The Bible is a book of specific places, and most of them are small. Twelve questions on the towns, rivers, mountains and valleys the text actually names, including the ones that changed their names and the ones people reliably put on the wrong side of the country.
Open “Bible Trivia: Bible Geography” on its own page — if the module does not load.
Every question, with the answer and the reason
The interactive module above runs in a sandbox of its own, which means its text is not part of this page. So here is the whole thing in full: all 12 questions, the options as they appear, the answer, and why that answer and not the one beside it. Nothing is held back to make you play first.
Easy
These turn on something stated outright in the text. If you have read the book, you have met the answer.
In which town do Matthew and Luke both place the birth of Jesus?
- Bethlehem — correct
- Nazareth
- Jerusalem
- Capernaum
Answer: Bethlehem
Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4–7. Nazareth is where the family settles afterwards in Matthew 2:23 and where Luke 1:26 begins, which is why it is the standing wrong answer.
In which river is Jesus baptised?
- The Nile
- The Euphrates
- The Kidron
- The Jordan — correct
Answer: The Jordan
Mark 1:9, with the parallels in Matthew 3:13 and Luke 3:3. The Kidron is a valley and seasonal brook just outside Jerusalem, crossed in John 18:1 on the night of the arrest.
Beside which body of water does Jesus call Simon and Andrew from their nets?
- The Dead Sea
- The Sea of Galilee — correct
- The Mediterranean
- The Red Sea
Answer: The Sea of Galilee
Mark 1:16. The same lake is called the Lake of Gennesaret in Luke 5:1 and the Sea of Tiberias in John 6:1 — three names in the Gospels for one stretch of fresh water.
Which city did David make his capital after reigning first at Hebron?
- Samaria
- Jerusalem — correct
- Shechem
- Bethel
Answer: Jerusalem
2 Samuel 5:6–9, after the seven and a half years at Hebron recorded in 5:5. Samaria is the capital of the rival northern kingdom, founded much later in 1 Kings 16:24.
Medium
These need a detail held in place — a name, a sequence, a number that only means something next to another number.
On which mountain does Elijah confront the prophets of Baal?
- Mount Horeb
- Mount Tabor
- Mount Gilboa
- Mount Carmel — correct
Answer: Mount Carmel
1 Kings 18:19–20. Horeb is where he flees immediately afterwards in 1 Kings 19:8 and hears the low whisper, so the two mountains sit back to back in the same story.
Which city does Paul name in Acts as his birthplace?
- Tarsus in Cilicia — correct
- Antioch in Syria
- Damascus
- Ephesus
Answer: Tarsus in Cilicia
Acts 22:3, and again in Acts 21:39 where he calls it “no obscure city.” Damascus is where he was heading when he was struck down in Acts 9:3, not where he came from.
Through which region does John’s Gospel say Jesus “had to pass” on the way to Galilee?
- Perea
- Idumea
- Samaria — correct
- the Decapolis
Answer: Samaria
John 4:4, leading to the well at Sychar in 4:5–6 and the conversation with the Samaritan woman. The detail matters because the alternative route down the Jordan valley existed and was commonly taken — so 'had to' is a statement about the narrative's purpose, not about geography.
Which two cities does Genesis 19 say were destroyed by sulphur and fire?
- Sodom and Zoar
- Admah and Zeboiim
- Babel and Erech
- Sodom and Gomorrah — correct
Answer: Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 19:24. Zoar is the small town Lot begs to escape to and which is spared in 19:20–23, while Admah and Zeboiim are added to the list of ruined cities in Deuteronomy 29:23.
Hard
These turn on what the evidence actually supports, which is not always what the story is remembered as saying.
By what name does Genesis say Bethel was known before Jacob renamed it?
- Salem
- Luz — correct
- Ai
- Peniel
Answer: Luz
Genesis 28:19: “he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.” Peniel is the other place Jacob names himself, after the wrestling in Genesis 32:30.
In Joshua 10, the sun stands still over Gibeon and the moon over which valley?
- The Valley of Elah
- The Valley of Jezreel
- The Valley of Aijalon — correct
- The Valley of Hinnom
Answer: The Valley of Aijalon
Joshua 10:12. The Valley of Elah is where David meets Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:2, and Hinnom is the ravine outside Jerusalem condemned in Jeremiah 7:31.
In which coastal city was Paul held for two years before being sent on to Rome?
- Caesarea — correct
- Joppa
- Ptolemais
- Sidon
Answer: Caesarea
Acts 23:33 for his arrival before Felix and 24:27 for the two years that pass before Festus takes over. Joppa and Ptolemais appear in Acts too, in 9:36–43 and 21:7, but only as stops.
Which village does John’s Gospel name as the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus?
- Bethphage
- Cana
- Bethany — correct
- Emmaus
Answer: Bethany
John 11:1, about two miles from Jerusalem according to 11:18. John 1:28 also mentions a different Bethany, “beyond the Jordan,” where the Baptist was working — two places, one name.
What this quiz draws on
Books in play: Acts, Genesis, Gospels, Historical. Each of those leads to what the book contains, who has been proposed as its author, and how it is dated.
Themes: People and places.
Answers here are drawn from the biblical text and, where an external record bears on the question, from the artefact or publication that carries it. How this site reads a text and how this site is written set out the rules, so you can check the reasoning rather than take the answer on trust.