Biblical Narrative Contradictions?
Welcome back for part three of our series where we tackle some popular “Bible contradictions.” If you missed part 1 and part 2, go check them out as well!
All posts in this series:
We previously covered alleged contradictions in God’s character, His design, and His nature. In this part we’ll tackle some “contradictions” that are found in the narratives of Scripture. The video presents a similar format as last time. I pulled these questions from various parts of the video. For the sake of unity, this part will tackle each of the narrative contradictions that the video points out from the whole of Scripture excluding the Gospels, which will be our final part of this series. So, let’s begin!
“On the road to Damascus, did Paul’s traveling companions hear the voice that spoke to Paul?”
This question is asked during a “speed round” in which both of the contestants, as is the dominant type of question in this video, give opposing answers, “yes” and “no.” To support the answers, two verses are given on the screen.
Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
Acts 22:9
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.
Acts 9:7
This one is not that difficult to understand when you look at the root Greek word used for “sound” and “voice” is φωνή “fo’nay” in Greek. This word can be and is translated many different ways from Greek to English. Including language, cry, voice, sound, utterance, etc. It could range from anywhere between a specific voice to an unintelligible sound.
Because of this, it’s quite obvious that Paul’s travelling companions heard something, though they didn’t know nor could they understand what it was they heard. Simple as that. When Jesus appears to Saul, he clearly and very intentionally appears to Saul, and not to his companions.
“Will the earth last forever?”
Of course, the answers given are both “yes” and “no.” The two Scripture passages are:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.
2 Peter 3:10
A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:4
Solomon, the author of the book of Ecclesiastes is using heavily symbolic language in this particular passage. In fact, much of the book is written this way. When you read the first chapter and come upon verse four, it’s very clear that Solomon’s intention is that time continues on, despite the finite reality of human lives. We come and go, after all of our labors, but the earth continues on.
Similarly, in the passage in 2 Peter, the earth will be “disclosed” as we know it. But continue on reading in verse 13, “But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
The earth won’t last forever, but it is soon to be replaced with the new heavens and new earth. What a glorious day that will be, Christian!
Solomon in Ecclesiastes is being hyperbolic in this particular passage. But one thing is true. The Earth as we know it will pass away and the “new heavens and new earth” will come.
“Is Jesus the only man to have ever ascended into heaven?”
Hey, what do you know! Both answers given are “yes” and “no!” *gasps*
This one is tricky. If you were to read these verses at face value, it would certainly seem like Jesus just forgot that Elijah was “swept up” into heaven. Read with me.
As they continue walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.
2 Kings 2:11
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man.
John 3:13
Uh, oh! Sorry, Jesus. You must not be the divine after all.
Is that really the case, though? Read John 3:14-15:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Then we get the most famous verse in the Bible,
For God so loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus is clearly talking about being raised from the dead and ascended into heaven! As will be the norm with passage like this, context is key! One of my favorite seminary professors before most of our classes for Greek would say, “What is the most important thing in studying the Bible? Context. The second most important thing? Context. And the third? Context.”
Jesus is the only man (so far) to have ever risen from the dead, until he returns!
“According to OT Law, were children to be punished for the sins of their fathers?”
Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.
Deuteronomy 24:16
Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers iniquity to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.
Deuteronomy 5:9
Yet another instance where “yes” and “no” are given. But, this is another quite simple response. Clearly these passages show that the specific punishment of death does not pass from generation to generation. Each person is rewarded death individually, based on the merit of their own sins. However, children are punished for the sins of their fathers, in other ways outside of death. These may be practical punishments or spiritual punishments. But the punishment of death is earned by each individually.
But that certainly should not be our focus when reading this passage! The point of Deuteronomy 5:9 is to get to 5:10! “But showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.” God is longsuffering and patient, rewarding evil accordingly, but rewarding good exceedingly.
“How many valiant men drew the sword for Israel as counted by Joab?”
This starts a “game of numbers.” The answers given by the two contestants in this section are no longer “yes” and “no.” Rather, one contestant answers one number, then the host gives another, very different number that would also be correct. For example,
Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were eight hundred thousand valiant armed men from Israel and five hundred thousand men from Judah.
2 Samuel 24:9
Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand armed men and in Judah itself four hundred seventy thousand armed men.
1 Chronicles 21:5
The two answers given, as you can see in the passage are 800,000 and 1.1 million. The contestant gives the answer 800,000. Then the host says, “Correct! And 1.1 million would also have been correct there.”
The answer is found in the words used to describe the men. In the Old Testament, each word was there very specifically. Words are not thrown in without intention. There is one word whose purpose serves to describe 800,000 of the 1,100,000 total men that drew the sword.
The key word here is “Valiant.” Or, in Hebrew, חַיִל “Cha’yil” which is a strong way of saying capable or strong. So no, host of this show, 1.1 million would not have “also been correct there” because they were not all valiant men.
“How many horseman did David take with him?”
The two numbers given here are 700, and 7,000.
2 Samuel 8:4, “David captured seventeen hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers from him, and he hamstrung all the horses and kept a hundred chariots.”
1 Chronicles 18:4, “David captured one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers from him, hamstrung all the horses, and kept a hundred chariots.”
You may be confused on the outset, because in 2 Samuel 8 it clearly says 1,700 but in the video he says 700. However, most modern translations group the chariots and the horsemen together which is where they get 1,700.
This one will be fun.
One explanation is, ultimately, a copyist error. While there is much I could say, I believe these two scholars sum it up pretty well, “Probably an earlier copyist inadvertently omitted the word “chariot” that we find supplied in some translations. This in turn created a problem for a later copyist who would have recognized that it was not proper Hebrew structure to write “one thousand seven thousand horsemen,” so he would have reduced the second “thousand” to “hundred” resulting in the reading we now have in 2 Samuel 8:4.” (Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, “When Critics Ask”, p. 171-172.)
Now, the creator of this video is correct when he says that copyist errors are errors. This is true. Norman Geisler would certainly say that this does not mean that Scripture as a whole is in error.
However, I believe there are additional explanations for this discrepancy that do not immediately jump to scribal errors. The most convincing one is to understand reports of war in the Old Testament and in ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Two reports were given at battles. One involved the layout of the battle, at the beginning, and the second at the end. The passage in 2 Samuel is most likely a first report of the battle, then in 1 Chronicles we get a fuller picture of the total number captured. Most likely a large group of riders escaped and were captured later.
“How much did David pay for the threshing floor?”
1 Chronicles 21:25, “So David gave Ornan fifteen pounds of gold for the plot.”
2 Samuel 24:24, “The king answered Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’ David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver.”
Notice the difference in these two passages. One clearly states that David, desiring to pay for the floor, pays 50 shekels. Yet in the other, he pays 600. For the Israelites, even a King, this is not small amount that would be overlooked by a copyist. The CSB puts it in weight. It’s easy to realize the difference between fifteen pounds of gold and twenty ounces of silver.
You also may have noticed the names are different. This is certainly due to the fact that in Hebrew, the two words are just different spellings of the same name. But the focus of this is the amount paid.
David purchased this plot in order to build an altar for the Lord. The land that David purchased was clearly intended to be used to build the Temple, which we see in 1 Chronicles 22:1. We understand that this land was later completed by David’s son. However, the size of the threshing floor was nowhere near large enough for the measurements of the temple.
Because of this, it becomes clear that 50 shekels was spent on the threshing floor and the oxen, and 600 shekels was used to purchase the entire plot of land that would later be used to build the Temple.
For references to the passages and a more in depth explanation, see Answers in Genesis response to this “contradiction” here: Contradictions: Balancing the Budget | Answers in Genesis
“The chief of King David’s captains killed how many men in one encounter?”
These are the names of David’s warriors: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the officers. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men that he killed at one time.
2 Samuel 23:8
This is the list of David’s warriors: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the Thirty; he wielded his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.
1 Chronicles 11:11
It’s quite clear that these are referring to two different men. First, the men are listed differently, and they are listed with different titles.
The answer given by the contestant it 800 men, and then the host says that 300 would have also been a correct answer. The most likely explanation of these two passages is that they are simply referring to two different men. They are clearly both given different names and given different titles. The question that the host in the video asks refers to the Chief of King David’s captains. However, only one of the passages refers to the chief of the officers. The other refers to the chief of the Thirty, which refers to David’s Mighty Men.
While there are other possible explanations, this seems to be the most likely.
As I have said before, keep in mind that God’s Word is inspired by the Holy Spirit. So, I greatly hesitate to jump to scribal errors when accounting for some of these discrepancies. Ultimately, however, I will admit that I don’t know the answers with 100% certainty. But I am certainly convicted that the Bible is indeed inerrant and inspired. But what do you believe? Comment down below and keep an eye out for part 4!