50 Fun Facts About Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)

Which bird does Noah send out first after the flood in Genesis, before he tries a dove?

A raven goes out first and flies to and fro until the waters dry up. The dove sent after it comes back with an olive leaf, the sign that land has reappeared.

What does Lot's wife turn into when she looks back at the burning city of Sodom?

A pillar of salt is her fate for ignoring the angels' warning not to look behind her. She is never named in the Bible, though some Jewish traditions call her Edith.

Which grandfather of Noah is said in Genesis to have lived 969 years, the longest lifespan in the Bible?

Methuselah dies in the very year of the flood, if the ages listed in Genesis are added up. His name has become a byword for extreme old age.

In the dream Joseph interprets for Pharaoh in Genesis, which seven fat animals are eaten by seven thin ones?

Cows stand for years in Joseph's reading: seven of abundance, then seven of famine. He advises Pharaoh to store the surplus grain and rises to second-in-command of Egypt.

Which hairy elder twin sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red lentil stew?

Esau comes home famished from the fields and trades away his rights as firstborn on the spot. The Hebrew Bible makes him the ancestor of the Edomites, Israel's neighbours and rivals.

Which manuscripts, found by Bedouin shepherds in caves near Qumran, hold the oldest known copies of biblical books?

The Dead Sea Scrolls pushed the date of the earliest Hebrew biblical manuscripts back by more than a millennium. Before the find, the oldest known Hebrew copies dated from the Middle Ages.

Which woman from the Valley of Sorek betrays Samson to the Philistines by having his hair cut?

Delilah is offered 1,100 silver coins by each of the Philistine lords for the secret of his strength. Samson fools her three times before he admits that it lies in his hair.

Which prophet boards a ship for Tarshish to avoid preaching in Nineveh and is swallowed by a great fish?

Jonah spends three days and three nights inside the fish before God has it vomit him out. Nineveh then repents so thoroughly that the prophet is displeased.

Which wife of Abraham laughs to herself in a tent on overhearing that she will bear a son at ninety?

Sarah's laugh does not go unnoticed: the visitor asks Abraham why she laughed, since her age is nothing to God. The son she bears a year later is given a Hebrew name that means laughter.

Which food, said in Exodus to taste like wafers made with honey, feeds the Israelites in the wilderness?

Manna rots overnight if hoarded, except before the Sabbath, when twice the usual amount is gathered and keeps fresh. None at all appears on the seventh day.

Which third section of the Tanakh, whose name means 'Writings', includes Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ruth?

Ketuvim supplies the final letter of the acronym Tanakh, after Torah and Nevi'im. It was the last of the three sections to be accepted as canon.

By the traditional Jewish count, which treats the twelve Minor Prophets as one, how many books make up the Tanakh?

24 is the traditional rabbinic count found in the Talmud. It reaches that figure by treating Kings as a single book and joining Ezra with Nehemiah.

Which Hebrew name, taken from its opening word meaning 'in the beginning', do Jews use for the Book of Genesis?

Bereshit follows the Jewish convention of titling each book of the Torah by one of its opening words. The English name Genesis comes instead from the Greek for 'origin'.

What name is given to the selection from the Prophets read in synagogue after the Torah portion each Sabbath?

Haftarah means 'parting' or 'taking leave', and the passage is typically linked by theme to the Torah portion read just before it.

On which festival, whose name means 'Weeks', is the Book of Ruth traditionally read in synagogues?

Shavuot is harvest time, and the events of the story unfold during a harvest too, as Ruth gleans barley and wheat in the fields of Boaz.

Which book of the Tanakh, traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, is recited on the fast day of Tisha B'Av?

Lamentations is a set of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Its Hebrew title, Eikhah, is simply its opening word, meaning 'how'.

Which Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is traditionally credited to seventy-two Jewish scholars in Alexandria?

The Septuagint takes its name from the Latin for seventy and is abbreviated LXX. Tradition says Ptolemy II of Egypt wanted the Torah in Greek for the Library of Alexandria.

Besides Hebrew, in which related language are long passages of the Book of Ezra written?

Aramaic served as a lingua franca across the ancient Near East, and the passages in question quote official documents about restoring the Temple in Jerusalem.

Which sister of Moses, called a prophetess, leads the Israelite women in song after the sea crossing?

Miriam is later shut out of the camp for seven days with a skin disease, after she speaks against Moses over his marriage.

Which book of the Hebrew Bible, called Tehillim or 'praises' in Hebrew, gathers 150 sacred poems?

Psalms carries the name of King David in the headings of 73 of its poems, though modern scholars do not accept that he wrote them.

Which son does Abraham bind on an altar in the land of Moriah in Genesis before an angel stops him?

Isaac is spared when a ram appears and is offered in his place. The story is traditionally read in synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

Which brother of Moses collects the Israelites' gold earrings and fashions them into the golden calf?

Aaron still goes on to serve as Israel's first high priest. Moses burns the idol, grinds it to powder, scatters it on water and makes the people drink it.

Which creatures swarm out of the Nile into Egyptian homes in the second of the ten plagues in Exodus?

Frogs emerge from the river and jump around almost everywhere in Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians try to match the feat and only conjure up a second wave of them.

Which Canaanite city's walls collapse after the Israelites circle it for seven days with priests blowing horns?

Jericho is circled once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh, and the walls fall when the people shout. It is the first battle after the crossing of the Jordan.

Which successor of Moses leads the Israelites across the Jordan and asks for the sun to stand still?

Joshua asks for the sun and moon to halt at Gibeon so that he can finish a battle in daylight. Rabbinic tradition adds that Moses had expected one of his own sons to succeed him instead.

Which gold-covered furnishing of the Tabernacle holds the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments?

The Ark of the Covenant is a chest of acacia wood gilded all over with gold. When Solomon's Temple is dedicated, it is placed in the inner room called the Holy of Holies.

Which prophetess, the only female judge in the Hebrew Bible, gives her rulings beneath a date palm?

Deborah summons the general Barak to lead ten thousand men against the Canaanites, and Barak refuses to go into battle without her.

Which Philistine giant from Gath does the young David bring down with a single stone from his sling?

Goliath falls face down when the stone strikes his forehead, and David beheads him with the giant's own sword. David had turned down the king's armour for the fight.

Which prophet, dedicated as a boy at Shiloh by his mother Hannah, anoints both Saul and David as kings?

Samuel first anoints Saul in secret, at a time when Saul is out looking for his father's lost donkeys.

Which wife of Uriah the Hittite does King David spot from his palace roof and later marry?

Bathsheba goes on to become the mother of Solomon, David's successor. David has Uriah killed in battle so that he can marry her.

Which prophet defeats the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and is later carried up in a whirlwind?

Elijah drops his mantle to his successor as a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear. Today a cup of wine is set out for him at the Passover seder table.

Which Phoenician princess, wife of King Ahab of Israel, is thrown from a window on the orders of Jehu?

Jezebel paints her eyes and arranges her hair to taunt Jehu before her own servants throw her down. Dogs leave only her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands.

Which prophet of the Babylonian exile sees a valley of dry bones rejoin and come back to life?

Ezekiel watches the bones join into human figures and gain tendons, flesh and skin. He lived among the exiles from Judah on the banks of the Kebar Canal near Nippur.

Which Babylonian king destroys Jerusalem and, in a later tale, has three youths thrown into a fiery furnace?

Nebuchadnezzar sentences Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for refusing to worship his new golden statue. His conquest of Judah deported much of its population to Babylon.

Which Jewish exile, raised to high office by Darius the Mede, is thrown into a den of lions for praying?

Daniel is trapped by jealous rivals, who trick the king into banning prayer to anyone but himself for thirty days. The king hopes for his rescue even as he seals the pit.

At which Babylonian ruler's feast does a mysterious hand appear and write a message on the palace wall?

Belshazzar has been drinking from vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, and he is killed that very night. The story gave English its idiom about the writing on the wall.

Which chief minister of King Ahasuerus plots to kill all the Jews of Persia in the Book of Esther?

Haman is hanged on the very gallows he built for Mordecai, the Jew who refused to bow to him. Noisemakers drown out his name when the story is read aloud at Purim.

Which righteous man from the land of Uz loses his wealth, children and health in a test of faith?

Job is lectured by three friends who are later rebuked by God. He ends the story restored to an even better condition than his former wealthy state.

Which visiting monarch arrives in Jerusalem with camels bearing spices, gold and precious stones for King Solomon?

The Queen of Sheba is never given a name in the Bible. The Book of Kings says the abundance of spices she gave Solomon was never matched again.

Which son of Solomon loses the ten northern tribes after choosing to tax the people even more heavily?

Rehoboam takes the advice of the young men he grew up with and shows no weakness. He is left ruling only Judah in the south, while the north crowns Jeroboam.

Which Jewish scribe-scholars, active in Tiberias and Jerusalem, devised the vowel signs still used for Hebrew?

The Masoretes also created the trope symbols that guide the chanting of the biblical text. Their Hebrew name means 'Masters of the Tradition'.

Which tenth-century Hebrew Bible manuscript, endorsed by Maimonides, resurfaced in 1958 with about 40% of it missing?

The Aleppo Codex had sat for five centuries in a synagogue that was torched during riots in 1947. Whether the lost leaves burned or were hidden away is still disputed.

Which prophet's book, a single chapter of 21 verses against Edom, is the shortest in the Hebrew Bible?

Obadiah foresees divine judgment on Edom, a mountain-dwelling neighbour that gloated over Jerusalem's fall, and the restoration of Israel.

Which Hebrew title belongs to the trained scribe who copies out the Torah, tefillin and mezuzot by hand?

A sofer also writes out the Five Megillot and the divorce documents called gittin. Among non-Orthodox Jews, women have taken up the craft since the early 2000s.

Which king of Judah, crowned at the age of eight, begins sweeping reforms after a scroll is found in the Temple?

Josiah hears the scroll read aloud after the high priest Hilkiah comes across it in the Temple. The king then centralises worship in Jerusalem.

To which place 'east of Eden' is Cain exiled in Genesis after he murders his brother Abel?

The Land of Nod takes its name from the Hebrew root of the verb 'to wander'. Cain's son Enoch is born there, and Cain builds the first city in the boy's name.

Which burial site in Hebron does Abraham buy from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver?

The Cave of Machpelah is bought as a tomb for Abraham's wife, the first burial recorded in the Bible. Abraham insists on paying the full price rather than accept the field as a gift.

Which book closes the Tanakh in the traditional Jewish order, ending with a Persian king's decree to rebuild the Temple?

Chronicles opens with a genealogy that starts from Adam and closes with Cyrus the Great authorising the exiles' return. Christian Old Testaments split it into two books.

What does Yam Suf, the Hebrew name of the waters that part for the Israelites in Exodus, literally mean?

Sea of Reeds is the literal reading, since 'yam' means sea and 'suf' means reed. The familiar name Red Sea follows an ancient Greek rendering of the phrase.

From which mountain in the land of Moab does Moses view the Promised Land shortly before he dies?

Mount Nebo gives him a sight of Canaan, the land God had said he would not enter. The peak stands in what is now Jordan.