The National Bible Bee competition, which is fast rising in popularity, demands feats of memorization that make the National Spelling Bee look like a game of tic-tac-toe.
Daniel Chew, a 9-year-old from Sugar Land, Texas, memorizes Bible verses. Lots of Bible verses! At the National Bible Bee finals (Nov. 2024) “under spotlights on a stage in Orlando, Fla., Daniel smoothly recited 19 verses from the New Testament book of Romans to win the finals for his age group at the 16th annual National Bible Bee.
He was one of about 360 children and teenagers assembled this week for a competition whose slogan is “To know God’s Word and make Him known.”
The Bee … demands astonishing feats of memorization that make the televised National Spelling Bee look like a game of tic-tac-toe. Competitors at Daniel’s level memorized more than 570 verses, which they were expected to be able to recite on command.
At the senior level, ages 15 to 18, participants memorize 938 Bible verses, adding up to more than 20,000 words. In some rounds of competition, making even a single error in a long passage — an errant plural or wrong verb tense — leads to elimination.
