It’s Monday, September 22, 2025, and fans tuned in for another nail-biter of Jeopardy! Final Jeopardy Today came at the end of Season 42, Game 11, challenging players with a politically charged stumper. Below is the clue, the correct response, and how the board shook out when the dust settled.
Final Jeopardy Today: The Clue & Correct Response
The category was Political History, and the clue read: “The words of this doctrine are found in a sonnet by James I & bolstered by St. Paul writing, ‘the powers that be are ordained of God.’” The correct response was “What is the divine right of kings?”
Who Played & Who Won
Tonight’s contestants were Steven Olson (returning champion, a band director from Princeton, Illinois), Jonathan Goldman (a futures trader from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida), and David Shutoff (a product development manager from Salem, Massachusetts). Scores heading into the Final were Steven $20,400, David $13,400, and Jonathan $7,400.
In the Final, Steven delivered the full and correct response and became a 2‑day champion with $26,804 (2‑day total: $46,406). David responded with “Monroe Doctrine,” while Jonathan wrote a partial “What Divine?” and held at $7,400.
Why the Clue Tripped People Up
The clue’s wording pushed contestants to connect political theory with scripture and a royal author. As The Jeopardy! Fan explains, the phrase alludes to Romans 13:1 (“the powers that be…”) and to a sonnet linked with James I’s writings, pointing squarely to the doctrine that monarchs rule by divine authority. That context helps separate it from American policies like the Monroe Doctrine, which misled one challenger.
If you’re tracking “Final Jeopardy Today,” mark this one down as a clean, confident close from Steven—and a reminder that precise phrasing and historical context matter when the clock hits zero.
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