This is the first series of 25 rejected SAB Bible Contradictions. Among them are famous problems as: Was Abraham justified by faith or by works? How should adultery be punished? Did God ordain genocide? Does God want some to go to hell? Still intriguing questions and many others.
1. How many men did the chief of David’s captains kill?
800 (2 Samuel 23:8)
Wrong. Josheb-Basshebeth slew 800 enemies at one time. He was “Chief of the Three (Adjutants)”.
300 (1 Chronicles 11:11)
Wrong. Jashobeam slew 300 enemies at one time. He was “Chief of the Thirty (Commanders)”.
Note. Two individuals are sometimes taken as one person due to the KJV which mistakenly calls them “Chief of the Captains”. No contradiction at all.
See the article.
No Contradiction
2. Was Abraham justified by faith or by works?
He was justified by faith. (Romans 4:2)
Right. He was justified unto God by faith.
Read about justification the article: The four spiritual laws explained for Skeptics.
He was justified by works. (James 2:21)
Right. He was justified unto men by works (as people don’t recognize faith).
Note. People don’t accept faith as a convincing argument. However the works unto men are in need of God’s ongoing justification as they are never perfect. The offering of Isaac should convince the world later on that Abraham and Isaac were the rightly chosen patriarchs of Israel.
See the article.
No Contradiction
3. How many sons did Abraham have?
Abraham had only one son. (Genesis 22:2)
Right. Abram had got the new name Abraham; thereafter Isaac was born. And so Isaac was the only begotten son of Abraham at that time.
Abraham had more than one son. (Genesis 16:5 etc.)
Wrong. Ishmael was the son of Abram, who had not yet received the new name Abraham. So Ishmael was at that moment the only begotten son of Abram.
See the article: What about the “only begotten son” of Abraham?
No Contradiction
4. Was Abiathar the father or the son of Ahimelech?
Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech. (1 Samuel 23:6)
Right.
Abiathar was the father of Ahimelech. (2 Samuel 8:17)
Right. Abiathar apparently named a son of his Ahimelech, who also worked as priest during David’s reign.
No Contradiction
5. Who was Abijam’s mother?
Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom (1 Kings 15:1-2)
Right. Maachah (or Michaiah) was the granddaughter of Abishalom. According to the rule: “a daughter of a daughter is a daughter”, she is named as his “daughter”. Tamar was the biological daughter of Abishalom (2 Samuel 14:27).
Note. This move was only accepted when the accurate genealogical status of an individual was clear from the book(s)context.
Michaiah the daughter of Uriel (2 Chronicles 13:1-2)
Right. Uriel was the biological father and Tamar was the biological mother of Michaiah (or Maachah).
No Contradiction
6. How were Abijam and Asa related?
Abijam was Asa’s father. (1 Kings 15:8)
Right. Asa was heir to the throne after his father Abijam.
Abijam was Asa’s brother. Both are said to have Maacha as mother (1 Kings 15:2, 10)
Wrong. Maachah was the biological mother of Abijam and the grandmother of Asa. According to the rule “a mother of a son is a mother of his son”, there is no contradiction.
Note. This move was only accepted when the accurate genealogical status of an individual was clear from the book(s)context.
No Contradiction
7. How long was the ark of the covenant at Abinadab’s house?
20 years (1 Samuel 7:1-2, 10:24)
Right. This was the first period previous to Saul’s reign.
More than 40 years (1 Samuel 6:2-3)
Right. This was the first and the second period together: the period previous to Saul’s reign and the period of Saul’s reign (40 years), at least 60 years.
I don’t see a problem.
No Contradiction
8. How old was Abram when Ishmael was born?
86 years old (Genesis 16:16)
Right. This is clear from the text; 11 years after his entering in Canaan (age 75).
More than 135 years old (Genesis 11:32, Acts 7:2-4)
Wrong. Sometimes it is supposed that Abram entered into Canaan at the age of 135 instead of 75 years. This is based only on a clear misinterpretation of Genesis 11:26-27.
See the article and also: How old was Abram when he left Haran?
No Contradiction
9. How many sons did Absalom have?
Absalom had three sons. (2 Samuel 14:27)
Right.
Absalom had no sons. (2 Samuel 18:18)
Wrong. They died – certainly due to an accident or deadly illness – and Absalom built a monument for them and for himself with the remark “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance”.
No Contradiction
10. When did Absalom rebel against David?
After forty years. (2 Samuel 15:7)
Right. Shortly after the festivities of David’s forty year jubilee.
Much less than forty years since David only ruled for a total of forty years. (2 Samuel 5:4)
Wrong. David reigned 40 and a half years (2 Samuel 5:5). Immediately after the festivities, Absalom initiated the revolt and within a month the fight was done.
See the article.
No Contradiction
11. The two contradictory creation accounts
– First Account (Genesis 1:1-2:3)
Humans were created after the ‘other animals’. (Genesis 1:25-27)
Wrong. They were created after the animals? Humans are not simply “other animals”. We don’t eat humans, do we?
– Second Account (Genesis 2:4-25)
Humans were created before the ‘other animals’. (Genesis 2:18-19)
Wrong. The second account gives many flashbacks and doesn’t present a historical sequence of events.
– First Account (Genesis 1:1-2:3)
The first man and woman were created simultaneously. (Genesis 1:27)
Wrong. There is no mentioning here of a simultaneous creation.
– Second Account (Genesis 2:4-25)
The man was created first, then the animals, then the woman from the man’s rib. (Genesis 2:18-22)
Wrong. The animals were created first, then the man and then the woman from the man’s rib.
Note. The critic tries to wrong-foot the reader with the argument that the sequence of events should always correspond with the given information in the biblical narratives. This is not to the point as flashbacks in a narrative will always obstruct the historical sequence of events. It is quite amusing that the critic himself does the same. He gives the SAB Contradictions in at random sequence. Does he want to suggest that his proposed contradictions are wrong?
No Contradictions
12. Who was Achan’s father?
Achan’s father was Carmi. (Joshua 7:1)
Right. Carmi was the biological father of Achan.
Achan’s father is Zerah. ( Joshua 7:24 and 22:20)
Wrong. Zerah was Achan’s great-grandfather, but according to the rule “a father of a father is a father etc.” Achan can be named “the son of Zerah”.
Note. This move was accepted when the accurate genealogical status of an individual was clear from the context of the book(s); which is the case here.
No Contradiction
13. How many of Adin’s offspring returned from Babylon?
454 (Ezra 2:15)
Right. This is a quotation from the list that Ezra recorded in Babylon at the meeting place of departure.
655 (Nehemiah 7:20)
Right. This is a quotation from the list that was made up after the journey to Jerusalem. It shows that after the departure many of Adin’s offspring who came up later, joined the stream of immigrants.
See the article: Contradictory lists about Israelites that returned from Babel?
No Contradiction
14. How many of Adonikam’s offspring returned from Babylon?
666 (Ezra 2:13)
Right. This is a quotation from the list that Ezra recorded in Babylon at the meeting place of departure.
667 (Nehemiah 7:18)
Right. This is a quotation from the list that was made up after the journey to Jerusalem. It seems that a birth during the journey took place.
See the article: Contradicting lists about Israelites that returned from Babel?
No Contradiction
15. How should adultery be punished?
They should be executed. (Leviticus 20:10)
Wrong. The aggrieved person had to lodge a complaint against the guilty party. That was not always possible. Uriah could not complain anymore. David and Bathsheba stayed alive. The aggrieved was free to not complain and could remain silent. No complainant, no case. Joseph didn’t want to accuse Mary, but tried to leave her. The death penalty for adultery was only meant as an ultimate possibility to protect the status of matrimony. Generally the complainant accepted a large amount of compensation.
They should not be punished. (John 8:3-8)
Wrong. Jesus accepted fully the Law of Moses. In this story there was only the guilty woman and so according to the law there was no case as the adultery man was missing. No case, no condemnation.
No Contradiction
16. Is it wrong to commit adultery?
Yes (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18, Hebrews 13:4)
Right.
No (Hosea 1:2, Hosea 3:1)
Wrong. (Hosea 1:2) The prophet Hosea married a converted woman who had lived in adultery in her former life. She had abandoned her former life as is clear from the fact that she became a faithful wife of Hosea who bore him three children. As the apostle Paul said “What they were, makes no difference to me.” (Galatians 2:6)
(Hosea 3:1 “love” has the meaning of “choose” here and is not related to marriage or sexual intercourse as is clear from the context.)
No Contradiction
17. Was Haman an Agagite?
Yes (Esther 3:1)
Right.
No, Agag and all Amalekites were killed in a God-ordained genocide. (1 Samuel 15:2-3, 7-8, 32-33)
Very wrong. Not all Amalekites had been killed, only the guilty ones. There is no question of a God-ordained genocide in the referred texts. Compare: Moses proclaimed in the desert the conquest of Canaan; only the cities that attacked the Israelites were taken (Joshua 11:19-20). Only the Amalekites that had cruelly oppressed the Israelites, were attacked. Those who didn’t want to flee were slain with the ban, the general rule of war at that time; as the Amalekites had applied in Israel for years and worse.
No Contradiction
18. Was Ahaz buried with his fathers?
Yes (2 Kings 16:20)
Right. “And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.”
No (2 Chronicles 28:27)
Wrong. “And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel.”
There was a hill with the tombs of the sons of David (2 Chronicles 32:33). Obviously a part of this hill was used for the tombs of the Kings of Judah. Ahaz was not buried in the royal tombs but he was buried on the hill “with his fathers”.
No Contradiction
19. When did Ahaziah begin to reign?
In the twelfth year of Joram (2 Kings 8:25)
Right. The part of the year that Joram started to reign is taken as “a year”, resulting in 12 years at the moment of speaking. This was the year reckoning of kings in North Israel and also accepted in the South (Judah) as in that period many marriages between the two royal houses took place.
In the eleventh year of Joram (2 Kings 9:29)
Right. Joram’s reign is counted from the full first year of his royalty according to the original Southern way of counting periods of reign.
(Compare: E.R. Thiele, The mysterious numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Zondervan, 1983)
No Contradiction
20. How old was Ahaziah when he began to reign?
22 years (2 Kings 8:26)
Right. The correct translation is: ‘he became 22 during his reign,’ which refers to his first birthday during his reign.
It is said about him that he reigned 1 year in Jerusalem (2 Kings 8:26, 2 Chronicles 22:2). Generally one takes this that he died after one year on the throne of Judah (however things are not always what they seem.) If so he only reigned one year and died when he was 23 of age. He then would probably not have many sons who could later succeed him 1, 2 or 3? The succession of kings in Judah was according the rule “Behold, the kings’s son shall reign, as the Lord has spoken concerning the sons of David,” (1 Chronicles 23:3). The slaughter of royal princes by Athaliah is unexplicable as these little princes were in no way able to reign and she could take the place of the oldest as Mother of the King and reign for at least two decades. It is also not explicable that from such a small number of princes that were killed, the little baby Joash could be saved by an aunt of the children.
42 years (2 Chronicles 22:2)
Wrong. The correct translation is: ‘he became 42 during his reign,’ which refers to his last birthday during his reign.
The figure of 42 year as the age of his death is much more convenient. After one year of Ahaziah’s reign in Jerusalem, his mother Athaliah would not give up the royal palace, her dwelling place, and brought her son thus far that he left Jerusalem to live in the countryside, and managed to be an autocrat monarch in his place. When he died at the age of 42, the slaughter of his sons by Athaliah, the cruel grandmother, is much more understandable. They were at an age of succession (circa 15-20 years), and there were certainly about 7 to 10 (ore more) princes, and of course the late arrival, baby Joash, was out of the picture concerning immediate royal succession. Of course Athaliah broadcasted the lie that there had been a fight to death between the princes when they were gathered to arrange the succession affairs.
No Contradiction
21. Did the city of Ai exist after Joshua destroyed it?
No, it was never rebuilt after Joshua destroyed it. (Joshua 8:28)
Right. It remained a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place.
Yes, it existed at the time of the Babylonian captivity. (Nehemiah 7:32)
Wrong. It was never rebuilt, but a new city arose in the neighbourhood of the ruins and received the old name.
No Contradiction
22. What tribe was Aijalon from?
Dan (Joshua 21:23-24)
Partly right. Already under Joshua, the tribe of Dan had to give this city up to the tribe of the Levites.
Ephraim (1 Chronicles 6:66, 69)
Right. Later in history Dan had lost strength and moved to the north of Israel; Ephraim—instead of Dan—controlled Aijalon, a city of the Levites.
No Contradiction
23. Does God want some to go to hell?
God wants everyone to go to heaven. (1 Timothy 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9)
Right. This was, is, and will always be God’s intention.
God wants some to go to hell.
Wrong. God wants everyone in heaven. However not everyone will be there, it also depends upon the individual desire of people.
Proverbs 16:4. This verse doesn’t relate to hell at all.
John 12:40, Romans 9:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 also don’t relate to hell, but to wilful separation from God which results – in this life – in: spiritual blindness, hardness of heart, rejection of the truth and believing in falsity.
No Contradiction
24. Did Jesus tell his disciples everything?
Jesus told his disciples everything. (John 15:15)
Right. Unto that moment.
There were some things that Jesus didn’t tell them. (John 16:12)
Wrong. This is later. He is saying that he had more to tell them. There is no questioning here about the past. After his resurrection He taught them the last lessons, when He appeared to them forty days, between Resurrection and Ascension. (Acts 1:3).
No Contradiction
25. Was David alone when asking for the holy bread at Nob?
He was alone. (1 Samuel 21:1).
Wrong. He asked bread for himself and for those who were with him. “But the priest answered David: ‘… there is some consecrated bread here – provided the men have kept themselves from women.’”
He was with others. (Matthew 12:3-4, Mark 2:25-26, Luke 6:3-4).
Right.
No Contradiction
No Bible Contradictions