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50 free Bible Geography trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Bible geography trivia quiz walks through the places behind the stories, from Ur and the mountains of Ararat to Patmos and Rome. It covers the land of Israel and its neighbours: Bethlehem and Nazareth, Jericho and Hebron, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, Mount Sinai, Mount Nebo, Mount Carmel and the Mount of Olives, Capernaum, Cana, Bethany and Emmaus. It also follows the exiles and the apostles abroad: Goshen in Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon and Damascus, then Paul's world of Tarsus, Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, Athens and Malta. Expect questions on which river Jesus was baptised in, which lake is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, where the disciples were first called Christians, which island received the Book of Revelation, and where Moses saw the Promised Land. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who knows the main stories, a third need a closer knowledge of the map, and the rest reward people who know the modern names and locations of the ancient sites. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the places before publishing, and each question carries the sentence that establishes it. If you think one is wrong, use the report button and we will look again.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does the Hebrew name of Bethlehem, Bet Lehem, literally mean?
House of bread
The Arabic name Bet Lahm means "house of meat", and the city lies about six miles south of Jerusalem.
Q 02Which king does the Hebrew Bible identify as having been born in Bethlehem?
David
The New Testament makes it the birthplace of Jesus as well, and the Church of the Nativity draws Christmas pilgrims.
Q 03Which Nazareth basilica contains the grotto where, in Catholic tradition, Gabriel appeared to Mary?
The Annunciation
It is considered one of the largest Christian sites of worship in the Middle East.
Q 04Which biblical 'city of palm trees' was the first the Israelites captured in the Promised Land?
Jericho
Archaeologists have found more than 20 successive settlements there going back 11,000 years.
Q 05Which chief tax collector, according to Luke, repented after Jesus passed through his city of palm trees?
Zacchaeus
The road from Jerusalem to his city is also the setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Q 06Into which body of water does the Jordan River drain?
The Dead Sea
The 251-kilometre river flows south through a freshwater lake before ending in the salt lake.
Q 07Which two events does the Bible place in the Jordan River?
The Israelites' crossing and Jesus's baptism
Jacob also crossed it and its tributary the Jabbok on his way back from Haran.
Q 08Which lake, called Kinneret in Hebrew, is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth?
The Sea of Galilee
Its surface sits between 209 and 215 metres below sea level.
Q 09Which Gospel writer alone calls Kinneret "the Lake of Gennesaret" rather than a sea?
Luke
Every other Old and New Testament writer calls it a sea, and it was later renamed for the emperor Tiberius.
Q 10What is the oldest and most common biblical Hebrew name for the Dead Sea?
Sea of Salt
Its shores are the lowest land on Earth, at about 440 metres below sea level.
Q 11Roughly how much saltier than the ocean is the Dead Sea?
Nearly tenfold
Its density of 1.24 kg per litre is what makes swimmers float.
Q 12On which mountain, known in Arabic as Jabal Musa, is Moses said to have received the Ten Commandments?
Mount Sinai
The 6th-century Saint Catherine's Monastery sits at its foot on the Sinai Peninsula.
Q 13From which mountain in modern Jordan did Moses view the Promised Land before he died?
Mount Nebo
Deuteronomy says his burial place was unknown; Pope John Paul II planted an olive tree on the summit in 2000.
Q 21Which town near Jerusalem is the setting for the raising of Lazarus in John's Gospel?
Bethany
Its Arabic name, al-Eizariya, means "place of Lazarus".
Q 22How far from Jerusalem does Luke place Emmaus, where the risen Jesus walked with two disciples?
60 stadia
That is roughly 10 to 12 kilometres; one of the disciples is named Cleopas.
Q 23In which region of Egypt did Pharaoh allow Jacob's family to settle in the time of Joseph?
Goshen
It is thought to have been in the eastern Nile Delta and was spared the plagues of flies and hail.
Where does Genesis say Noah's Ark came to rest?
Q 14On which mountain did Elijah challenge 450 prophets of Baal to a contest of fire?
Mount Carmel
One Arabic name for the range is Jabal Mar Elyas, the Mount of Saint Elias.
Q 15According to Acts, from which hill did Jesus ascend to heaven?
The Mount of Olives
Jews have been buried on its slopes since biblical times.
Q 16In 2 Samuel, the name Zion first refers to what?
The Jebusite fortress David captured
The name later shifted to the Temple Mount and now to the western hill outside the Old City walls.
Q 17Which city did Abraham buy the Cave of the Patriarchs in as a burial place for Sarah?
Hebron
The Bible also names it as the place where David was anointed king of Israel.
Q 18Which region of Israel takes its name from Shemer, from whom King Omri bought the hill for his capital?
Samaria
It corresponds largely to the allotments of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh.
Q 19Which lakeside Galilean town, hometown of Matthew, was a base for Jesus's teaching?
Capernaum
Its Hebrew name Kfar Nahum means "village of comfort" and it appears in all four gospels.
Q 20At which Galilean village did Jesus turn water into wine, according to John's Gospel?
Cana
John calls it "the first of his signs"; four modern sites compete to be the location.
The mountains of Ararat
Scholars note that Ararat is the Hebrew name for the kingdom of Urartu, so the text may mean the wider region.
Q 25Mount Ararat, traditionally linked with the Ark, is the highest peak in which modern country?
Turkey
It is a dormant volcano with two cones, Greater and Little Ararat.
Q 26Genesis names which Sumerian city as the birthplace of Abraham?
Ur of the Chaldees
The site is at Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq, though some scholars place biblical Ur elsewhere.
Q 27Which prophet preached to Nineveh, according to the Hebrew Bible?
Jonah
A shrine to him stood on Tell Nabi Yunus, one of the two great mounds of the ruined city.
Q 28The ruins of Nineveh lie across the Tigris from which modern Iraqi city?
Mosul
It was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the largest city in the world until it was sacked in 612 BC.
Q 29Genesis 11:9 interprets the name Babel, the Hebrew form of Babylon, to mean what?
Confusion
The site lies on the lower Euphrates near modern Hillah, about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad.
Q 30Which Damascus road, named in Acts 9:11 in Paul's conversion story, was the Roman city's main east-west artery?
Straight Street
The Via Recta ran for more than 1,500 metres and survives as Bab Sharqi street and a covered market.