Law (Pentateuch)
117 study questions and answers, quoted from the Revised Version (1885/1895).
What are the first five books of the Bible collectively called?
The Pentateuch, or the Torah ("instruction"); Jews also call it "the Law of Moses."
Josh 8:31; Luke 24:44
With what four words does the Bible open?
"In the beginning God" — Scripture assumes God rather than arguing for him.
Gen 1:1
On which day of creation were the sun, moon and stars made?
The fourth day — after light itself on day one.
Gen 1:14-19
What did God declare about creation on the sixth day?
That it was "very good" — the only day given that superlative.
Gen 1:31
What does it mean that humanity is made in the "image of God"?
Every person bears God's likeness in reason, moral will, relationship and rule over creation — the ground of all human dignity.
Gen 1:26-27
What two trees stood in the middle of Eden?
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2:9
What was the first thing God called "not good"?
That the man should be alone.
Gen 2:18
What is the first promise of a Redeemer in Scripture called?
The protoevangelium — the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head.
Gen 3:15
What sign sealed the Noahic covenant?
The rainbow, God's pledge never again to destroy the earth by flood.
Gen 9:12-17
What three promises formed God's call to Abram?
A great nation, a great name and personal blessing, and blessing to all families of the earth through him.
Gen 12:1-3
Which verse is the Old Testament foundation for justification by faith?
"He believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
Gen 15:6
What was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant?
Circumcision of every male on the eighth day.
Gen 17:10-12
What name did God give Moses at the burning bush?
"I AM THAT I AM" — the self-existent, eternal One.
Exod 3:14
How many plagues struck Egypt, and what was the last?
Ten; the last was the death of the firstborn.
Exod 7-12
What protected Israel's firstborn on Passover night?
The blood of a lamb without blemish, struck on the lintel and doorposts.
Exod 12:5-13
How did God lead Israel through the wilderness?
By a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Exod 13:21-22
What food did God provide daily in the wilderness, and what does the name mean?
Manna — from the question "What is it?"
Exod 16:15, 31
On which mountain was the Law given?
Mount Sinai (also called Horeb).
Exod 19:20
What is the first commandment of the Decalogue?
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me."
Exod 20:3
Which commandment carries a promise attached?
Honour thy father and thy mother — "that thy days may be long."
Exod 20:12; Eph 6:2
What did Israel make while Moses was on the mountain?
A golden calf, fashioned by Aaron from their earrings.
Exod 32:1-6
What was the Ark of the Covenant, and what did it contain?
The gold-covered chest in the Holy of Holies, holding the tablets of the Law, Aaron's rod that budded, and a pot of manna.
Exod 25:10-22; Heb 9:4
What sat on top of the Ark, and why did it matter?
The mercy seat, between the cherubim — where God met Israel and where atoning blood was sprinkled.
Exod 25:22; Lev 16:14
What was the significance of the veil in the tabernacle?
It barred access to the Holy of Holies, entered once a year by the high priest alone.
Exod 26:33; Heb 9:7
Who were the first priests of Israel?
Aaron and his sons, of the tribe of Levi.
Exod 28:1
What happened to Nadab and Abihu?
They offered strange fire before the LORD and were consumed.
Lev 10:1-2
What is the central theme of Leviticus?
Holiness — how a holy God may be approached and how a redeemed people must live.
Lev 19:2
What five main offerings does Leviticus prescribe?
Burnt, meal (grain), peace, sin, and trespass (guilt) offerings.
Lev 1-7
What happened on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)?
The high priest entered the Holy of Holies with blood, and a scapegoat bore Israel's sins into the wilderness.
Lev 16
Why was blood forbidden as food?
"The life of the flesh is in the blood" — it was given for atonement upon the altar.
Lev 17:11
What was the Year of Jubilee?
Every fiftieth year: debts released, slaves freed, and ancestral land returned.
Lev 25:8-13
What is the sevenfold Levitical feast calendar?
Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks (Pentecost), Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.
Lev 23
What is the Aaronic blessing?
"The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: the LORD make his face to shine upon thee..."
Num 6:24-26
Why did Israel wander forty years in the wilderness?
For refusing to enter Canaan after the ten spies' evil report — a year for each day of spying.
Num 14:33-34
Which two spies brought back a good report?
Joshua and Caleb — the only men of that generation to enter the land.
Num 14:6-9, 30
What happened to Korah, Dathan and Abiram?
The earth opened and swallowed them for rebelling against Moses' and Aaron's God-given authority.
Num 16:31-33
What did Moses do that barred him from the promised land?
He struck the rock at Meribah instead of speaking to it, failing to sanctify God before Israel.
Num 20:8-12
What did Israel look at to be healed of serpent bites?
The bronze serpent Moses lifted on a pole.
Num 21:8-9
What is the Shema, and why is it central?
"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" — Israel's confession of monotheism and whole-hearted love for God.
Deut 6:4-5
What test did Deuteronomy give for a true prophet?
If the thing spoken does not come to pass, the LORD has not spoken it.
Deut 18:22
Which prophet "like unto Moses" did Deuteronomy promise?
A future prophet whom God would raise up from among Israel's brethren.
Deut 18:15-18
What two things did Moses set before Israel on the plains of Moab?
Life and good, death and evil — blessing and cursing.
Deut 30:15-19
Where did Moses die, and who buried him?
On Mount Nebo, in view of Canaan; the LORD buried him, and no man knows the place.
Deut 34:1-6
How old was Moses at his death, and what was his condition?
120 years — "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."
Deut 34:7
How does Deuteronomy summarise Moses' uniqueness?
"There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face."
Deut 34:10
What single command does Jesus join to the Shema as second?
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" — drawn from the Law itself.
Lev 19:18; Matt 22:39
What did God do on the seventh day, and what did he do to that day?
He rested from his work, and he blessed and sanctified the seventh day.
Gen 2:2-3
From what was the man formed, and what made him a living soul?
From the dust of the ground; God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Gen 2:7
What was the first recorded human sin's immediate effect on the couple?
Their eyes were opened, they knew they were naked, and they hid from God.
Gen 3:7-8
Whose offering did God respect, Cain's or Abel's?
Abel's — he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
Gen 4:4; Heb 11:4
Who walked with God and 'was not, for God took him'?
Enoch, the seventh from Adam.
Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5
What was the sin at Babel, and how did God judge it?
Pride in building a tower to make a name; God confounded their language and scattered them.
Gen 11:4-9
Who was Melchizedek, and what did he bring to Abram?
King of Salem and priest of the Most High God; he brought forth bread and wine.
Gen 14:18
What did God change Abram's and Sarai's names to, and why?
Abraham ('father of a multitude') and Sarah ('princess'), sealing the covenant promise.
Gen 17:5,15
What did Abraham call the place where the ram was provided?
Jehovah-jireh — 'the LORD will provide' or 'in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.'
Gen 22:14
What did Jacob see at Bethel, and what did he call the place?
A ladder set up to heaven with angels ascending and descending; he called it the house of God and gate of heaven.
Gen 28:12,17
What new name was Jacob given after wrestling at Peniel?
Israel, 'for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'
Gen 32:28
How did Joseph interpret his brothers' evil against him?
'Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.'
Gen 50:20
What blessing of Judah is read as messianic?
'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah... until Shiloh come.'
Gen 49:10
What were the names of Moses' brother and sister?
Aaron and Miriam.
Exod 15:20; 7:1
What did Moses' rod become before Pharaoh?
A serpent, which swallowed the serpents of the magicians.
Exod 7:10-12
Which plague did the Egyptian magicians fail to duplicate?
The third — lice — at which they said, 'This is the finger of God.'
Exod 8:18-19
What was Israel to do with the Passover lamb's bones?
Break none of them.
Exod 12:46
What song did Israel sing after crossing the Red Sea?
The Song of Moses — 'I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously.'
Exod 15:1
Who advised Moses to appoint rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens?
Jethro, his father in law, priest of Midian.
Exod 18:21-24
What did God call Israel at Sinai before giving the Law?
A kingdom of priests and an holy nation, a peculiar treasure above all people.
Exod 19:5-6
What was written on the high priest's mitre plate?
'HOLINESS TO THE LORD.'
Exod 28:36
What did Moses ask to see, and what was he shown?
God's glory; he was hidden in a cleft of the rock and saw God's 'back parts.'
Exod 33:18-23
What happened to Moses' face after speaking with God?
It shone, so he veiled it before the people.
Exod 34:29-35
What was the scapegoat, and what did it do?
The goat 'for Azazel,' sent alive into the wilderness bearing the people's iniquities.
Lev 16:21-22
What great command of neighbour-love is found in Leviticus?
'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'
Lev 19:18
What did the law require regarding the poor and the harvest?
Do not reap the corners or glean; leave them for the poor and the stranger.
Lev 19:9-10
What was the Nazirite vow?
Abstaining from wine, avoiding the dead, and leaving the hair uncut for the vow's duration.
Num 6:1-8
Whose rod budded to confirm his priesthood?
Aaron's — it budded, blossomed and yielded almonds.
Num 17:8
Which prophet was hired to curse Israel but blessed them instead?
Balaam, son of Beor.
Num 23-24
What star and sceptre did Balaam foresee?
'There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.'
Num 24:17
What were the cities of refuge for?
Asylum for one who killed a person unawares, until judgment before the congregation.
Num 35:11-15
What did Deuteronomy command parents to do with God's words?
Teach them diligently to children, talking of them at home, walking, lying down, and rising up.
Deut 6:7
By what does man live, according to Deuteronomy 8?
'Not by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD.'
Deut 8:3
What does Deuteronomy say about the secret things?
'The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us.'
Deut 29:29
What image describes God's care in the Song of Moses?
An eagle stirring up her nest, bearing her young on her wings.
Deut 32:11
What are the 'everlasting arms' text and its promise?
'The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.'
Deut 33:27
What does the Hebrew word 'bara' signify in Genesis 1:1?
A creating whose subject is only ever God — never used of human making.
Gen 1:1
What does the plural 'Let us make man' indicate?
A divine self-deliberation; Christians have read it as an early intimation of plurality within God.
Gen 1:26
What dominion mandate is given to humanity?
To be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion over living things.
Gen 1:28
What is the first thing in Scripture called holy?
Not a place or a person but a time — the seventh day.
Gen 2:3
What does the name 'Eve' mean, and when was it given?
'Living' — given after the fall, as an act of faith in the promise of seed.
Gen 3:20
What did God make for Adam and Eve, and what did it cost?
Coats of skins — requiring the death of an animal.
Gen 3:21
What guarded the way to the tree of life?
Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way.
Gen 3:24
What did Lamech boast to his wives?
That he would be avenged seventy and sevenfold for wounding a man.
Gen 4:24
When did men begin to call upon the name of the LORD?
In the days of Enos, son of Seth.
Gen 4:26
What was God's assessment of humanity before the flood?
That every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:5
What did God covenant never to do again after the flood?
Never again to curse the ground for man's sake or smite every living thing.
Gen 8:21
What sanction protects human life in the Noahic covenant?
Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed — for in the image of God made he man.
Gen 9:6
How does Genesis describe Abram's departure from Ur?
He went out not knowing whither he went, at God's call.
Gen 12:1-4; Heb 11:8
What did Abraham do when God announced Sodom's judgment?
He interceded, bargaining from fifty righteous down to ten.
Gen 18:23-32
What was Sodom's sin, according to Ezekiel?
Pride, fulness of bread, abundance of idleness, and neglect of the poor and needy.
Ezek 16:49
What test did God give Abraham on Moriah?
To offer Isaac, his only son, as a burnt offering.
Gen 22:2
Why did Jacob's ladder vision matter for Israel's self-understanding?
It located God's presence at an ordinary place, unearned and unexpected.
Gen 28:16
What does 'Immanuel' theology begin with in Exodus?
God's declared intention to dwell among his people.
Exod 25:8
Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart?
To display his power and make his name known throughout the earth.
Exod 9:16; Rom 9:17
What is the theological significance of the Passover being a memorial?
Each generation recounts the exodus as though personally delivered.
Exod 12:14; 13:8
What did God say about the firstborn after the exodus?
That every firstborn in Israel was his, redeemed by a substitute.
Exod 13:2,13
What was the bread of the Presence?
Twelve loaves set before the LORD continually, one for each tribe.
Lev 24:5-9
What made a sacrifice acceptable in Leviticus?
That it be without blemish, offered willingly at the appointed place.
Lev 1:3
What is the meaning of 'atonement' (kaphar) in Hebrew?
To cover, and by extension to ransom or wipe away.
Lev 16:30
Why was the tabernacle built to a heavenly pattern?
Moses was to make all things after the pattern shewed him in the mount.
Exod 25:40
What did the trumpet of Jubilee proclaim?
Liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.
Lev 25:10
What was the sin of presumption in Numbers?
Sinning 'with a high hand' — defiant, deliberate rebellion, for which no sacrifice was appointed.
Num 15:30-31
What does the census in Numbers signify theologically?
That God's people are counted and known, ordered for both worship and warfare.
Num 1:2-3
What did Moses say when told to restrain Eldad and Medad?
'Would God that all the LORD's people were prophets.'
Num 11:29
What was the water of separation with the red heifer for?
Purifying those defiled by contact with the dead.
Num 19:9
What law of witnesses does Deuteronomy establish?
At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall a matter be established.
Deut 19:15
What does Deuteronomy say about a hanged man?
He that is hanged is accursed of God, and must be buried the same day.
Deut 21:23
What was the law of the king in Deuteronomy?
He must not multiply horses, wives or silver, and must write his own copy of the law.
Deut 17:16-19
What are the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28?
Blessing for obedience and a far longer catalogue of curses for covenant breach.
Deut 28
What does 'circumcise the foreskin of your heart' mean?
That the outward covenant sign must be matched by inward devotion.
Deut 10:16; 30:6