Bible Trivia: Jerusalem — printable
Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Score: ______
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1. Which king is described as capturing Jerusalem and making it his capital? Easy
- A Saul
- B Solomon
- C David
- D Rehoboam
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2. Who is said to have built the first temple in Jerusalem? Easy
- A Hezekiah
- B Josiah
- C Zerubbabel
- D Solomon
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3. Which empire destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in the early sixth century BCE? Easy
- A Assyria
- B Persia
- C Egypt
- D Babylon
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4. Which book is a set of poems mourning the destruction of Jerusalem? Easy
- A Lamentations
- B Ecclesiastes
- C Habakkuk
- D Esther
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5. Who, in the biblical account, was appointed king in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar after the deportation of 597? Medium
- A Zedekiah
- B Jehoiakim
- C Jehoahaz
- D Gedaliah
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6. Which Persian-period governor is associated with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem? Medium
- A Nehemiah
- B Ezra
- C Zerubbabel
- D Sheshbazzar
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7. Sennacherib's account of 701 BCE describes Jerusalem in which way? Medium
- A Invested but not claimed as taken
- B Captured and burned
- C Voluntarily surrendered and garrisoned
- D Bypassed entirely
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8. What does the name No-Amon in Nahum 3:8 refer to? Medium
- A Nineveh
- B Memphis
- C Tyre
- D Thebes in Egypt
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9. Why is 597 BCE quoted with more confidence than 587 BCE? Hard
- A It appears in more biblical books
- B A Babylonian chronicle dates it to a month and day
- C It is confirmed by an inscription in Jerusalem
- D It is the only date given in Kings
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10. Hezekiah's tunnel is associated with which biblical account? Hard
- A Preparations for an Assyrian siege
- B The rebuilding of the walls under Nehemiah
- C Solomon's water supply for the temple
- D The Jebusite capture of the city
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11. What is the significance of the Ketef Hinnom silver amulets? Hard
- A They name a king of Judah
- B They carry the earliest known text that also appears in the Hebrew Bible
- C They record a tribute payment
- D They preserve a list of high priests
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12. Why does the destruction of the first temple leave no direct archaeological record? Hard
- A The debris was removed in antiquity
- B The site has never been excavated
- C The temple was built of perishable material
- D Its location is unknown
Answer key — teacher’s sheet
Print pages separately: hand out the worksheet, keep this one.
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1. C — David
2 Samuel 5. The city had not belonged to either Israel or Judah before, which is part of why it worked as a capital: it was neutral ground between the northern tribes and Judah.
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2. D — Solomon
1 Kings 6. No archaeological trace of it has been recovered, because the site has never been excavated and is not going to be — a permanent gap that should be stated rather than worked around.
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3. D — Babylon
Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar. The city was taken twice: in 597 BCE, when its king was deported and a replacement installed, and again about a decade later, when the temple was destroyed.
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4. A — Lamentations
Lamentations, five poems, four of them alphabetic acrostics. The acrostic form is worth noticing: grief this carefully structured is a deliberate composition, not an outpouring.
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5. A — Zedekiah
Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah, according to 2 Kings 24. The Babylonian chronicle records that Nebuchadnezzar appointed a king of his own choosing but does not name either king — the identification comes from placing the two records side by side.
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6. A — Nehemiah
Nehemiah. The Elephantine papyri, from the same century, name governors of Judah and Samaria and a high priest of Jerusalem, which puts those offices into an independent contemporary frame.
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7. A — Invested but not claimed as taken
The inscription describes confining Hezekiah in the city and lists the tribute received, and stops there. Royal inscriptions do not narrate failures, so the silence is generic rather than a confession — but neither side claims the city was taken.
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8. D — Thebes in Egypt
Thebes. Nahum uses its fall — under Ashurbanipal in 663 BCE — as the argument against Nineveh, and because that fall is treated as past it fixes the earliest possible date for the poem.
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9. B — A Babylonian chronicle dates it to a month and day
The chronicle tablet gives the regnal year and the day of the month for the first capture, and the Babylonian calendar is anchored astronomically. The tablet breaks off before the destruction, so the second date rests on regnal reckoning and is disputed between 587 and 586.
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10. A — Preparations for an Assyrian siege
2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32 connect a water conduit with Hezekiah's preparations. The tunnel itself is walkable and carried an inscription describing two teams of diggers meeting in the middle.
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11. B — They carry the earliest known text that also appears in the Hebrew Bible
Two tiny rolled silver sheets from a burial cave, carrying a version of the priestly blessing of Numbers 6. They are the earliest known artefacts bearing text that also stands in the Hebrew Bible, by several centuries.
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12. B — The site has never been excavated
The Temple Mount has never been systematically excavated and will not be. Arguments about the first temple therefore rest on texts and on comparable structures elsewhere, and any page that implies otherwise is misreporting the evidence.
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.
Which king is described as capturing Jerusalem and making it his capital?
- Saul
- Solomon
- David — correct
- Rehoboam
Answer: David
2 Samuel 5. The city had not belonged to either Israel or Judah before, which is part of why it worked as a capital: it was neutral ground between the northern tribes and Judah.
Who is said to have built the first temple in Jerusalem?
- Hezekiah
- Josiah
- Zerubbabel
- Solomon — correct
Answer: Solomon
1 Kings 6. No archaeological trace of it has been recovered, because the site has never been excavated and is not going to be — a permanent gap that should be stated rather than worked around.
Which empire destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in the early sixth century BCE?
- Assyria
- Persia
- Egypt
- Babylon — correct
Answer: Babylon
Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar. The city was taken twice: in 597 BCE, when its king was deported and a replacement installed, and again about a decade later, when the temple was destroyed.
Which book is a set of poems mourning the destruction of Jerusalem?
- Lamentations — correct
- Ecclesiastes
- Habakkuk
- Esther
Answer: Lamentations
Lamentations, five poems, four of them alphabetic acrostics. The acrostic form is worth noticing: grief this carefully structured is a deliberate composition, not an outpouring.
Medium
These need a detail held in place — a name, a sequence, a number that only means something next to another number.
Who, in the biblical account, was appointed king in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar after the deportation of 597?
- Zedekiah — correct
- Jehoiakim
- Jehoahaz
- Gedaliah
Answer: Zedekiah
Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah, according to 2 Kings 24. The Babylonian chronicle records that Nebuchadnezzar appointed a king of his own choosing but does not name either king — the identification comes from placing the two records side by side.
Which Persian-period governor is associated with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem?
- Nehemiah — correct
- Ezra
- Zerubbabel
- Sheshbazzar
Answer: Nehemiah
Nehemiah. The Elephantine papyri, from the same century, name governors of Judah and Samaria and a high priest of Jerusalem, which puts those offices into an independent contemporary frame.
Sennacherib's account of 701 BCE describes Jerusalem in which way?
- Invested but not claimed as taken — correct
- Captured and burned
- Voluntarily surrendered and garrisoned
- Bypassed entirely
Answer: Invested but not claimed as taken
The inscription describes confining Hezekiah in the city and lists the tribute received, and stops there. Royal inscriptions do not narrate failures, so the silence is generic rather than a confession — but neither side claims the city was taken.
What does the name No-Amon in Nahum 3:8 refer to?
- Nineveh
- Memphis
- Tyre
- Thebes in Egypt — correct
Answer: Thebes in Egypt
Thebes. Nahum uses its fall — under Ashurbanipal in 663 BCE — as the argument against Nineveh, and because that fall is treated as past it fixes the earliest possible date for the poem.
Hard
These turn on what the evidence actually supports, which is not always what the story is remembered as saying.
Why is 597 BCE quoted with more confidence than 587 BCE?
- It appears in more biblical books
- A Babylonian chronicle dates it to a month and day — correct
- It is confirmed by an inscription in Jerusalem
- It is the only date given in Kings
Answer: A Babylonian chronicle dates it to a month and day
The chronicle tablet gives the regnal year and the day of the month for the first capture, and the Babylonian calendar is anchored astronomically. The tablet breaks off before the destruction, so the second date rests on regnal reckoning and is disputed between 587 and 586.
Hezekiah's tunnel is associated with which biblical account?
- Preparations for an Assyrian siege — correct
- The rebuilding of the walls under Nehemiah
- Solomon's water supply for the temple
- The Jebusite capture of the city
Answer: Preparations for an Assyrian siege
2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32 connect a water conduit with Hezekiah's preparations. The tunnel itself is walkable and carried an inscription describing two teams of diggers meeting in the middle.
What is the significance of the Ketef Hinnom silver amulets?
- They name a king of Judah
- They carry the earliest known text that also appears in the Hebrew Bible — correct
- They record a tribute payment
- They preserve a list of high priests
Answer: They carry the earliest known text that also appears in the Hebrew Bible
Two tiny rolled silver sheets from a burial cave, carrying a version of the priestly blessing of Numbers 6. They are the earliest known artefacts bearing text that also stands in the Hebrew Bible, by several centuries.
Why does the destruction of the first temple leave no direct archaeological record?
- The debris was removed in antiquity
- The site has never been excavated — correct
- The temple was built of perishable material
- Its location is unknown
Answer: The site has never been excavated
The Temple Mount has never been systematically excavated and will not be. Arguments about the first temple therefore rest on texts and on comparable structures elsewhere, and any page that implies otherwise is misreporting the evidence.
What this quiz draws on
Books in play: 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 2 Samuel, Lamentations, Nahum, Nehemiah. Each of those leads to what the book contains, who has been proposed as its author, and how it is dated.
Themes: Exile and return, Kings and empires, Temple.
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.