In the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, how much are the men hired at the eleventh hour paid?

A denarius, the same as those hired at dawn

Twice a denarius, for their willingness

Bible Trivia: The Parables of Jesus

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Bible Trivia: The Parables of Jesus — printable

Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Score: ______

1. In the parable of the good Samaritan, who stops to help the wounded man? Easy
1. A A Samaritan
2. B A priest
3. C A Levite
4. D A tax collector
2. In the parable of the prodigal son, what does the father order killed for the feast? Easy
1. A A lamb
2. B A pair of doves
3. C The fattened calf
4. D A young goat
3. In the parable of the sower, what happens to the seed that falls along the path? Easy
1. A It is scorched by the sun
2. B Thorns choke it
3. C It rots in the wet ground
4. D Birds come and eat it
4. In the parable of the lost sheep, how many sheep does the shepherd leave behind to look for the one? Easy
1. A Forty-nine
2. B Ninety-nine
3. C Nine
4. D Nine hundred and ninety-nine
5. The good Samaritan and the prodigal son both appear in which Gospel, and only there? Medium
1. A Matthew
2. B Mark
3. C Luke
4. D John
6. In the parable of the ten bridesmaids, how many are called wise? Medium
1. A Five
2. B Three
3. C Seven
4. D Two
7. Luke 15 gives three parables in a row. What is lost in each? Medium
1. A A sheep, a lamp and a son
2. B A coin, a field and a servant
3. C A sheep, a coin and a son
4. D A sheep, a coin and a vineyard
8. When Jesus explains the parable of the sower, what does he say the seed stands for? Medium
1. A The word
2. B Faith
3. C The kingdom’s people
4. D Wealth
9. In the parable of the rich man and the beggar, which of the two is given a name? Hard
1. A The rich man
2. B Both of them
3. C Neither of them
4. D The beggar
10. Which parable appears in Mark and in neither Matthew nor Luke? Hard
1. A The mustard seed
2. B The seed growing secretly
3. C The wicked tenants
4. D The sower
11. In the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, how much are the men hired at the eleventh hour paid? Hard
1. A A twelfth of a denarius
2. B A denarius, the same as those hired at dawn
3. C Nothing, as a rebuke
4. D Twice a denarius, for their willingness
12. Which Gospel tells the parable in which the servants are given minas rather than talents? Hard
1. A Matthew
2. B Mark
3. C John
4. D Luke

Answer key — teacher’s sheet

Print pages separately: hand out the worksheet, keep this one.

1. A — A Samaritan

Luke 10:33. The priest and the Levite are in the story too — they are the two who see the man and pass by on the other side.
2. C — The fattened calf

Luke 15:23. The young goat is the elder brother’s complaint in 15:29 — that he never got even that — so it belongs to the story, just not to the feast.
3. D — Birds come and eat it

Mark 4:4. Scorching belongs to the rocky ground and choking to the thorns; the four soils each get their own fate, and they are easy to shuffle.
4. B — Ninety-nine

Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15:4. Both versions use a hundred sheep and one lost, but they are told to different audiences and for different purposes.
5. C — Luke

Luke 10:25–37 and Luke 15:11–32. Luke carries the largest body of parables found in no other Gospel, which is why so many of the famous ones share a single source.
6. A — Five

Matthew 25:1–13. Five take oil for their lamps and five do not; the split is exactly even, which is the detail most often misremembered.
7. C — A sheep, a coin and a son

Luke 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, told together as one answer to the complaint that Jesus eats with sinners.
8. A — The word

Mark 4:14 and Luke 8:11. The people are the soils, not the seed. In the separate parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:38 does make the good seed stand for people — a different parable with a different key.
9. D — The beggar

Luke 16:19–31; the beggar is Lazarus, at 16:20. The rich man is unnamed in the text — the name Dives, often used for him, is simply the Latin word for “rich man”.
10. B — The seed growing secretly

Mark 4:26–29, the seed that sprouts and grows while the farmer sleeps and does not know how. The other three are all in the Synoptics generally, which is what makes this one easy to overlook.
11. B — A denarius, the same as those hired at dawn

Matthew 20:1–16, a parable found only in Matthew. The complaint of the first-hired is precisely that the wage was equal, so any answer other than the same amount empties the story.
12. D — Luke

Luke 19:11–27: ten servants, one mina each, and the unfaithful one hides his in a cloth. Matthew 25:14–30 has three servants, unequal talents, and the money buried in the ground — two related parables regularly merged into one.

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 the parable of the good Samaritan, who stops to help the wounded man?
- A Samaritan — correct
- A priest
- A Levite
- A tax collector
Answer: A Samaritan
Luke 10:33. The priest and the Levite are in the story too — they are the two who see the man and pass by on the other side.
In the parable of the prodigal son, what does the father order killed for the feast?
- A lamb
- A pair of doves
- The fattened calf — correct
- A young goat
Answer: The fattened calf
Luke 15:23. The young goat is the elder brother’s complaint in 15:29 — that he never got even that — so it belongs to the story, just not to the feast.
In the parable of the sower, what happens to the seed that falls along the path?
- It is scorched by the sun
- Thorns choke it
- It rots in the wet ground
- Birds come and eat it — correct
Answer: Birds come and eat it
Mark 4:4. Scorching belongs to the rocky ground and choking to the thorns; the four soils each get their own fate, and they are easy to shuffle.
In the parable of the lost sheep, how many sheep does the shepherd leave behind to look for the one?
- Forty-nine
- Ninety-nine — correct
- Nine
- Nine hundred and ninety-nine
Answer: Ninety-nine
Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15:4. Both versions use a hundred sheep and one lost, but they are told to different audiences and for different purposes.

Medium

These need a detail held in place — a name, a sequence, a number that only means something next to another number.

The good Samaritan and the prodigal son both appear in which Gospel, and only there?
- Matthew
- Mark
- Luke — correct
- John
Answer: Luke
Luke 10:25–37 and Luke 15:11–32. Luke carries the largest body of parables found in no other Gospel, which is why so many of the famous ones share a single source.
In the parable of the ten bridesmaids, how many are called wise?
- Five — correct
- Three
- Seven
- Two
Answer: Five
Matthew 25:1–13. Five take oil for their lamps and five do not; the split is exactly even, which is the detail most often misremembered.
Luke 15 gives three parables in a row. What is lost in each?
- A sheep, a lamp and a son
- A coin, a field and a servant
- A sheep, a coin and a son — correct
- A sheep, a coin and a vineyard
Answer: A sheep, a coin and a son
Luke 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, told together as one answer to the complaint that Jesus eats with sinners.
When Jesus explains the parable of the sower, what does he say the seed stands for?
- The word — correct
- Faith
- The kingdom’s people
- Wealth
Answer: The word
Mark 4:14 and Luke 8:11. The people are the soils, not the seed. In the separate parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:38 does make the good seed stand for people — a different parable with a different key.

Hard

These turn on what the evidence actually supports, which is not always what the story is remembered as saying.

In the parable of the rich man and the beggar, which of the two is given a name?
- The rich man
- Both of them
- Neither of them
- The beggar — correct
Answer: The beggar
Luke 16:19–31; the beggar is Lazarus, at 16:20. The rich man is unnamed in the text — the name Dives, often used for him, is simply the Latin word for “rich man”.
Which parable appears in Mark and in neither Matthew nor Luke?
- The mustard seed
- The seed growing secretly — correct
- The wicked tenants
- The sower
Answer: The seed growing secretly
Mark 4:26–29, the seed that sprouts and grows while the farmer sleeps and does not know how. The other three are all in the Synoptics generally, which is what makes this one easy to overlook.
In the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, how much are the men hired at the eleventh hour paid?
- A twelfth of a denarius
- A denarius, the same as those hired at dawn — correct
- Nothing, as a rebuke
- Twice a denarius, for their willingness
Answer: A denarius, the same as those hired at dawn
Matthew 20:1–16, a parable found only in Matthew. The complaint of the first-hired is precisely that the wage was equal, so any answer other than the same amount empties the story.
Which Gospel tells the parable in which the servants are given minas rather than talents?
- Matthew
- Mark
- John
- Luke — correct
Answer: Luke
Luke 19:11–27: ten servants, one mina each, and the unfaithful one hides his in a cloth. Matthew 25:14–30 has three servants, unequal talents, and the money buried in the ground — two related parables regularly merged into one.

What this quiz draws on

Books in play: Luke, Mark, Matthew. Each of those leads to what the book contains, who has been proposed as its author, and how it is dated.

Themes: Gospels and Jesus.

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.