The Big Bible Battle

The 15 contestants in Jerusalem made up an intriguingly mixed company. They included chipper Myrtle Davis, 49, Southern Baptist schoolteacher from Buford, Ga., who won the Bible quiz on the $64,000 Challenge; tiny Irene Santos, 39, a Seventh-day Adventist schoolteacher from Brazil; tall Roman Catholic Paul Guillamier, 19, of Malta, who brought his parish priest with him; matronly Protestant Convert Sara Rabinowitz of Mexico. These and the other contestants (representing Argentina, Colombia, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden and Uruguay) were on hand for the big international Bible quiz, sponsored by an Israeli group to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Israel's statehood.

The most dramatic contestant of all was Israel's own entry: Amos Hacham, 30, a partly paralyzed, barely articulate clerk in Jerusalem's Institute for the Blind, and the orphan son of a Bible scholar; a childhood accident had left Hacham with a dragging leg, a shriveled arm and a sagging mouth. All Israel was rooting for Amos as contest time drew near. Every seat in Jerusalem's Hebrew University amphitheatre (capacity: 2,340) was sold well in advance, 300 policemen handled the crowds, and all over the country radio sets were tuned in. With a blare of trumpets, a swell of voices from the choir, and a chanting of prayers, the contest began. Sample questions:

> At the close of several books of the Bible, women are praised. Which books are they? Answer: Esther, Ruth, Solomon's Song and Job.

> Where is the eternal nature of God's reign first expressed? Answer: Exodus 15: 18--"The Lord shall reign for ever and ever."

> The elders divided the watches of the night. How do we know that the number of night watches was an uneven one? Answer: Judges 7: 19 refers to "the middle watch."

As Supreme Court Justice Shneor Cheshin read each question, Amos Hacham would painfully draw himself up, holding his breath, his body rigid. Then the answer would come suddenly, in a harsh, monotonous cry. He missed scarcely a question. When it was over, Amos was hands-down winner of the first prize -- a grey-green, 2,000-year-old glass vase from a tomb at Beth Shearim. Runner-up was France's Simone Dumont, Baptist teacher and a publisher of children's books, who won an ancient silver shekel. Third prize, a gold coin commemorating the tenth anniversary of Israel, went to Brazil's Irene Santos. Georgia's Myrtle Davis was tied with The Netherlands' Clarina Niewland for seventh place.

A few contestants privately complained about the Jewish advantage in having only the Old Testament to master, and one of the jury admitted that "it wasn't quite fair to set a Jew against those who give to the New Testament equal importance with the Old." But Winner Amos Hacham this week is a hero in Israel.

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