Bible bee rule book and FAQ information

This is for information that you find from the BB web page (or somewhere else). In a organized way. :-)

EDIT:
Rulebook link:

FAQ link:

https://www.biblebee.org/_pages/faq.php

instead of totally taking over Countdowns? =D

Good idea =) although we do have a pretty wild conversation going on over there… :P

LOL TTLY!

Sounds good to me :) honestly, I don't really care anymore how they set it up. Let's just study :)

I like it! Maybe you should suggest it to BBHQ… :D

I wish there was a like button :D

LOL

I didn't notice that! Interesting :P

that's so funny! :) I never payed attention to that before.

Did anyone else notice the number of national qualifiers mentioned on page 29 of the rule book? It says that the top 120 contestants in each age division will be invited to go to Nationals!

RBTL - yes! That so exciting! :D

VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR 2013 NATIONAL CHALLENGE ROUNDS:
Be sure to read p. 17, Rule #3 and p. 19, Rule #2, which reads as follows:

"Each contestant will be asked to recite memorized Bible passages OR ANSWER BIBLE KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS appropriate to his or her age division. A single error in recitation OR INCORRECT ANSWER removes the contest from further competition…."

Another interesting change for 2013:
p. 30, rule #1, last sentence
"A first-place winner may not compete again in the same age division, but may compete in the next higher division, irrespective of his/her age."

WOW!!!!!!

Hmmm. Thank you for posting this! :)

Hmm…so does that mean if an 8 y/o won Primary, he or she would automatically next year be in the Juniors, even though they aren't 11?

Yep! Which means if Olivia Davis wins this year in juniors she is a senior next year…scary!

Yeah that's crazy! :)

Yeah! It was amazing how she won 3 years in a row! :)

Wow! That's ALOT of money she's gonna get when she turns 18! ;P :)

?? You mean you don't receive it until you're 18 ??

Yeah, I mean at least that's what our friend told us who won :)

Who was your friend that won…if I may ask?

IDK if he'd care. He won Juniors a couple a year ago.

Are you talking about Alex?

Does anyone know how many verses we will have to say in how much amount of time at locals?

I just found out that because of the new rule about first-place winners not being able to compete in the same age group again, Rionna Flynn is a Senior this year even though she's only 13! Yikes!

@Annalysa - 20 passages in 10 minutes.

So, it does apply to last year's contestants!??

I guess so. That must be a little bit weird to be a 13-year-old Senior! Of course, I was a 14-year-old Senior last year, but I was 15 at Nationals, so it doesn't really compare.

Yeah :)

@Matthew - thanks - I like to time myself to see how many I can get but I usually wait a few weeks until after I've finished all my verses.

Yeah, me too. We will hardly need to do that this year, though, with a scant 118 words per minute necessary for the test ! :)

Okay, so I decided to randomly see if we're having quizzes yet, and then I kinda cheated and got on the BB forums :) but I was wondering, did you confirm that Rionna Flynn was going to be a Senior? I don't think that rule applies until next year…

I have direct contact with her. :) She's going to help with the practice tests.

Oh…so she said she's a Senior??? That's kind of good for me, then, I guess :P so does that mean that Sophie Haire can't compete?

HANNAH!!!!! :D

Does that apply to all the top 5, or JUST the first place winner?

It better be just the first place lol :)

lol! Yeah! :)

Yep, that's what she said. I suppose that does mean that Sophie is not eligible anymore. I'm not sure if she was going to anyways, though.
The Competition Rulebook only mentions the first place winner.

That's sad! :( Makes me want to win 1st only when I'm 18! :P
EDIT- And I doubt I ever will… :( ;-)

:) lol u never no!! :) lol

@mrsbiblebee,
The Bible knowledge questions will only be used during the semi-final and final competition, which is very fortunate. I wonder why they changed it to add these new rules.

Another thing that you all have probably noticed, is that the top 120 contestants go to nationals, not the top 100 in previous years. Does anyone have any ideas on why that did that?

Beginning last year, there are no longer any alternates for Nationals because of the significant disadvantage alternates would have at the competition. Only slightly more than 80% of the qualifying contestants attended Nationals last year, and so as a side effect of that change concerning the alternates, there were many less participants at 2012 Nationals. My thinking is that Headquarters wants to increase the actual number of contestants at Nationals back to about 100 (more or less).

EDIT: The "challenge rounds" are inclusive of Finals and Semi-Finals, FYI.

I don't know if any one has already posted about this, but for Everybody that does KJV, Pro 28 13-14 where the cards say "happy is the man that feareth always" cross quiz, the BB app "study-pro", sword drill, and the BB Bibles, all say alway instead of always.

And the cards are what we are tested from:

Question: What if there is a discrepancy in the text between my Bible and Bible Memory cards?

Answer: The policy of the Bible Bee has been to place final authority in the printed Bibles that we send out (Competition Rulebook, p.7, #7). We feel that this backs up the message of our belief in an inerrant Bible in the original language. (SKF Statement of Faith). For the purposes of the contest, however, we must have one consistent standard on which to base our word-perfect standard for oral recitation. Due to slight edits that the publishers of Bibles make on a regular basis behind the scenes, our stock of Bibles that are sent out to the contestants are sometimes of unavoidably different versions of the same translation. This was the case with the King James in 2011, and this year, we cannot purchase ESV Bibles all of a consistent publication. Therefore, the 2013 Bible Memory cards are based on the 2011 ESV translation.

In light of these factors that are out of our control, and in the desire to avoid confusion, , we will now base the test materials on the Bible Bee-issued memory cards, and the cards will be the final authority in the case of any discrepancy between the text on the cards and the Bibles that are sent to contestants. We encourage parents to clarify to their children that there aren’t mistakes in the Bible, but small variations are part of an ongoing translation/publishing process. We believe that the Bible is without error in the original language- it’s just another great reason to invest in Hebrew and Greek word studies to dig into God’s truth!

I am not sure if there is a diff with the other versions or not.

Thank you for letting me know! Because I use KJV :D

The way I interpreted this new rule is that during the semi's and finals, contestants would be asked to recite verses AND answer questions about the book studies and general Bible knowledge. I don't believe it is saying that Bible knowledge questions are ONLY going to be used during the challenge rounds, but that they would be INCLUDED.

My feeling is that they are trying to find ways to eliminate contestants so they don't need to go back to the preliminary scores to choose the top 5 finalists, or to decide the placement of the finalists. As you know, more than 5 are left standing many times at the end of semi's and more than 3 at the end of finals, b/c many of them recite flawlessly. By adding these random and unknown questions to the mix, most likely some of them are bound to make a mistake and will therefore be eliminated, making it more possible to have a final 5 and 3.

When I posted my message alerting you all to this rule change, I expected some reaction to it. But everyone seems focused on the other rule change about 1st place winners. This change concerning Challenge Rounds, to me, seems quite significant. Unless you read the Rule Book, you won't know of it, and i wonder how many of the contestants are aware of it. I'm just trying to spread the word.

What do you all think???

I agree, mrsbiblebee. I think it is a far more significant rule change, and I personally love it! :) It keeps the contestants constantly focused on all aspects of their studies, and doesn't let them forget the book and the sword study, even in semi-finals and finals. I also agree with your reasoning that it would eliminate more contestants. Although I think very, very few would miss multiple choice questions on stage (most of the finalists are truly amazing), it would help to narrow the field a bit more. :)

thanks for your input, jimmy. since the rulebook did not specify the format of the Bible questions, I assumed it would NOT be multiple choice. i would think it will be Q & A, like a game show.

In 2009 they asked questions as well as have the contestants quote Bible verses. And then it was multiple choice

hi biblebee! (miss you!)
well, it's certainly possible they would do it multiple choice. but in my opinion, you just have to be ready for anything. how they did things in the past doesn't necessarily indicate what they will do in the future since the rules change year by year. if the goal is to make it as challenging as possible, then multiple choice makes it too easy. however, one problem with open answers is the possibility for different interpretations of the questions and then dealing with the process of appeals, etc. maybe someone can ask HQ about it, at some point. it's a bit early now.