Lee Grzywinski Ministries

I received a great question about understanding the Old Testament and apparent discrepancies in our English Translations. I am preaching through the book of 2 Samuel and pointed out how the 40-year reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon may not be literal, but a literary device used by the author(s). The number 40 is used throughout the Bible to represent a period of testing (like Jesus in the wilderness). David passes the test, whereas Saul and Solomon fail. I received this question later that day:

Please explain how we as Christians are able to adequately articulate the infallibility of God’s word, and then concede that there are contradictions, and that one must rely on several sources, i.e. Jewish rituals, Jewish scholars, and historians at the time, and the fact that eyewitnesses and writers differ as they recall or are led to record what they’ve seen or what has been revealed to them?

I guess I always wanted to point to the word of God and say, “it is written,” the same way Jesus did, and then not have to explain how it is written, with an asterisk at times. I do know and understand that the Bible has been authenticated in so many ways, so in my mind, the word of God is true. But I don’t have an easy answer for the contradictions, and when I listen to your sermons as you exegete the word, I realize that there is no easy answer if one really wants to get to the truth of what is being said. It takes study, knowledge, and seeking the Holy Spirit.

I love the heart behind the question! It seeks to know God’s truth on God’s terms.

We can point to the Word of God and say “it is written,” just like Jesus did. But we need to understand that the Bible was written by (mostly, or possibly even exclusively) Israelites. The Old Testament was also written exclusively to Israelites. The Ancient Near-Eastern mindset is very different from the modern Western mindset. We want everything to add up, nice and neat. An ancient Israelite wouldn’t even think in those terms. Changing the age of someone – or even the words of a direct quote – to make a point would not be considered cheating or render the history untrue to them. In order to apply the Bible to our modern context, we can’t just read our English translation and interpret it as modern Westerners. We need to understand what the original author was communicating to the original audience and apply that to our modern context. This removes what seems like contradictions.

We actually do this in many cases already. God commands the annihilation of whole societies. Yet He said, “you shall not kill,” and Jesus said to love our enemies. But nobody who believes in the infallibility of the Bible believes these contradict each other. When we read that God told Israel to kill all the men, women, and children of Amalek, we don’t think in terms of war. We understand that God punishes sin. We understand that God uses His people to carry out His will. We understand that God demands the purging of sin from among His people. Nobody preaches 1 Samuel 15:3 to encourage genocide.

This is true for any great book. You can read To Kill a Mockingbird and think it is just a story about an accused man and the hardships of a lawyer’s kids. You can read Moby Dick and enjoy a story about a whaler. But those who understand these books know that Harper Lee was writing a social commentary and that Herman Melville was writing about his own spiritual journey. But if we don’t understand the American South of the early 20th century, we miss the point Lee makes. If we don’t know the Bible well enough to see the parallels Melville makes, we miss the point. But if we do understand these things, then we understand not just the words as written, but we understand the intention that goes beyond just the words.

The Bible is no different. We need to understand the Israelites, their culture, how they thought, the sources the writers may have used, and even how the Bible relates to other writings that existed at the time to understand the fullness of what is being communicated.

For example: numbers held great significance for Israel. There is a lot of symbolism in the numbers of the Bible. This is how the Israelites communicated much by saying very little. It may be that Saul, David, and Solomon each literally reigned for 40 years, or it may be a literary device employed by the author(s), but either way, the symbolism would have been obvious to the original readers. These were times of testing, and faithfulness to God is how the test is passed.

And there are clearly changes to numbers in the Bible. Terah was 70 when he already had Abraham (Gen 11:26). Terah died at 205 (Gen 11:32). Abraham left for Canaan after Terah died (Acts 7:4). Yet Abraham is said to be 75 when he left Haran for Canaan. Is there an error? I don’t believe so. The writer wants the culmination of God’s promise to be when Abraham is 100 (Gen 21:5), because 100 is a number that represents completion. There are many such changes in the Bible. If we understand the authors’ intent when these “discrepancies” are brought up, we see that there is no discrepancy, and it actually serves to strengthen our faith and confidence in the Bible, not undermine it.

But here’s the good thing: you don’t need to pick up on these nuances to understand the overarching message of the Bible. They just help us understand the message better. They help us apply the message of the Bible better. But if nobody ever heard me talk about what the number 40 represents, it wouldn’t be a detriment to them.

Understanding the Bible does take study and really seeking God in the Scriptures. Unfortunately, many Christians somehow think that a book written by the infinite and omniscient God of the universe can be understood just fine by reading it once, one language removed from the originals. On top of that, everybody wants an educated doctor to treat them physically, they want an educated lawyer to help them navigate a lawsuit, and they want an educated teacher to teach them science – but most of them think they know all about eternal matters and know as much about the Bible as those trained to understand it.

All that to say, not understanding these things will not keep one from understanding the Gospel enough to be saved. But it helps us understand God’s plan throughout all of history, and His plan for the church today. It also helps us answer challenges to the veracity of the Bible. So we all need to be open to learning more about the Bible. We can never exhaust all it teaches!

So when we find what seems like a discrepancy, we should search and seek and study until we find out what we don’t know that makes it seem like a discrepancy.

– Lee Michael Grzywinski