Judges Bible Trivia: 32 Questions and Answers for Families

These 32 Judges Bible trivia questions cover every famous moment in the book -- Deborah's victory, Gideon's 300, Samson's strength, and the strange stories most families have never heard. Answers with verse references are included after every question, sorted into easy, medium, and hard rounds by age.

Judges might be the most underrated trivia book in the Bible. Everyone knows Samson, but the book also has a left-handed assassin, a password that decided a battle, and a woman who won a war with a tent peg. Fair warning: some of the hard-round answers surprise adults who grew up in Sunday school.

What Is the Book of Judges About?

The book of Judges tells what happened in Israel between Joshua's death and the first kings -- roughly 1380 to 1050 BC -- when God raised up rescuers called judges every time his people turned away from him and got into trouble. The author is anonymous; Jewish tradition attributes the book to the prophet Samuel, but the Bible itself never says who wrote it.

The whole book runs on one repeating cycle: Israel forgets God, an enemy conquers them, they cry out for help, and God sends a judge to deliver them (Judges 2:16-19). Then the judge dies and it starts over -- each round a little worse than the last. It matters because it shows both sides of the story at once: how quickly people drift when "everyone does as they see fit" (Judges 21:25), and how patiently God keeps rescuing them anyway.

Easy Judges Trivia Questions (Ages 5-8)

1. Who was the strongest man in the Bible, whose strength was connected to his long hair? Samson (Judges 16:17)
2. Who was the brave woman prophet who led Israel and held court under a palm tree? Deborah (Judges 4:4-5)
3. How many soldiers did God let Gideon keep to fight the huge Midianite army? Three hundred (Judges 7:7)
4. What did Gideon's men carry into battle instead of swords? Trumpets, empty jars, and torches (Judges 7:16)
5. What wild animal did Samson kill with his bare hands? A lion (Judges 14:5-6)
6. What sweet surprise did Samson later find inside the lion's body? Honey, made by a swarm of bees (Judges 14:8-9)
7. Who kept asking Samson for the secret of his strength until he finally told her? Delilah (Judges 16:15-17)
8. What did Samson use to defeat a thousand Philistines? The jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15-16)
9. What happened every time Israel forgot God and worshiped idols? God let their enemies defeat them until they cried out to him (Judges 2:14-16)
10. What did God send to rescue Israel each time they cried out? A judge -- a leader who delivered them (Judges 2:16)

Medium Judges Trivia Questions (Ages 9-12)

1. Who was the very first judge God raised up to rescue Israel? Othniel, Caleb's nephew (Judges 3:9-10)
2. Which left-handed judge defeated Eglon, the king of Moab? Ehud (Judges 3:15-21)
3. What unusual detail does the Bible give about King Eglon? He was a very fat man (Judges 3:17)
4. Which judge struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad -- a cattle prod? Shamgar (Judges 3:31)
5. Which army commander refused to fight Sisera unless Deborah came with him? Barak (Judges 4:8)
6. How many iron chariots did Sisera command? Nine hundred (Judges 4:3)
7. Which woman defeated the mighty general Sisera with a tent peg and a hammer? Jael (Judges 4:21)
8. What was Gideon doing when the angel of the LORD called him a "mighty warrior"? Threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites (Judges 6:11-12)
9. What two-part test did Gideon ask God for using a piece of wool? The fleece test -- wet fleece on dry ground, then dry fleece on wet ground (Judges 6:36-40)
10. How did God choose which 300 men Gideon would keep? He kept the ones who lapped water from their hands, and sent home the ones who knelt down to drink (Judges 7:5-7)
11. What animals did Samson tie torches to so they would burn the Philistines' grain fields? Three hundred foxes, tied tail to tail (Judges 15:4-5)

Hard Judges Trivia Questions (Teens and Adults)

1. What new name did Gideon receive after tearing down his father's altar to Baal? Jerubbaal -- "let Baal contend with him" (Judges 6:31-32)
2. What battle cry did Gideon's 300 men shout as they smashed their jars? "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" (Judges 7:20)
3. When Israel asked Gideon to rule over them as king, what did he answer? "I will not rule over you... the LORD will rule over you" (Judges 8:23)
4. Which son of Gideon murdered his seventy brothers on a single stone to seize power? Abimelech (Judges 9:5)
5. How did Abimelech's violent life end? A woman dropped a millstone on his head, and he had his armor-bearer finish him off so no one could say a woman killed him (Judges 9:53-54)
6. What rash vow did Jephthah make before fighting the Ammonites -- and who paid for it? He vowed to sacrifice whatever came out of his door first when he returned; it was his own daughter (Judges 11:30-34)
7. What password did the men of Gilead use at the Jordan River because the Ephraimites couldn't pronounce it? "Shibboleth" -- the Ephraimites could only say "Sibboleth" (Judges 12:5-6)
8. What lifelong vow set Samson apart from birth? A Nazirite vow -- no razor was ever to touch his head (Judges 13:5)
9. Which city's gates did Samson tear out, posts and all, and carry to the top of a hill? Gaza's (Judges 16:3)
10. How much silver did each Philistine ruler promise Delilah for Samson's secret? Eleven hundred shekels of silver -- each (Judges 16:5)
11. What is the last sentence of the book of Judges? "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit" (Judges 21:25)

How to Use These Questions

Run the rounds by age -- easy questions at dinner for the little ones, the hard round saved for parents and teens (question 31 stumps almost everyone). Judges also works brilliantly as a story-order game: can your kids put Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson in sequence? Another format that fits this book: after each answer, ask "what part of the cycle is this?" -- kids quickly learn to spot the forgetting, the trouble, the crying out, and the rescue in every story. For a full game-night format with scoring ideas, see our guide to hosting a family Bible trivia night.

If your kids are shaky on the three big judges, catch them up first: Deborah the brave leader, Gideon the unlikely hero, and Samson, the strongest man alive each tell the story in about five minutes. Our video lessons at Faithful Kids walk kids through the whole judges era episode by episode, with a quiz after every story.

When your family has mastered this book, keep going with our Old Testament trivia questions or the full 100 Bible trivia questions for kids.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the book of Judges?

The book of Judges is anonymous -- it never names its author. Jewish tradition attributes it to the prophet Samuel, and the book was clearly written after the events it describes, since it repeatedly notes that "in those days Israel had no king" (Judges 21:25), implying the writer knew the monarchy that came later.

How many chapters does Judges have?

Judges has 21 chapters. The first sixteen follow the cycle of judges from Othniel through Samson, and the last five tell two dark stories that show how lawless Israel had become without godly leadership.

How many judges are in the book of Judges?

Twelve judges are usually counted in the book: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. Six of them get detailed stories, while the others are covered in just a verse or two.

What is the most famous story in Judges?

Samson and Delilah is the most famous story in Judges (chapters 13-16) -- the strongest man in the Bible undone by a secret he should have kept. Gideon's 300 soldiers defeating the Midianite army (Judges 7) and Deborah and Jael's victory over Sisera (Judges 4) are close behind.

What age can kids start learning the book of Judges?

Ages 5-8 can handle the hero moments -- Samson's strength, Gideon's trumpets, Deborah's courage -- which is exactly what the easy round covers. The full stories include violence that parents may want to save for ages 9 and up, and the final chapters (17-21) are genuinely mature material best suited to teens with a parent alongside.

What is the main lesson of the book of Judges?

The main lesson of Judges is that people drift from God quickly when everyone "does as they see fit," but God keeps hearing his people and rescuing them anyway. The repeating cycle -- sin, trouble, crying out, rescue -- makes it one of the easiest books in the Bible for kids to trace on their own.