How many Contradictions in the Bible ?

[Brudford]

Forty-five years ago while working on my first degree I took all of my electives in Bible History and Theology
classes , bought a Ryrie study KJV Bible and a Hebrew / Greek concordance and have continued to read the Bible but
since retiring starting to really study again . Are these contradictions like mentioned below common,
or just a matter of original translation ? Thanks


"As Paul relates his conversion experience to an audience in Jerusalem, he says, “They that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me” (Acts 22:9, KJV)."

"However, Luke, in relating the same event, says, “The men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man” (Acts 9:7, KJV). "

So, which is it? Paul says “they heard not the voice,” and Luke says they were “hearing a voice.”

 

[Van]

Contradictions often are the result of presupposition. A better question would be contradictions of a substantive nature. Are the promises in scripture true. Did Jesus actually arise after physically dying on the cross? Did God create the heavens and the earth. Is their an afterlife where rewards are available for those born anew, and punishment including torment is certain for those who lived beyond the age of accountability.

Turning now to Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9 you contradiction seems forced.

Paul is relating the response of others when Paul was hearing the voice. One verse says they saw the light but did not hear or understand the voice, and the other verse says they were speechless, because they were hearing the voice but seeing no one. So if the others audibly heard the voice, but did not understand where it came from, then the two verses are consistent.

This is not to say insignificance contradictions do not exist, they do. Errors have been introduced by copyists since the original autographs were penned. But these errors are minor and do not impact the doctrines or basic truths claimed in our 66 book bible.

 

[kyredneck]

Turning now to Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9

Didn't Luke pen the book of Acts? Didn't the same guy write both passages?

 

[Brudford]

Yes , Luke was a companion of Paul's and also a Physician , so an educated man . I agree this takes nothing away from
our Christian doctrines . However the Book of Acts recording the start of Jesus's Church everything needed to be
done as perfectly as possible and not giving any potential convert any reason to not seek Christ . I find this particular Bible passage to be troublesome since neither Paul or Luke were eyewitnesses to the teaching and life of Jesus . One might ask
after hearing Paul's miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus you would think that the eyewitnesses to Paul's story would have much greater validity if Luke had gotten the story
perfectly correct .



I for one believe Paul's conversion story and see no real differences in his doctrines compared to Jesus's Apostles .
It has always been thought by Theologians that Paul wrote the majority of NT books but as of late many Bible Scholars
now believe Paul did not write all the books given credit to him . I regard Paul as a genuine Apostle and why would Paul lie about his conversion , he being a member of the Jewish Priestly class a Roman citizen and to give all that up to be beaten
and persecuted and live in poverty and to be finally beheaded by Rome . Just wish Luke would of been more precise in his telling of Paul's conversion as witnesses during the early beginnings of the Church were so important .

 

[KenH]

So, which is it? Paul says “they heard not the voice,” and Luke says they were “hearing a voice.”

Perhaps John 12:28-29 sheds some light on this issue.

John 12:28-29 Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

People heard the voice from heaven, but they heard a sounds, but not clear words being spoken.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

@ken's post is very helpful. Perhaps I can shed some more light.
Acts 9:7 says that they heard 'a voice.' The suggestion is that they did not understand the words, as in John 12:28-29.
Acts 22:9 says, "They heard not the voice of him that spake to me” The Greek word translated 'heard' is akouo, and sometimes it can mean 'to hear with understanding. A good example of this is 1 Corinthians 14:2 is a good example of this. Therefore the NIV translates as "They did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me."

I hope that helps.

 

[Rye]

When supposed contradictions come up we have to assume both things are true even if we don’t understand it. In the case of Judas…

Matthew 27:5 - And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Acts 1:18 - Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

Most speculate that the rope snapped while he was hanging or his rotting corpse fell off some time later but scripture does not say that explicitly.

 

[37818]

There are alleged contradictions in the Bible. Their causes are real. Actual contradictions, as to not be truthful statements, they are not.

Mark 2:26, How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar [son] of the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
​

 

[JonC]

Forty-five years ago while working on my first degree I took all of my electives in Bible History and Theology
classes , bought a Ryrie study KJV Bible and a Hebrew / Greek concordance and have continued to read the Bible but
since retiring starting to really study again . Are these contradictions like mentioned below common,
or just a matter of original translation ? Thanks


"As Paul relates his conversion experience to an audience in Jerusalem, he says, “They that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me” (Acts 22:9, KJV)."

"However, Luke, in relating the same event, says, “The men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man” (Acts 9:7, KJV). "

So, which is it? Paul says “they heard not the voice,” and Luke says they were “hearing a voice.”

I do not get the "contradiction". Is it the difference between "heard" ("hearing a voice" vs "understanding"?).

 

[kyredneck]

I do not get the "contradiction". Is it the difference between "heard" ("hearing a voice" vs "understanding"?).

"My sheep hear..."

" Why do ye not understand my speech? [Even] because ye cannot hear my word."

 

[Scarlett O.]

When supposed contradictions come up we have to assume both things are true even if we don’t understand it. In the case of Judas…

I don't believe that there are ANY contradictions in the Bible. Just unbelieving readers, immature but believing readers, and the like.

There's no mystery at all in what happened to Judas. Matthew says that he hanged himself - ergo suicide and dying.

Luke, in the Acts passage, doesn't say that Judas died by falling, but that he fell and his body burst open. One's living body may die by being impaled on something or from bones broken when falling down a mountain or some such.

But a body "bursting open" just by falling like a water balloon could only come from a corpse that is bloated like the common dead and bloated animal on the side of the highway where I live.

I completely understand this.

 

[37818]

I don't believe that there are ANY contradictions in the Bible.

There are three causes of Biblical contradictions. The number one cause are the unbelieving readers or flat out missinterpretations. The two other causes are wrong translation or textual causes.

 

[JonC]

"My sheep hear..."

" Why do ye not understand my speech? [Even] because ye cannot hear my word."

I agree. They heard what He said without understanding (they didn't just see His lips moving).

 

[canadyjd]

I don't believe that there are ANY contradictions in the Bible. Just unbelieving readers, immature but believing readers, and the like.

There's no mystery at all in what happened to Judas. Matthew says that he hanged himself - ergo suicide and dying.

Luke, in the Acts passage, doesn't say that Judas died by falling, but that he fell and his body burst open. One's living body may die by being impaled on something or from bones broken when falling down a mountain or some such.

But a body "bursting open" just by falling like a water balloon could only come from a corpse that is bloated like the common dead and bloated animal on the side of the highway where I live.

I completely understand this.

Years ago, as a police officer, I was first on the scene of a suicide by hanging in a basement.

Not to get too graphic, the man’s neck was elongated from the weight. A few more hours and ….. well you know.

I suspect this happened to Judas. By the time they found him, his body had separated and fallen from the tree and burst open.

peace to you

 

[Scarlett O.]

Years ago, as a police officer, I was first on the scene of a suicide by hanging in a basement.

Not to get too graphic, the man’s neck was elongated from the weight. A few more hours and ….. well you know.

I suspect this happened to Judas. By the time they found him, his body had separated and fallen from the tree and burst open.

peace to you

Thank you for your service and I'm sorry you had to see that.

 

[canadyjd]

Thank you for your service and I'm sorry you had to see that.

Thank you. The suicides I worked are one of the reasons I found other employment. I couldn’t help but think about the despair the folks must have felt. I can still see it and it makes me sad.

Oops, don’t want to hijack the thread. Thanks for the kind words of sympathy.

Peace to you

 

[Rye]

By the time they found him, his body had separated and fallen from the tree and burst open.

We can reasonably come to that conclusion. An atheist would argue, "well, which one is it? Did he die by hanging himself? Did he die by falling down?" Scripture does not give us every little detail on Judas' death but we know that both accounts fit together somehow.

 

[John of Japan]

We can reasonably come to that conclusion. An atheist would argue, "well, which one is it? Did he die by hanging himself? Did he die by falling down?" Scripture does not give us every little detail on Judas' death but we know that both accounts fit together somehow.

No contradiction whatever. As Martin Marprelate pointed out, the Greek word for "hear" can mean "understand." This is true when "followed by the accusative to indicate understanding of what was said hear" (Analytical Greek Lexicon, Friberg, Friberg and Miller, accessed with BibleWorks). That is true in Acts 22:9, where it says, τὴν δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν τοῦ λαλοῦντός μοι. The direct object is φωνὴν, "voice" in the accusative, therefore meaning "understanding." There is no contradiction.

You are not reading the Bible in a normal way if you are looking for contradictions. In reading a non-inspired book, most people give the author the benefit of the doubt. The Bible is not a normal book, but is the inspired Word of God. Why would one look for contradictions in it?

 

[John of Japan]

One thing to realize about quotes in the NT is that many times the original statement was in Aramaic or Hebrew. The author of the particular book translated into Greek, God's chosen language for the NT. Therefore you may get two versions of a particular statement (very common in the Gospels), and both are correct translations of the Aramaic, but one author simply brought out a different nuance.

Perhaps the prime example of this is the Aramaic phrase talitha kumi. Mark 5:41 has, "And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." On the other hand, the parallel in Luke 8:54 translates it simply as, "Maid, arise."

This is very common in translation efforts. Seldom must a given text be translated exactly one way or it is mistaken. In other words, it is natural for a translator to render a given word or sentence according to his or her personal knowledge of the meaning without being wrong.

In the case of the OP, Luke translated two examples of the same source text in slightly different ways. Problematic? Not in the slightest!

One more linguistic point: just because a translations seems flawed in the target language (English in this case), that never means the source text (original document) was flawed. I've read the entire Greek NT, translating it all into Japanese and some of it into English, and found no flaws. It is a perfect document, inspired by God! (Lest someone misunderstands, I am not bragging or special because I did this. It is simply what I do as a translator and Greek prof, my profession.)