Genesis Bible Trivia: 45 Questions and Answers for Families

These 45 Genesis Bible trivia questions cover the whole book -- Creation, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph -- sorted into easy, medium, and hard rounds by age. The answer, in bold with a verse reference, comes right after every question, so anyone can run the game with zero prep.

Genesis is the best trivia book in the Bible: it has the most famous stories, the most "wait, is that really in there?" details, and at least three questions on this list that most adults get wrong. Watch out for numbers 16 and 32 in particular.

What Is the Book of Genesis About?

Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and it tells how everything began -- the world, people, sin, and God's plan to fix what sin broke through one family. It is traditionally attributed to Moses, covers more time than any other book of the Bible (from Creation to roughly 1800 BC), and runs 50 chapters.

The storyline moves in two halves. Chapters 1-11 cover the big universal events: Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's flood, and the Tower of Babel. Chapters 12-50 zoom in on one family across four generations -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph -- through whom God promises to bless the whole world. Genesis matters because every later book of the Bible builds on it; if kids know Genesis, the rest of Scripture makes sense.

Easy Genesis Trivia Questions (Ages 5-8)

1. What is the very first sentence in the Bible? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)
2. How many days did God take to create the world? Six days -- and he rested on the seventh (Genesis 1:31-2:2)
3. Who were the first man and woman? Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:7, 3:20)
4. What was the name of the garden where Adam and Eve lived? The Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8)
5. What animal tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit? The serpent (Genesis 3:1-6)
6. Who built a giant ark to save his family and the animals? Noah (Genesis 6:13-14)
7. How many days and nights did it rain during the flood? Forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:12)
8. What sign did God put in the sky as a promise never to flood the whole earth again? A rainbow (Genesis 9:13)
9. What were the names of Noah's three sons? Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 6:10)
10. What did the people at Babel try to build? A city with a tower that reached to the heavens (Genesis 11:4)
11. What was the name of the son God promised to Abraham and Sarah? Isaac (Genesis 21:1-3)
12. What were the names of Isaac's twin sons? Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:24-26)
13. What special gift did Jacob give his favorite son Joseph? A beautiful ornate robe (Genesis 37:3)
14. How many sons did Jacob have? Twelve (Genesis 35:22)
15. In what country did Joseph become a great ruler? Egypt (Genesis 41:41)

Medium Genesis Trivia Questions (Ages 9-12)

1. What fruit did Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden? Trick question -- the Bible only says "fruit," never an apple (Genesis 3:6)
2. Who were Adam and Eve's first two sons? Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-2)
3. Which man "walked faithfully with God" and then was no more, because God took him? Enoch (Genesis 5:24)
4. What bird brought Noah an olive leaf, showing the water had gone down? A dove (Genesis 8:11)
5. In what city was Abram living when God told him to leave for a new land? Haran -- his family had moved there from Ur (Genesis 11:31, 12:4)
6. Whose wife turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at Sodom? Lot's wife (Genesis 19:26)
7. How old was Abraham when Isaac was born? One hundred years old (Genesis 21:5)
8. What animal did God provide as a sacrifice in place of Isaac? A ram caught by its horns in a thicket (Genesis 22:13)
9. How did Abraham's servant know Rebekah was the right wife for Isaac? She offered water to him and to all his camels (Genesis 24:14-19)
10. What did Esau trade his birthright for? A meal of bread and lentil stew (Genesis 25:33-34)
11. What did Jacob see in his dream at Bethel? A stairway from earth to heaven with angels going up and down (Genesis 28:12)
12. How many years in total did Jacob work for Laban to marry Rachel? Fourteen -- seven years, then seven more after being tricked with Leah (Genesis 29:18-30)
13. What new name did God give Jacob after he wrestled with God? Israel (Genesis 32:28)
14. What did young Joseph dream that made his brothers so angry? Their sheaves of grain -- and later the sun, moon, and eleven stars -- bowed down to him (Genesis 37:5-9)
15. Who bought Joseph as a slave in Egypt? Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (Genesis 39:1)

Hard Genesis Trivia Questions (Teens and Adults)

1. What were the measurements of Noah's ark? 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high (Genesis 6:15)
2. How many of every clean animal did Noah take aboard? Seven pairs -- not just two (Genesis 7:2)
3. Who is the oldest person recorded in the Bible, and how long did he live? Methuselah -- 969 years (Genesis 5:27)
4. What mysterious priest-king brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram? Melchizedek, king of Salem (Genesis 14:18)
5. Who was the mother of Abraham's son Ishmael? Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant (Genesis 16:15)
6. When Abraham bargained with God over Sodom, what was the final number of righteous people he asked about? Ten (Genesis 18:32)
7. From whom did Abraham buy the cave of Machpelah as a burial place for Sarah? Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23:10-16)
8. What did Jacob wear to trick his blind father Isaac into blessing him? Esau's clothes, with goatskins on his hands and neck (Genesis 27:15-16)
9. Which of Jacob's sons was born as Rachel died? Benjamin (Genesis 35:18)
10. For how much silver did Joseph's brothers sell him? Twenty shekels (Genesis 37:28)
11. Whose dreams did Joseph interpret while in prison? Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker (Genesis 40:1-22)
12. What two dreams of Pharaoh's did Joseph explain? Seven fat and seven skinny cows, and seven full and seven thin heads of grain -- seven years of plenty, then seven of famine (Genesis 41:1-32)
13. What did Joseph secretly hide in Benjamin's sack of grain? His silver cup (Genesis 44:2)
14. Which two grandsons did Jacob bless with his hands deliberately crossed? Ephraim and Manasseh -- putting his right hand on the younger, Ephraim (Genesis 48:13-14)
15. What did Joseph tell his brothers about the evil they had done to him? "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Genesis 50:20)

How to Use These Questions

Match the round to the kid and keep it short -- five questions at dinner beats forty-five in one sitting. The easy round works as a bedtime game for little ones, the medium round makes a great Sunday school review, and the hard round is where parents finally have to open the Bible and check. For team formats, scorekeeping ideas, and prize suggestions, see our full guide to family Bible trivia night.

If a question exposes a story your kids don't know yet, that's the win -- go read it together. Our kid-friendly walkthroughs of the book of Genesis, Noah and the great flood, who Abraham was, and who Joseph was cover the big ones in about five minutes each. And the video lessons at Faithful Kids walk kids through every Genesis story with a short video and a quiz after each episode -- basically trivia practice that feels like screen time.

When your family has mastered Genesis, keep going with our Old Testament trivia for kids, which picks up the story from here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the book of Genesis?

Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses, along with the other four books of the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy). The book itself doesn't name its author, and scholars discuss how it was compiled, but both Jewish and Christian tradition have connected it to Moses for thousands of years.

How many chapters does Genesis have?

Genesis has 50 chapters, making it one of the longest books in the Bible. Chapters 1-11 cover Creation through the Tower of Babel, and chapters 12-50 follow Abraham's family through four generations, ending with Joseph's death in Egypt.

What is the most famous story in Genesis?

Creation is the most famous -- "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) may be the best-known sentence ever written. Noah's ark, Adam and Eve, and Joseph's ornate robe round out the top four, and all of them appear in the easy round above.

What age can kids start learning Genesis?

Ages 4-5 can learn the headline stories -- Creation, Noah, and Joseph -- from picture Bibles and bedtime retellings. By ages 7-8 kids can handle the full storyline including Abraham and Jacob, and the trick questions (like the "apple" that isn't in the text) are perfect for ages 9 and up.

What does the word "Genesis" mean?

Genesis means "origin" or "beginning," from the Greek title given to the book. Its Hebrew name is Bereshit, which is simply the book's first word: "In the beginning."

What is the hardest Genesis trivia question?

The clean animals question stumps the most people: Genesis 7:2 says Noah took seven pairs of every clean animal, not two of everything. Runner-up honors go to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18) and the price of Joseph's betrayal -- twenty shekels of silver (Genesis 37:28).