Some difficulties in the Bible may be due to errors made by men who copied the manuscripts or by those who translated the original Hebrew and Greek into English. We need to realize that the original manuscripts of the books that compose the Bible no longer exist. The original manuscripts were copied many times and though they were copied with great care and exactness, some minor errors crept into the copies that were made. But through careful study, we can know what the original text was. The errors due to copyists are trivial for all practical purposes. In the Old Testament, they usually are in relation to numbers and the spelling of names — technical points that have no bearing on salvation and the purpose of life. Errors in figures would be easy to make, especially since Hebrew figures are made by using letters of the alphabet — letters that appear very much alike in many cases. As an example, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet represents the number one. With two little points above it no larger than flyspecks, the number becomes a thousand. A copyist need only to make a very slight error to make a great change in figures. There appears to be a copyist's error in II Chronicles 36:9 compared to II Kings 24:8, regarding the age of Jehoiachin when he began to reign. Eighteen is correct as given in the book of Kings. The Amplified Bible translates II Chronicles 36:9 as: "Jehoichin was eight [teen] years old then; he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem." The Hebrew letter for the numeral ten seems to have been dropped by the copyist. But we must be sure there truly is a copyist's error. The numbers given in II Samuel 24:9 appear to contradict those in I Chronicles 21:5. By examining them more closely, however, we see that in all of Israel there were 1,100,000 fighting men — of which 800,000 were "valiant" men. There were 500,000 men in all of Judah, but only 470,000 were fighting men. Therefore, 30,000 were non-combatants — priests, Levites, etc. There is thus no copyist's error in these verses. Many other examples of difficulties connected with numbers could be given. But they do not affect the overall inspiration of the Bible. As Tuck explains:
But when all the cases are carefully reviewed, the impression is left on the devout reader that they concern only the literature of the book, and in no way affect its value as a revelation of Divine moral and religious truth. The utmost that can be said is that there are flaws in the frame of the picture, but common sense recognizes that flaws in the frame do not, in any way, affect the artistic truth and value of the picture. Only hard and fast — and therefore unreasonable — notions of Divine inspiration could lead us to expect absolute accuracy in matters of mere detail, in which human skill was competent to act, and inspiration need not be concerned. (Robert Tuck, A Handbook of Scientific and Literary Bible Difficulties, p. 401.)
Men can make wrong estimates of numbers killed in a battle. They can copy records from State archives and make mistakes in the copying. We cannot expect God's Spirit to guide all men who make estimates on battle fields, who undertake the census of a population, or who copy a public document. God allowed this ordinary human element to creep into His Word. And when the Scriptures had to be copied by hand, errors in copying could occur. But these trivial errors do not in any way affect what the Bible says about morals, religious doctrine or God's plan of salvation. Although there are minor errors in the text, there is not one important doctrine that hangs upon any doubtful reading of the text. "The highest authorities assure us that, in regard to the New Testament, the variations of any importance introduced by copyists amount to less than one-thousandth of the entire text; while the Hebrew documents of the Old Testament show even less variation still" (Sidney Collett, Scripture of Truth, p. 17).
Errors in Translation
More serious are the errors of the translators — the men who translated the Hebrew and Greek texts into English. Translations of the Bible were not inspired by God. Even though they are done by men with academic ability, accurate translation is a complex matter. Tuck explains why:
It is seizing precisely the thought for which an author finds an adequate form of expression in his language, and finding for that thought an expression which shall be as adequate and precise for our language as his form of expression was for his language. (Robert Tuck, Handbook of Scientific and Literary Bible Difficulties, p. 478:")
Therefore, in some cases the English translation gives a wrong meaning to the words or expressions of the original Hebrew or Greek. One such glaring error is in Matthew 12:40 where we read that Jonah was swallowed by a "whale." Perhaps there are types of whales that can swallow a man, but, in any case, this is not an accurate translation. The original Greek word means "great sea creature." Christ was referring to Jonah 1:17 which says it was a "great fish" that swallowed Jonah. Discrepancies may frequently appear in the King James Version when none actually exist in the original text. This is because the translators have used the same English word to represent several Hebrew or Greek terms. For example, Luke 13:24 would appear to contradict II Timothy 2:24 because of how the word "strive" is used. Different Greek words are used, but translated the same. The term in Timothy should have been translated "fight" or "quarrel."
What is the Literal Meaning?
To solve these difficulties with the translation: find out the exact and LITERAL meaning of the original text. Acts 12:4 mentions the word "Easter," but is that the exact meaning of the original Greek? No! The original Greek word is pascha and is translated as "passover" in every other place it is used in the New Testament. False teachers use Revelation 20:10 to prove that people are tormented in an ever-burning hellfire. But any word in the King James Version that is written in italics is not in the original text. Italicized words have been supplied by the translators to clarify the meaning in English. In some cases, however, the meaning has been perverted. Notice that the word "are" in Revelation 20:10 is in italics. The correct word should be "were" or "were cast." The devil will be cast into the lake of fire "where the beast and the false prophet were cast, and [the devil] shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Marginal Renderings and Footnotes
All good Bibles have marginal notes or a center reference column. This can be a very useful and valuable aid to the Bible student. This column contains different renderings of words and phrases that are either the literal translation of the Hebrew or Greek where the English idiom requires a different form of expression, or are alternative translations in doubtful cases. In most cases the meaning will not vary to any great extent. But in some cases the marginal rendering will clarify a scripture without having to check a concordance or lexicon. One example is found in Hebrews 2:14 which some use to prove that Satan the devil will be destroyed. The word "destroy," however, is in question. One Oxford edition of the King James Version uses numbers by words in the text to denote renderings given in the center reference column. By the word "destroy" is the number 5. When we find the number 5 in the center reference column, we see a note which says, "Or annul." In other words, the Greek word translated "destroy" in Hebrews 2:14 could also be translated, as it is in other places, "make of no effect," or "make avoid." Christ will annul Satan's power, make him of no effect. Satan will be made powerless, all his power and authority stripped from him by Jesus Christ at His return. This verse in Hebrews 2:14 does not teach that Satan will be literally destroyed (see Mr. Armstrong's article, "Satan's Fate"). Another example is in Luke 17:21 which some people take to mean that God's kingdom is set up in our hearts. First of all, they don't realize that Christ was talking to the Pharisees. Is the kingdom of God "within" the Pharisees? Of course not. The marginal rendering is, "in the midst of you." The representative of God's coming kingdom, Jesus Christ, was right there among the Pharisees — not in them.
Kinds of Marginal Renderings
The center reference column also gives references of Old Testament passages that are quoted in the New Testament. Various editions of the Bible, of course, will differ as to what material is given in the center column, but generally the marginal references will fall into seven classifications as given by Anstey:
Quotations or direct citations of one passage of Scripture in another passage.
Parallels, in which there is a certain similarity of thought or expression in two independent passages.
Illustrations, in which one passage throws a certain measure of light upon the meaning of another.
Explanations, in which the meaning of the original is further elucidated and defined.
Interpretations, or fulfilments, in which the meaning of the original is further developed, additional or further truth being incorporated with the truth expressed in the original.
Adaptations, in which the original thought is modified and exhibited in relation to some new set of circumstances.
Applications, in which a general truth is brought to bear upon the circumstances of some particular occasion. (Martin Anstey, How to Master the Bible, pp. 114-119.)
Summaries of Chapters
The summaries of chapters in the authorized King James Version are not in the original manuscripts and, therefore, are without authority and not inspired. Some are attempted explanations as in the case of the Song of Solomon. Others are not wholly accurate. For these reasons, chapter summaries cannot always be relied on. The system of dividing the Bible into chapters and verses also was not inspired by God. Chapters and verses are helpful in finding passages in the Bible, but this system of division has often obscured the meaning of Scriptures by breaking sentences in the middle or by separating thoughts that should be joined together. Too many people merely lift a verse out of its setting and read a false meaning into it because they don't read the context in surrounding verses. Some of the chapter divisions are inaccurate and tend to break the story flow. Matthew 16:28 puzzles many people because of this. There shouldn't be a chapter break after this verse. If a person continues to read, he can find what Christ meant when He said, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." The answer is in chapter 17, verse 9. The disciples saw a vision in which Christ appeared in His glorified state — as He will be when He returns to set up His kingdom. Because of such imperfections, a new system of supplementing the chapter-verse division with paragraph arrangements has been adopted in many of the newer revisions and translations of the Bible. This often helps the reader to better comprehend the subject matter.
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