: 1 Samuel 21:12–15 Insight: David resorted to this desperate act because he feared for his life in enemy territory. His performance convinced Achish that he was mad, and David was allowed to leave. 2. Who caught 300 foxes, tied them tail to tail in pairs, fastened torches between their tails, and released them into the Philistines' fields? Answer: Samson Reference: Judges 15:4–5 Insight: Samson did this in retaliation after discovering that his wife had been given to his companion. The burning animals destroyed the Philistines' grain, vineyards, and olive groves. 3. Which prophet cursed a group who mocked him as "baldhead," after which two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them? Answer: Elisha Reference: 2 Kings 2:23–24 Insight: The incident came just after Elisha succeeded Elijah as God's prophet. The Hebrew term for those mocking him can refer to youths or young men, and their taunts represented more than a joke about his appearance. They were openly despising God's appointed prophet. 4. Which king disguised himself and visited a medium at Endor to call up the dead prophet Samuel the night before he died in battle? Answer: Saul Reference: 1 Samuel 28:7–19 Insight: Saul himself had previously expelled mediums from the land, yet in desperation he secretly sought one out. Samuel's message brought no comfort: Saul and his sons would die in battle the next day. 5. Which prophet walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign of the coming humiliation of Egypt and Cush? Answer: Isaiah Reference: Isaiah 20:2–3 Insight: Isaiah's unusual appearance was a living prophecy. Just as he went stripped and barefoot, captives from Egypt and Cush would be led away humiliated by Assyria. 6. Which prophet was told to bake his bread over human dung as a sign of the defiled food Israel would eat in exile, until God allowed him to use cow dung instead? Answer: Ezekiel Reference: Ezekiel 4:12–15 Insight: Ezekiel objected because he had never knowingly defiled himself with unclean food. God granted his request and allowed cow dung instead, but the disturbing sign remained a picture of the conditions Israel would face in exile. 7. Which prophet took Paul's belt, tied up his own hands and feet with it, and announced that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem? Answer: Agabus Reference: Acts 21:10–11 Insight: Agabus acted out his prophecy in the dramatic style of Old Testament prophets. His warning came true when Paul was seized in Jerusalem and eventually placed in Roman custody. 8. Which Levite cut his dead concubine's body into twelve pieces and sent them throughout Israel, prompting the tribes to gather in outrage? Answer: An unnamed Levite from the hill country of Ephraim Reference: Judges 19:29–20:1 Insight: The horrifying act was intended to force all Israel to confront the atrocity committed at Gibeah. It succeeded, but the resulting outrage led to a devastating civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. 9. Which young man escaped during Jesus' arrest by slipping out of his linen garment and fleeing naked? Answer: An unnamed young man (sometimes thought to have been Mark himself) Reference: Mark 14:51–52 Insight: Mark is the only Gospel writer who records this curious detail. Scripture never identifies the young man, although some have suggested that Mark may have included the incident because he was describing himself. 10. Which sons of a Jewish chief priest tried to drive out an evil spirit by invoking "Jesus whom Paul preaches," only to be overpowered and sent fleeing naked and wounded? Answer: The sons of Sceva Reference: Acts 19:13–16 Insight: They treated the name of Jesus like a magical formula without actually knowing or following Him. The evil spirit's response was devastating: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" Discussion note: Sceva is said to have seven sons, but the Greek of verse 16 says the possessed man overpowered "both of them," suggesting that perhaps only two were involved in this particular encounter. Some translations render it more generally as "all of them." Bonus: Which young man fell asleep during Paul's long late-night sermon, dropped from a third-story window, was taken up dead, and was restored to life? Answer: Eutychus Reference: Acts 20:7–12 Insight: Paul continued speaking until midnight, and Eutychus, sitting in a window, was overcome by sleep. After the fall Paul embraced him and declared that his life was in him. The believers took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted, while Paul went back upstairs and continued talking until daybreak. The Bible is full of moments that are strange, startling, and unforgettable. |
