Some expositors teach “the verbal inspiration of Scripture”. But surely the following list of “discrepancies” must set the alarm bells ringing for them.
Here is a list of items that need attention.
Gen.13:10. . . “like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar.” But Zoar was a great distance from Egypt. The name Zoan should be replaced here. Psalm 78:12 helps. “In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.”
Gen 32:30 “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [“face of God”] for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” However, John 1:18 states, “No man hath seen God at any time.” And in Exod.33:20, the Lord said to Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
In Lev.11:6, amongst the food laws we read, “And the hare, because he chews the cud, but divides not the hoof; he is unclean to you.” But hares do not chew the cud.
2 Sam.8:4. 700 horsemen, but 1 Chron.18:4 7,000 horsemen
2 Sam.10:18 700 chariots, but 1 Chron.19:18 7,000 chariots
1 Kings 4:26 40,000 stalls for horses, but 2 Chron.9:25 4,000 stalls for horses
2 Sam.23:8 800 slain, but 1 Chron.11:11, 300 slain
Concerning the volume of water in the laver, 1 Kings 7:26 2,000 baths, but 2 Chron.4:5 3,000 baths
2 Sam. 24:13 7 years of famine, but 1 Chron.21:12 3 years of famine.
2 Sam. 24: “The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.” But in 1 Chron. 21: “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.”
2 Chron.16:1. “Baasha came up against Judah in the 36th year of his reign”, but Baasha died in the 26th year of his reign. 1 Kings 16:8
2 Chron.22:2. “Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign…” But 2 Kings 8:26 says “Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign…” Ahaziah appears to be 2 years older than his father Jehoram. See2 Chron.21:20
2 Kings 15:30. Jotham appears to be reigning 4 years after his burial, recorded in the 16th year of his reign in 2 Kings 15:33
2 Kings 8:16 Jehoram was crowned king in the 22nd year of Jehoshaphat, but in 2 Chron. 21:1 Jehoram was crowned king after Jehoshaphat’s death.
2 Chr.11:20. Abijah’s mother was “Maachah the daughter of Absalom”, but in 2 Chron.13:2 she is “Michaiah the daughter of Uriel”.
1 Sam.13:1. Saul was one year old when he began to reign, and he reigned over Israel two years . Something is missing in the Hebrew text here. Acts 13:21 Paul, whilst in Antioch of Pisidia, said, “Saul reigned for 40 years.”
2 Kings 24:8 “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign”, but 2 Chron.36:9 says “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign.”
2 Kings 25:8 says “And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month”, but Jer. 52:12 says “…in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month.”
Matt.1:11. Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. But in fact Josiah was Jeconiah’s grandfather, and Jeconiah had no brothers. See 1 Chron.3:15
Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7. There are several discrepancies in names and numbers, but both tallies have a grand total of 42,360.
Expositors have bent over backwards trying to explain and accommodate these apparent errors, and some of the devices they have put forward are simply amazing, even laughable. Moslems quote many of these discrepancies on their websites to try to prove the Bible is unreliable. How then shall we treat this whole problem? More tomorrow.
