Golomb’s Gambits – Answers
February 28, 2011 |  by Solomon Golomb

1. d; see Genesis.
2. a; see Job.
3. f; see minor prophets (Jonah).
4. c; see Genesis.
5. b; see Joshua.
6. e; see Genesis.
7. j; see 1 Kings.
8. k; see Jeremiah.
9. i; see 2 Samuel.
10. h; see Exodus.
11. g; see 1 Kings.
12. l; see minor prophets (Joel).
13. n; see Judges.
14. q; see 2 Kings.
15. o; see 2 Kings.
16. m; see Judges.
17. p; see 2 Kings.
18. r; see Judges.

Notes:
i) Events in 1 and 2 Samuel, and in 1 and 2 Kings, are also found in 1 and 2 Chronicles.
ii) Jeroboam in number 7 was called Jeroboam I because a later king of Israel was called Jeroboam II.
iii) Jotham in number 18 is in the book of Judges. A much later Jotham was king of Judah (see 2 Kings, Isaiah).
iv) Jabin in number 13 is also mentioned in the book of Joshua. It was his general, Sisera, who was routed in the Song of Deborah (see Judges).
v) Most of these Bible stories make fascinating reading and were part of the literary heritage of the English-speaking world. (When Hamlet talks of Jephthah’s daughter, Shakespeare’s audience needed no footnote to identify the reference.) When the Supreme Court outlawed prayer in public schools, an unfortunate (and I believe unintended) consequence was the gradual erasing of the Bible as literature from the public consciousness.