‘Jeopardy!’ contestants didn’t recognize the opening to The Lord’s Prayer, shocking fans

Three contestants on the popular Jeopardy! game show were stumped last week by what many are calling a decidedly easy question about The Lord’s Prayer, alarming and outraging fans.

The clue was “Matthew 6:9 says, ‘Our Father Which Art in Heaven,” this ‘be thy name.’”

Host Mayim Bialik waited for the contestants, Laura Scanland, Suresh Krishnan and Josh Seibert, to push their buzzers. Eventually the timer ran out without any attempts to answer the $200 question.

Bialik then read the answer aloud: “Hallowed be thy name.”

Fans of the game show were sorely disappointed with the contestants, saying it should have been an easy question to answer.

“Hey, Jeopardy! geniuses … It’s HALLOWED,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Sheesh, what a sad world we live in.”

Some fans remarked that, regardless of religion, the prayer should be recognized as it’s commonly been recited in pop culture, funerals, weddings and sporting events for generations.

“How can those Jeopardy! Nerds not know this answer,” one Twitter user wrote. “Have they never listened to Iron Maiden?”

The legendary prayer has been featured in many TV series and movies such as Deadwood, The Deer Hunter, The Seventh Victim, Spiderman and Kristen Stewart’s Snow White.

Other fans claimed this is another symbol of the nation’s decline and loss of biblical literacy.

“This may seem like a silly example of cultural decay,” Jason Howerton tweeted. “But my 5-year-old knows the entire Lord’s Prayer and loves to recite it at dinner time. Parents can change the world with how they raise their children.” 

In 2022 the annual “State of the Bible” report showed that 26 million people had mostly or completely stopped reading the Bible, a sharp decline from 2021, according to Christianity Today. 

“In 2021, about 50% of Americans said they read the Bible on their own at least three or four times per year,” reporter Adam Macinnis writes. “That percentage had stayed more or less steady since 2011. But in 2022, it dropped 11 points. Now only 39% say they read the Bible multiple times per year or more. It is the steepest, sharpest decline on record.”

Krishnan ended up winning the game, but was eliminated the following night’s episode.