South African Friends of Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education are hosting the first National Bible Contest South Africa which will test contestants’ knowledge of the Tanakh (Old Testament).
SA Torah enthusiast Oded Dumah who was instrumental in bringing the contest to South Africa said winners of the quiz which comprises three rounds can look forward to cool prizes including a trip to Israel where they will visit biblical sites.
The roots of the contest go back to 1958 when the first annual International Bible Contest was held in Israel as part of celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of Israel.
David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister of Israel at the time, said the Bible Contest was the most meaningful and formative event of the festivities. Each year since then it has been held to test the Bible knowledge of young Jewish people throughout the world with the final round regularly drawing a large, live television audience and often presided over by the prime minister or president of Israel.
In 2018 the idea was extended to Africa with the launch of the first National Bible Contest Nigeria. Further contests, organised by the Israeli Ministry of Education , Christians United for Israel and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) were held in 2019 and 2020.
Oded said that Nigerians associated with the contest have been asking when South Africa was going to get on board.
The Bible Contest SA seeks to create awareness about Israel in South Africa, as well as to strengthen the connection between South Africa and Israel, through the Hebrew Bible/ Christian Old Testament, say the contest organisers.
They say: “It is expected that The Bible Contest SA will bring about an increased awareness of the Book of books and how it relates to the Nation and Land of Israel. In addition, the Bible Contest SA will also see an increased bonding between Israel and South Africa.”
The first two rounds of the contest will be held online and then the nine best contestants will participate in a public oral quiz in Johannesburg in the final round, with prizes going to the top three contestants.
Quiz questions will be based on the following sections of the Old Testament with the Koren Jerusalem Bible as the official reference.
- Exodus: Chapters 1-24
- Leviticus: Chapters 19
- Numbers: chapters 10-25
- Joshua: Chapters 1-11, 14, 22-24,
- Judges: The whole book
- Samuel 1: The whole book
- 2 Samuel: The whole book
- 1 Kings: The whole book
- 2 Kings: The whole book
- Jonah: The whole book
- Ruth: The whole book
- Isaiah: Chapters 1 – 12, 40-66
- Jeremiah: Chapters 1, 2, 30-49
- Ezekiel: Chapters 1-4, 15-20
- Psalms: 90-140
- Ezra: Chapters 1, 3, 7-10
- Nehemiah: The whole book
- Daniel: Chapters 1, 8, 10, 12
You can register online for the quiz at the following link: https://www.biblecontestafrica.co.za/bible-quiz/
Registration will close on September 10 and the first round will commence on October 20.
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