The Master and Margarita, Chapter 2: Pontius Pilate quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What town does Yeshua name when Pilate asks where he comes from?

   • Correct answer: The town of Gamala
   • The city of Antioch
   • The town of Kiriath
   • The town of Bethphage

   Yeshua answers that he comes from the town of Gamala, nodding toward the north. Kiriath is Judas's town, and Bethphage is where he met Matthew Levi.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Besides Aramaic, which languages does Yeshua say he knows?

   • Hebrew and Latin
   • Correct answer: Greek and Latin
   • Greek and Hebrew
   • Latin and Syriac

   Yeshua tells Pilate he knows Greek, and later says he knows Latin too, so Pilate questions him in all three languages.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Yeshua say he knew Pilate wanted to call his dog?

   • He saw the dog waiting out in the garden
   • Matthew Levi had told him about the dog
   • Servants in the palace had spoken of Banga
   • Correct answer: Pilate's hand moved as if stroking something

   Yeshua says it was very simple: Pilate was moving his hand in the air as if he wanted to stroke something.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What finally makes the secretary turn deathly pale and drop his scroll?

   • Ratslayer strikes the prisoner in the garden
   • Pilate says he confirms the death sentence
   • Correct answer: Yeshua invites Pilate out for a stroll with him
   • Pilate orders the prisoner's hands unbound

   Yeshua advises Pilate to walk in the gardens on the Mount of Olives, offers to go with him, and calls him a very intelligent man, an astonishing impudence from a prisoner.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Kaifa decline Pilate's invitation onto the shaded balcony?

   • Correct answer: He cannot enter on the eve of the feast
   • He wants the crowd below to see him
   • He is too angry to accept the offer
   • He fears the Roman soldiers posted there

   Kaifa politely apologizes and explains that he cannot do that on the eve of the feast, so the two meet in the garden.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Where does Pilate threaten to send his complaint about Kaifa?

   • To the Senate in Rome
   • Correct answer: To the emperor at Capreae
   • To the legate of the legion
   • To the governor in Antioch

   Pilate says the message will go not to the governor in Antioch and not to Rome, but directly to Capreae, to the emperor himself.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Pilate keep his eyes narrowed as he stands on the platform?

   • His headache has returned with full force
   • He is searching the crowd for Matthew Levi
   • Correct answer: He does not want to see the condemned men
   • The sun is burning directly into his eyes

   The narrator says he squints not because of the sun but because he does not want to see the condemned men being brought on behind him.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Pilate clutch in his fist as he announces the sentences?

   • The parchment with Yeshua's sentence
   • A ring bearing the emperor's seal
   • The whip taken from Mark Ratslayer
   • Correct answer: The clasp that fell from his cloak

   Earlier Pilate tore the clasp from his collar and it fell to the sand; the secretary picked it up, and Pilate grips the useless clasp on the platform.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events happen during Yeshua's interrogation?

   • Yeshua says he entered Yershalaim on foot, with only Matthew Levi beside him.

     Happened

     Yeshua tells Pilate he has no ass and came in by the Susa gate on foot, accompanied only by Matthew Levi, with no one shouting greetings.

   • Yeshua admits he once tore up Matthew Levi's goatskin parchment himself.

     Didn't happen

     Yeshua says that when he begged Matthew Levi to burn the parchment, Levi tore it out of his hands and ran away.

   • A swallow flies through the colonnade while Pilate composes a merciful verdict.

     Happened

     As a swallow circles the colonnade, Pilate frames a formula that finds no grounds for indictment and, instead of confirming the death sentence, sends Yeshua to confinement in Stratonian Caesarea.

   • Yeshua finally agrees with Pilate that he is a great physician.

     Didn't happen

     Asked twice whether he is a physician, Yeshua denies it both times.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen after Pilate confirms the sentence?

    • Kaifa repeats three times that the Sanhedrin is setting Bar-Rabban free.

      Happened

      Kaifa gives the answer once, then a second time, and then a third time: the Sanhedrin is setting Bar-Rabban free.

    • Pilate orders Matthew Levi arrested and brought to the palace.

      Didn't happen

      Pilate gives no order about Matthew Levi; his orders concern Yeshua's convoy, the cordon on Bald Mountain and the conference with the Sanhedrin.

    • Pilate knows the crowd is showering the platform with coins and dates.

      Happened

      Walking back across the platform without looking up, Pilate knows the platform behind him is being showered with bronze coins and dates.

    • Kaifa announces the names of the condemned men to the crowd himself.

      Didn't happen

      Pilate himself cries out the sentence and the four names to the crowd from the platform, and heralds repeat his words.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'cursory' mean in: "the procurator ran a cursory, sidelong glance over the writing"?

    • Puzzled and lost
    • Careful and slow
    • Correct answer: Hasty and brief
    • Angry and fierce

    Cursory means quick and not thorough; in pain, Pilate barely looks at the parchment.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'impudence' mean in: "at this unheard-of impudence from the prisoner"?

    • Humble pleading
    • Correct answer: Bold disrespect
    • Quiet sorrow
    • Deep confusion

    Impudence is bold disrespect; the secretary is stunned that a prisoner dares to advise and pity the procurator.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'magnanimous' mean in: "the magnanimous emperor Caesar will return his contemptible life"?

    • Correct answer: Generous and forgiving
    • Clever and sly
    • Stern and harsh
    • Distant and cold

    Magnanimous means generous in forgiving; Pilate presents the Passover release as the emperor's generosity.

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