Biblical Groups of Twelve
Thanks to the 44 of you who played in my recent quiz at Alpaca Farm. If you’re only interested in the correct answers or stats, or want to try the quiz yourself, scroll down toward the bottom.
Despite the topic, this was a general-knowledge quiz. Every correct response incorporated the name (or alternative name) of one of the following Groups of Twelve from the Bible:
- the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel)
- the twelve minor prophets
- the twelve apostles
Of course, it might help if you knew exactly who those people were (or at least their names). Here you go.
The twelve sons of Jacob (Israel)
There’s a lot to know about Jacob, so I’ll keep it to a minimum here. He had twelve sons from four women: the sisters Leah and Rachel, and their respective handmaidens, Zilpah and Bilhah.
Jacob loved Rachel best, and worked seven years for her hand, only to find out he had married the older Leah (marriage order was strict in those days). He agreed with her father to also marry Rachel in exchange for a promise for seven years of additional labor.
When a wife was unable to conceive, as was the case with Rachel for a long time, it was standard practice for a husband to impregnate her handmaiden. The same had previously happened with Abraham and Sarah and handmaiden Hagar.
Jacob wrestled with an angel one night, leading him to be renamed Israel (“he who struggles”). His twelve sons for the most part are the namesakes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The only exceptions are Levi, whose progeny served as the priestly class for all tribes, and Joseph, whose blessing was passed on to his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Here are the twelve sons, a list worth memorizing. Translations come from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Bible, which inspired this quiz.
| # | son | meaning | mother |
| 1 | Reuben | he has seen my misery | Leah |
| 2 | Simeon | one who hears | Leah |
| 3 | Levi | attached | Leah |
| 4 | Judah | praise | Leah |
| 5 | Dan | he has vindicated | Bilhah |
| 6 | Naphtali | my struggle | Bilhah |
| 7 | Gad | good fortune / troop | Zilpah |
| 8 | Asher | happy | Zilpah |
| 9 | Issachar | reward | Leah |
| 10 | Zebulun | gift / honor | Leah |
| 11 | Joseph | may he add | Rachel |
| 12 | Benjamin | son of my right hand | Rachel |
The twelve minor prophets
These are the final twelve books in the Old Testament, all originally in Hebrew. In Jewish tradition they are collected as the Trei Asar.
- Hosea (Osee)
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah (Abdias)
- Jonah (Jonas)
- Micah (Micheas)
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah (Sophanias)
- Haggai (Aggeus)
- Zechariah (Zacharias)
- Malachi (Malachias)
The original apostles
The apostles have different names depending on which book of the Gospel you’re looking at. The Gospel of John tends to be the outlier.
- Andrew
- Bartholomew, a.k.a. Nathanael
- James, son of Alphaeus
- James, son of Zebedee
- John (“whom Jesus loved”)
- Judas Iscariot (betrayer of Jesus)
- Matthew
- Philip
- Peter, a.k.a. Simon Peter / Cephas (the first Pope)
- Simon the Zealot
- Thaddeus, a.k.a. Jude
- Thomas
Clues, responses, and stats
Note: numbers in parentheses represent the number of players who gave that response.
Q1. With the money he earned from his 1955 portrayal of Cal Trask, he purchased a Porsche 356, among other vehicles.
Name this actor, whose aforementioned performance became the first to earn a posthumous Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards.
[spoiler]JAMES DEAN (40)
Key: Actor + fast car + died in 1955. Knowing East of Eden was the film might help, too.[/spoiler]
Q2. Born in Germany in 1829, he moved to the United States at age 18 to help his brothers with their wholesale dry goods firm before starting his own.
Name this businessman, who helped to invent a new type of work pant: one using copper rivets to hold the cloth together.
[spoiler]LEVI STRAUSS (41)
Key: German name + ‘work pants'[/spoiler]
Q3. His contributions to the game of football were numerous, including the onside kick, the lateral pass, and the tackling dummy.
Name this College Football Hall of Famer, who coached at the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1932.
[spoiler]AMOS STAGG (21)
MCW: JOHN HEISMAN (3)
BWA: ZEBULON OBADAIAH MAROON
No hints here; this is a YEKIOYD (you either know it or you don’t) type of clue.[/spoiler]
Q4. He succeeded his father as the head of Houston’s Lakewood Church in 1999; he has since become known as “The Smiling Preacher”.
Name this evangelist, whose 2004 book Your Best Life Now spent over 200 weeks on the New York Timesbest-seller list.
[spoiler]JOEL OSTEEN (33)
Key: Lakewood Church preacher + telegenic. Knowing the Biblical names helps narrow this down (although, granted, the average preacher is more likely to have a Biblical name)[/spoiler]
Q5. I’m hungry for this sandwich – anyone up for a trip to Katz’s Deli? (Be sure to hold on to your ticket until you get to the cashier.)
Click for additional information
[spoiler]REUBEN (43)
A classic Reuben is corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, dressing (Russian or Thousand Island) on rye. I’ll have what she’s having.[/spoiler]
Q6. As a leader of the Radical Republicans, this Pennsylvania representative often butted heads with Abraham Lincoln.
Name this abolitionist, who insisted he be buried in an integrated cemetery (and was – after becoming the third person to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda).
[spoiler]THADDEUS STEVENS (22)
MCW: STEPHEN DOUGLAS (3)
Nice get rate here – I thought this was going to be around 30%.[/spoiler]
Q7. In April 1963, at age 17, she interviewed The Beatles; by December, she and Paul McCartney had moved in together.
Name this actress, who inspired several songs, including “And I Love Her” and “We Can Work It Out”. (They didn’t.)
[spoiler](JANE) ASHER (10)
Jane came home early from a trip in 1968, soon after the couple had gotten engaged, and found Paul in bed with American Francie Schwartz. “Try to see it my way…”[/spoiler]
Q8. It got its start in 1924 by launching a crossword puzzle craze; today, it is a division of CBS Corporation.
Name this publishing house, whose 35 imprints include Pocket Books and Folger Shakespeare Library.
[spoiler]SIMON & SCHUSTER (22)
Simon & Schuster is one of the ‘big five’ in publishing, along with Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, and Penguin Random House.[/spoiler]
Q9. In 1976, a few months before he died, he received a life peerage.
Name this composer, whose works included Peter Grimes and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
[spoiler]BENJAMIN BRITTEN (23)
MCW: LEONARD BERNSTEIN (3)
Key (if you know neither of those works): life peerage = British + 20th century composer[/spoiler]
Q10. Give the full name – including middle initial – of the most prominent animated character voiced by Nancy Cartwright for 27 seasons running.
[spoiler]BARTHOLOMEW J. SIMPSON (75)
BWA: LISA ESTHER SIMPSON
Key: “27 seasons running” should have led you to The Simpsons. Many of Matt Groening’s characters have middle initial “J”, in honor of Jay Ward, creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
Homer’s middle name is just “Jay”, whereas Bart’s is supposedly “JoJo”.[/spoiler]
Q11. In 1190, ten years into a 43-year reign, he styled himself “King of France” – the first Frankish ruler to do so.
Name this monarch, who was given his popular nickname by the chronicler Rigord.
[spoiler]PHILIP AUGUSTUS (PHILIP II) (6)
MCW: CHARLEMAGNE (6)
Another YEKIOYD. This was a toughy. Charlemagne is off by 400 years but I can see why it’d be a reasonable guess (Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, etc.)[/spoiler]
Q12. The harmonica solo heard here comes from what song, the opening track to a 1994 self-titled debut album?
[spoiler]MY NAME IS JONAS (15)
BWA: GAD AWFUL (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?)
“My Name is Jonas” is a great song for (1) getting your ass out of bed in the morning, and (2) getting ready for the weekend.[/spoiler]
If you haven’t listened to Weezer’s debut album, self-titled but commonly known as The Blue Album to differentiate it from others in Weezer’s catalog, please do yourself a favor and give it a listen. You’ve certainly heard at least two of the songs (“Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So”).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFOF47nalCY