What Happened to Dad?
OT Contradictions
As usual the claimed contradictions are the Q and my response is the M. Last time I named the generic people offering us these claims as Guy, a name I will continue to use throughout this series. This article includes several claims about different dads, thus the title. Hope you gain a little from this study. Enjoy! ☺️
Q: Why the Sabbath?
Exod 20:11 For in the six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Deut 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought the out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded them to keep the Sabbath day.
M: The weekly Sabbath held by Jews on Saturday commemorates God's day of rest. In Deuteronomy, it seems to tack on the remembrance of their exodus out of Egypt. This might have given them something specific to think about while they were resting for the Sabbath. Maybe they weren’t keeping the weekly Sabbath like they were supposed to, you know, “to the Lord” (verse 14).
Perhaps instead of reading their sacred scriptures, concentrating on God and what He had done for them, praising Him, and praying to Him, they were playing games, goofing off, and tending to secular things. So, by the time the “second telling of the Law” (the meaning of deuteronomy) came about, God gave them something to focus their minds on during the Sabbath. All a complete assumption on my part.
Having said that, Exodus tells us “why” the Sabbath, Deuteronomy tells us “how to do” the Sabbath. So, I don’t see a contradiction here, only an expansion of the weekly Sabbath.
There is a “Special Sabbath” that is directly observed for when they were liberated out of Egypt; it’s called the Pesach, or you might know it better as the Passover. It starts with the Seder, the meal of the first night, then it is celebrated for the next seven days (another “Special Sabbath”), known as the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. I will be writing something about the Feasts/Special Sabbaths of Israel in the future.
Q: Incest?
Deut 27:22 Cursed is he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. -
Gen 20:11-12 And Abraham said... She is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
M: The Bible never condoned Abraham for marrying his half-sister. However, when Moses gave the Law about marrying brothers/sisters, it was many centuries later, between 400 to 600 years, clearing Abraham and Sarah of any wrongdoing.
In the early times, shortly after Adam and Eve had been created perfect, there was little mutilation in our DNA. By the time of Moses, with intermarriages and other happenings, there were definitely a lot of “bad” genes going around. Scientists know that inbreeding bad genes within the same family group will eventually wipe out that family. The bad genes eventually become dominant and all offspring would eventually die out from it. Again, the Hebrews figured this one out early on.
Q: How many kids did Michal have?
2 Sam 6:23 Therefore Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the day of her death
2 Sam 21:8 The five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul.
M: None. Those in chapter 21 were not hers, they were the sons of her sister, Merab, and brother-in-law, Adriel, (1 Sam 18:19). Michal was raising them. The original verse 8 reads “So took the king two sons (Armoni and Mephibosheth) of Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul and the five sons of Michal, daughter of Saul, whom she brought up (yalad) for Adriel, son of Barzillai, the Meholathite.”
The Hebrew word yalad means to bear or to raise children. Since we know from the sixth chapter that Michel was barren, we can then infer she raised them for her sister. Being there’s only a few chapters separation here, I don’t think the author would have missed this “error.” I’m fairly certain he had a pedigree chart in front of him, simply ‘cause those names would have been fun to remember without one.
Q: How many pairs?
Gen 6:19-22, 7:8-9, 7:14-16 Two or Pairs of each kind [including all living creatures, male and female, every kind of bird, animal crawling creatures, clean and unclean, all creatures that have breath in them.] are to be taken, and are taken, aboard Noah's Ark.
Gen 7:2-5 Seven or seven pairs of some kinds are to be taken (and are taken) aboard the Ark. [seven of every kind of clean animal, two of every kind of unclean, seven of every kind of bird.]
M: Two of all kinds were to be kept alive for the purpose of repopulating the earth. That would leave as much as 5 pairs of clean animals and birds to be used for sacrificial purposes and for dietary purposes. And, of course, the pairs will probably have reproduced in that year’s time.
Speculation here, the 7 pairs of birds might have been introduced in order to spread more seeds upon the earth, thereby promoting plant life all that much quicker.
Q:Which is Dad?
Gen 11:12 Arpachshad [Arphaxad] was the father of Shelah.
Luke 3:35-36 Cainan was the father of Shelah. Arpachshad was the grandfather of Shelah.
M: Per John Gill, this Cainan name was added during the early Septuagint copies in order to align with Luke, but Cainan was not listed in the oldest copies of the Septuagint or Luke (only 3 manuscripts used as reference). He was not listed in any of the other biblical genealogies, nor even by Josephus. Therefore, this might be a simple scribal error.
That being said, it was not unusual for the Israelites to drop a father’s name if that father was dishonorable. Jeremiah 22:30 records God as saying, “Write ye this man [Jeconiah] childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” Therefore, the Israelites are known for leaving out shameful fathers in their genealogies.
In the Book of Jubilees, Cainan was listed. He was known for learning what the “Watchers” wrote about the “omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven.” (Watchers were the fallen angels meant to watch over humanity, and this could be referring to the zodiac.) Cainan didn’t tell Noah and kept this hidden for himself, according to another source who apparently had a source material we don’t have available today (George Syncellus, 9th century AD). Even if not the zodiac, it was something in regards to idol worship or “soothsaying,” which God strictly prohibits. Cainan knew this; he wouldn’t have hidden it otherwise. Anyways, George apparently ragged on Eusebius and Africanus for omitting him from the record.
Eupolemus, a Greek Jewish historian in the second century BC, maintained that Abraham was the tenth generation from the flood. Without Cainan, Abraham would be the ninth. Therefore, in the second century BC, Cainan was known to be there.
In Genesis, it says Arphaxad begat Shelah. This word is yalad, and as mentioned earlier, it can also mean to bring up, to raise as if one’s own. Since Cainan was following the ways of evil, he would not have been included in Seth's godly pedigree. By Luke including the ungodly Cainan in Jesus’ ancestral lineage, he might have been showing it’s not important where you come from–even Jesus had bad fruit in his family tree.
Q: How old was Abram when his father died?
Gen 11:26 Terah was 70 years old when his son Abram was born. (32) Terah was 205 years old when he died (making Abram 135 at the time).
Gen 12:4, Acts 7:4 Abram was 75 when he left Haran. This was after Terah died. Thus, Terah could have been no more than 145 when he died; or Abram was only 75 years old after he had lived 135 years.
M: It does not say Terah was 70 when Abram was born. It says he was 70 when he became a father of “Abram, Nahor and Haran.” Assuming they weren't triplets, I looked for another example of listing the whole family...found in Gen 10:1–where “Shem, Ham and Japheth” were listed for Noah. In vs 21, Shem’s descendants were listed last, inferring Shem was the youngest. This is known from verse 32 where it says “according to their lines of descent” or “successive genealogies” according to translation. By concluding that the writers were accustomed to put the youngest (or most important) first when in a list, this makes Terah 70 when Haran was born (and he was first to die).
Taking the rest of the verses, Terah could have been approximately 130 years old when Abram was born. Add to that Abram’s age of 75 when he moved from Haran, it equals 205, the age when Terah died. (Again, fun speculation, but fits completely with the timeline.) That would mean Abram lived 5 years in the land of Haran, which is in south Turkey.
Q: One or many languages before the Tower of Babel?
Gen 10:5, 20 & 31 each [diverse nations of Shem, Ham, Japheth] with its own language.
Gen 11:1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
M: One–the tower of Babel happened before all these nations started speaking different tongues. The recounting of the tower was to show how the diverse languages aforementioned came about. In Genesis 10, it was not until after listing several generations that it said there were diverse tongues.
After telling the Babel story, the history of Shem starts only 2 years after the flood. There were at least 400 years worth of genealogy given in the previous chapter. That's 400 years where the tower of Babel story could have been built. It would seemingly be early on since there was no division of language. According to one historian, it was the grandson of Ham, Nimrod, who started the tower of Babel since it was under his reign and he was credited for that type of behavior. This is reasonable because in Genesis 10:10, Babel was listed in Nimrod’s kingdom.
Q:Which are the sons of Eliphaz?
Gen 36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
Gen 36:15-16 Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz.
1Chron 1:35-36 Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
M: In the first passage, Gen 36:11, if you'd read with verse 12, it lists Timna as the concubine with son Amelek being another offspring. In verses 15-16, it lists all the sons. Timna is not listed because she was a concubine, a live-in, not a son.
But verse 16 actually adds in a “Chief Korah,” which Guy missed. Gatam was listed in verse 16, which Guy failed to note. In 1 Chron, the list is again complete, listing all the sons and Timna, the live-in to portray the different mothers.
The only true contradiction here is one Guy did not point out: the addition of a “Chief Korah” listed among Eliphaz’s sons in verse 16. Eliphaz had a brother Korah who does not have his children listed. However, I’m going to agree with those who say Korah would be an inferred grandson Korah (ben, translated as “son” in verse 15, could include direct descendants). I’m assuming this since brother Korah was listed as chief under Oholibamah. Guy might have done a little research on this one since he didn’t comment on Korah.
Q: Where's Jacob buried?
Gen 50:13 Jacob was buried in a cave at Machpelah bought from Ephron the Hittite.
Acts 7:15-16 He was buried in the sepulchre at Shechem, [which Abraham] bought from the sons of Hamor.
M: Jacob bought the piece of ground at Shechem from the sons of Hamor, not Abraham. He bought it to pitch his tent and build an altar (Genesis 33:18-20). Jacob was buried at Machpelah during a special trip made by Joseph, his extended family, and Egyptian dignitaries. Jacob was buried where Abraham, Sarah, Rebeccah and Leah were buried: a cave on a piece of land Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite in the field of Machpelah. They say this is also where Adam and Eve were buried.
Herod the Great built a large building there to protect the cave, which is still complete and fully intact today. The tomb had been discovered in 1967, but couldn’t be explored fully at the time and wasn’t actually found until 35 years ago. A few stories below ground level, it was described as a tunnel that led into a two-tiered cave, filled with human bones and artifacts that have been dated back to Abraham’s time. Of course, this had to be done in secrecy as the Muslims refuse to allow any kind of exploration that could prove the Israelites had lived in the area.
Oh, and by the way, in Acts, the author had simply quoted what Stephen had said, not what God had said. Stephen was a little confused about his facts, as all humans tend to be.
Remember, feel free to comment on anything here. I hope you are enjoying the series!Next time might be a little controversial as it has to do with the Law and how Moses got it.
©2024 Kelly L. Hartley
Kelly L. Hartley, a new author, writes Bible studies, devotions, fiction, and poems. She focuses on Bible contradictions for her “Spare Time Musings” on Substack. She’s a member of Ozark Chapter of American Christian Writers and Springfield Writer’s Guild. Social media: Substack, 𝕏, Facebook, Instagram.
Good work Kelly. I had no idea there were so many "contradictions". You answer so many things carefully.