Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible
2. Concerning Places
Aaron died upon Mount Hor.
Numbers 20:27-28; 33:38
Died at Mosera.
Deuteronomy 10:6
Mosera or Moseroth was a station near to Mount Hor, and within sight of it. During the encampment of the Israelites at Mosera Aaron ascended the mountain and died. Prof. J. L. Porter 157 thinks Mosera was the general name of the district in which Mount Hor is situated.
Abraham's destination Canaan.
Genesis 12:5
Unknown to him
Hebrews 11:8
At first, the name of the country was not revealed to him.158 It is designated simply as a "land that I will show thee" (Genesis 12:1). Even if the name "Canaan" had been mentioned to Abraham at the outset, it might still be true that he went forth, "not knowing whither he went." For, in those days of slow transit, imperfect intercommunication, and meager geographical knowledge, the mere name of a country several hundred miles distant would convey almost no idea of the country itself. In our own time, even, of how many an emigrant on his way to America it might well be said, "He knows not whither he is going."
157Kitto, iii. 221.
158 Genesis 11:31 merely shows that Abraham's destination was known to Moses writing at a later date. "Went forth to go," points to the result in the case.
Ahab slain at Jezreel.
1 Kings 21:1,19
Slain at Ramothgilead.
1 Kings 22:37-38
Gerlach, Keil, Rawlinson, and others think that the prediction was fulfilled, in part upon Ahab, whose blood was actually licked by the dogs, and in part upon his wicked son Jehoram, whose dead body was cast into the very plat of ground which had been Naboth's.159 Bahr maintains that the word "place," in the passage at the right, is a general term, equivalent to "outside the city"; both Naboth and Ahab meeting their death in a certain "place," that is, outside the walls of a city.
Ahaz slept with his fathers.
2 Kings 16:20
Not in the royal sepulchres.
2 Chronicles 28:27
If Ahaz was buried in close proximity to, though not in, the royal sepulchres, the conditions of the case would be fully met.
Ahaziah died at Megiddo.
But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
2 Kings 9:27
Apparently elsewhere.
And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him.
2 Chronicles 22:9
It is to be noticed that the second passage is very much condensed, and is supplementary to the other. The closing words, "and when they had slain him, they buried him," indirectly attribute the burial to Jehus emissaries, inasmuch as they ordered, or at all events allowed, the burial, when they might have prevented it.160
Probably Ahaziah really escaped to Samaria, and concealed himself for a time, but was then ferreted out and captured by Jehu's soldiers, who brought him to their master. Attempting again to escape, he received a fatal wound at the pass of Gur near Ibleam, whence he fled to Megiddo, where he breathed his last. So Keil and Hackett.161
The passage at the left is elliptical, if not defective. Leaving out the words supplied by our translators, Jehu's injunction was, "Smite him also in the chariot
1592 Kings 9:25-26.
160See 2 Kings 9:28.
161 Smith's Bible Diet., i. 48.
at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam."162 The passage then contains no mention of the fulfillment of the command, which must therefore be supplied from the parallel passage.
Amalekites were in the valley.
Numbers 14:25
They were on the hill.
Numbers 14:45
The Hebrew word here rendered "valley" denotes "a broad sweep between hills."163 In the present instance the valley itself is in one sense styled a "hill," because it lay on the top of the mountain plateau or tableland where the conflict occurred. The Amalekites and Canaanites "came down" from the heights above to this plateau.
Ammonites land not forfeited.
Deuteronomy 2:19
Some of it given to Israelites.
Joshua 13:25
The land which the Ammonites occupied in the days of Moses the Israelites were not permitted to appropriate. But the Amorites had, at some time in the past, overpowered the Ammonites, and wrested from them a large portion of their territory. This tract—Sihon being its king and Heshbon its capital—was reconquered, and (apparently with the tacit consent of the Ammonites) taken possession of by the Israelites.164 It is this territory which is referred to in the passage from Joshua.
Ark placed in the midst of camp.
Numbers 2:17; 10:21
In the van of the army.
Numbers 10:33
Rashi, Kimchi, and the Talmudists maintain that there were two arks— one made by Moses, carried in the van of the army, and afterwards captured by the Philistines; the other made by Bezaleel, which contained the tables of the law, and remained in the midst of the encampment.165 Abarbanel, Nachmanides, and others hold that the one ark was generally placed in the midst of the encampment, but in exceptional cases, as during the three days journey, and in the crossing of the Jordan,166 was borne in advance of the host. Keil and Kurtz say that the ark, as distinguished from the sanctuary, always went foremost. Bishop Patrick thinks that the words "went before them" do not imply local precedence, but leadership; the expression being often applied to a general, who,
162 Compare Bible Commentary on 2 Kings 9:27.
163 Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, under "emek," pfty p. 476.
164Ewald, History of Israel, ii. 204-205, 295.
165 Conciliator, i. 246-247; Prideaux, Connections, i. 310-311 (Charlestown, Mass. 1815).
166Joshua 3:3-6.
of course, in leading his forces to battle, does not necessarily go before them, in the local sense.
Balaam returned to his place.
Numbers 24:25
He went instead to Midian.
Numbers 31:8
He set out upon his journey home, visiting Midian on the way. According to Hengstenberg,167 Kurtz,168 and Winer, the Hebrew word rendered "returned" means to turn away, or to turn back; and the attainment of the object is not included in the word itself. Hence we may read, with Keil, "went and turned towards his place."
Beasts slain at door of tabernacle.
Leviticus 17:3-4
Slain elsewhere.
Deuteronomy 12:15-16
The stringent law of Leviticus, designed to prevent the private and idolatrous rites to which the people were inclined is, now that they are about to enter Canaan, relaxed, so far as animals intended simply for food are concerned.
Bethsaida in one locality.
Mark 6:32, 45, 53
In a different situation.
Luke 9:10-17
Reland and others have shown that there were two cities of this name, one on the eastern, the other on the western, shore of the Sea of Galilee.169
Benjamin born in Canaan.
Genesis 35:16-19
Born in Padanaram.
Genesis 35:24-26
Aben Ezra says that the latter passage speaks summarily. The author, writing in a condensed manner, took it for granted that his readers, acquainted with what he had written a few verses previously, would make the necessary exception here.
Canaan in a state of famine.
Genesis 12:56-57; 42:1-5
Fruits not cut off.
Genesis 43:11,15
To this discrepancy adduced by Von Bohlen, Kurtz 170 replies, "Only the cereal products of the land had suffered. . . . Fertility in fruit trees does not depend on the same circumstances as that of grain crops."
167 History of Balaam and his prophecies, pp. 508-509.
168History of O. C.,iii.458.
169See articles in Smith and Kitto; also, Thomsons Land and Book, ii 9, 29-32; and Ebrard, Gospel History, p. 335-336.
170 History of Old Covenant, i. 376-377.
Christ ascended at Bethany.
Lake 24:50-51
At the mount called Olivet.
Acts 1:9,12
Bethany lay on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet. Persons returning from Bethany to Jerusalem would pass over the top of Olivet, and hence might be said to "return from this mount."
Christ's first reappearance in Galilee.
Matthew 28:16-17
At Jerusalem.
Luke 24:33, 36; John 20:19
Matthew does not deny, but simply passes over, earlier appearances of our Lord, and dwells upon that in Galilee as being one of great importance. Then, probably, it was that the risen Savior was "seen of above five hundred brethren at once."171 This manifestation seems to have been our Lord's last great act in Galilee, his final interview with his disciples in that region.
Christ's first sermon on a mountain.
Matthew 5:1-2
In the plain.
Luke 6:17, 20
Mr. Greswell thinks that these passages refer to entirely different occasions. Stanley172 says that the words in Luke should be rendered "a level place,"173 and not "the plain." He describes a hill with flattened top, "suitable for the collection of a multitude," and having also two peaks (now called "the Horns of Hattin"), from one of which Christ "came down," and stood "upon the level place" to address the people.
Cities in the territory of Dan.
Joshua 21:23-24
Within that of Ephraim.
1 Chronicles 6:69
In the opinion of Keil and Rawlinson, the Hebrew text of 1 Chronicles 6 is defective, some words having dropped out between verses 68 and 69, through an oversight of copyists.
Cities pertained to Judah.
Joshua 15:33; 1 Chronicles 2:53
Pertained to Dan.
Joshua 19:40-41; Judges 18:2, 8
The explanation is, that the inheritance of Dan proving inadequate,174 Judah gave up some of its northern towns, and Ephraim some of its southern
1711 Corinthians 15:6.
172 Sinai and Palestine, p. 360.
173 Greek srci TOftou iteoivor).
174 Joshua 19:47.
towns, to the Danites, thus furnishing them with a territory proportionate to their number. Zorah and Eshtaol were among the towns relinquished by Judah, hence are spoken of sometimes as belonging to the latter tribe, and sometimes to Dan.175 The statement in Judges 18:1, that "the inheritance of the Danites had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel," Cassel regards simply as a causeless complaint by the Danites, who had not sufficient enterprise to conquer the territory which had been assigned to them by lot. Berthean, Keil, Kimchi, and Rashi take the words as meaning, "no adequate inheritance."
The assignment of the same cities to Judah (Joshua 15:26-32, 42), and to Simeon (Joshua 19:2-7), is due to the simple fact that the inheritance of Simeon fell within that of Judah.176 Differences in the names are due to copyists.
Country of the Gergesenes.
Matthew 8:28
Country of the Gadarenes.
Mark 5:1
A general geographical designation applying to the territory in which Gadara and Gergesa were situated.177
David took Methegammah.
2 Samuel 8:1
Captured Gath.
1 Chronicles 18:1
Fuerst and Gesenius interpret the first passage thus: "David took the bridle of the metropolis," that is, he subdued Gath the metropolis of the Philistines. Havernick:178 "David took the rein of dominion out of the hand of the Philistines." Ewald:179 "Tore from the hand of the Philistines the bridle of the arm; that is, he tore from them the supremacy by which they curbed Israel, as a rider curbs his horse by the bridle, which the strength of his arm controls."
Disciples went into Galilee.
Matthew 28:10,16
Tarried in Jerusalem.
Luke 24:49
The command "tarry ye in Jerusalem," etc., means simply, "Make Jerusalem your headquarters. Do not leave it to begin your work, until ye be endued," etc. This injunction would not preclude a brief excursion to Galilee. Besides, the
175 Compare Keil on Joshua 19:40-48.
176Joshua 19:1, 9.
177 See Smith's Bible Diet., Art. "Gadara." Some of the best critics, Tischendorf, Tregelles, etc., give a different reading in the first passage, agreeing with that of the second.
178Introd. to Old Testament, p. 208.
179Vol.iii. 148.
command may not have been given until after the visit to Galilee. Alford adopts the latter hypothesis.
Ephraim's land east of Jordan.
2 Samuel 18:6
West of Jordan.
Joshua 17:15-18
Blunt, Ewald,180 Hervey, and Stanley181 think that "the wood of Ephraim" (2 Samuel 18:6), was not within the territory of that tribe, but was on the eastern side of Jordan. This forest probably derived its name from the slaughter of the Ephraimites long before in that vicinity.182
Forces stationed in certain places.
2 Kings 11:5-7
In different places.
2 Chronicles 23:4-5
From the fact that the young king spent six years in the house of the Lord, it is designated as "the king's house."183 Keil maintains that the forces under the command of the centurions who occupied the various posts in the temple consisted partly of Levitic temple guards, and partly of royal bodyguards. In Kings the latter class, in Chronicles the former class, come prominently into view. The posts or stations of the forces agree well. One division was to be "at the gate of Sur" (Kings), "at the gate of the foundation" (Chronicles); a second was to be "keepers of the watch of the kings house" (Kings), "at the kings house" (Chronicles); a third was to be "at the gate behind the guard" (Kings), "porters of the doors," better "watchers of the thresholds" (Chronicles). Here is no discrepancy.
Goliath's armor put in David's tent.
1 Samuel 17:54
Carried to Nob.
1 Samuel 21:9
The first passage does not assert that David kept it in his tent. During the interval, he or someone carried the sword to Nob.
Goliath's head carried to Jerusalem.
1 Samuel 17:54
That city held by Jebusites.
2 Samuel 5:6, 9
To the "discrepancy" which De Wette 184 sees here, Ewald 185 answers, that clearly David did not carry the head to Jerusalem till afterwards, when he was king. Then, as we learn from the passage 2 Samuel he captured that city.
180Vol. ii. 321-322; iii. 186, note.
181 Sinai and Palestine, pp. 322-323.
182 See Judges 12:1-6.
183 See 2 Kings 11:3-5.
184Introd. to Old Testament, ii. 216.
185 History of Israel, iii. 72.
Gospel to be preached everywhere.
Matthew 28:19
Not to be preached in Asia.
Acts 16:6
For wise reasons, and for a brief time only, Paul was not allowed to preach in Asia. When the fitting time arrived, the prohibition was removed.
Halting-places of Israelites—names.
Numbers 33:44-49
Stated differently.
Numbers 21:10-20
We have previously seen 186 that the Israelites, during a large portion of the thirty-eight years, were comparatively stationary, or as nearly so as tribes of nomadic habits could well be; and that they doubtless were spread over a large extent of territory, in quest of water and pasturage for their flocks and herds. Prof. Porter 187 has more than once passed through a moving tribe of Arabs, spreading over a tract twenty miles in diameter. We doubt not that the Israelites covered a vastly larger territory; and that when they moved, it was, as Prof. Palmer 188 says, "in Bedawin order, subdivided into numerous encampments, and spread over an immense surface of country."
Many critics agree with Kurtz 189 that the stations mentioned in Numbers 33:19-36 are simply the places successively occupied as the headquarters of Moses and the tabernacle. "It was absolutely necessary that the scattered parties of Israelites should be visited by Moses and the sanctuary, to prevent their connection with one another, and more especially their connection with Moses and the sanctuary, being entirely dissolved during so long a period as thirty-seven years. Hence the stations named in Numbers 33:19-36 must be regarded in the light of a circuit, which was made through the desert by Moses and the tabernacle." Prof. J. L. Porter,190 Dieterici,191 Davidson,192 and Messrs. Espin,193 and Cook take a similar view. Dr. Robinson 194 also maintains that "the stations as enumerated refer to the headquarters of Moses and the elders, with a portion of the people who kept near them; while other portions preceded or followed them at various distances as the inconvenience of water and pasturage might dictate." Prof. Porter
186 See p. 342 infra.
187 Kitto's Cyclopedia, iii. 1075.
188DesertofExodus,p.433.
189History of Old Covenant, iii. 301.
190Kitto, iii. 1079.
191 See in Kurtz, iii. 90.
192Introd. to Old Testament, 1, 326-327.
193 Bible Commentary, i. 654, 720.
194Bib. Researches, i. 106 (first edition).
thinks that the number of "marshalled men" who constantly attended Moses was not more than one tenth of the whole.
The differences between the lists of stations above arose from the fact that the same station had several names, or that two contiguous stations were occupied at the same time;195 or, as Kurtz 196 thinks, that the object in the thirty-third chapter is a statistical one, that is, to set forth not all the halting-places, but merely the places where a regular camp was formed and the sanctuary erected, while in earlier passages the object is a historical one, hence more places are enumerated. Hence, Numbers 21:11-22:1, seven places are mentioned between Ije-abarim and the plains of Moab; in Numbers 33:44-48, only three places.
In Numbers 33:30-33, we find the names Moseroth, Benejaakan, Horhagidgad, and Jotbathah; in Deuteronomy 10:6, 7 they stand thus: Beeroth 197 Benejaakan, Mosera, Gudgodah, and Jotbath. As to the trivial variations of the names, nothing need be said. The latter passage, which puts Benejaakan before Mosera, probably refers to a second visit of the Israelites to these places, in the fortieth year of the wandering. The first time, they pursued a circuitous course; the second time, the shortest and most direct route, thus reversing the order of the two places named.198
The "wilderness of Paran," Numbers 10:12 and 12:16, is probably mentioned in the first of these texts by anticipation. Ranke says: "Before entering more minutely into the details of the march, which he does from 10:33 onwards, the author mentions at the very outset (10:12) the ultimate destination, viz. Paran, on the borders of the promised land." So Tuch and Hengstenberg. Kurtz 199 thinks that 10:12 names the most southerly, and 12:16 the most northerly, station in the wilderness of Paran.
The fact that different names were applied to tie same localities explains such cases as the following: Israelites' station in wilderness of Kedemoth, Deuteronomy 2:26; on Pisgah, Numbers 21:20-21. Moses' outlook, from Abarim Numbers 27:12; from Pisgah, Deuteronomy 3:27; from Nebo, Deuteronomy 34:1. Simeon's cities and towns, one list, Joshua 19:2-6; a varying list, 1 Chronicles 4:28-31. Also, Abelbethmaachah, 1 Kings 15:20; Abelmaim, 2 Chronicles 16:4. Gezer, 1 Chronicles 20:4; Gob, 2 Samuel 21:18, with a multitude of similar cases.
195 So Davidson, i. 326, and Keil on Numbers 21:16-20.
196 History of Old Covenant, iii. 384.
197That is, "wells of Benejaakan" = Benejaakan in the other passage.
198 See Hengstenberg, Gen. of Pent. ii. 355-357; Kurtz, Hist, of Old Cov., iii. 254-255.
199 See authorities cited, History of Old Covenant, iii. 220.
Kadesh is said to have been located in the wilderness of Paran, Numbers 13:26; in the desert or wilderness of Zin, Numbers 20:1; Deuteronomy 32:51. With respect to this point there are several hypotheses.
1. That there were two places named Kadesh, situated, respectively, as above. So Reland, Rabbi Schwarz, and Stanley 200 qualifiedly. The term "Kadesh," which denotes "holy place," may well have been applied to several localities.
2. That the name was applied both to a certain city and to an extensive region in which this city lay. So Prof. Palmer, 201 Mr. Hayman, 202 and others.
3. That the one city Kadesh was situated in such relation to the deserts of Paran and Zin that it might be popularly assigned to either. It may have been located upon the dividing line of the two deserts, or, if they overlapped, in the territory common to them both. 203 It is the opinion of Fries, Hengstenberg, Keil, Kurtz, Raumer, Robinson, and others that the Israelites were twice at Kadesh—once in the second year, and again in the fortieth year of their wanderings. 204 Ewald thinks that "Kadesh was only the resting place of Moses and the tabernacle, and the meeting place of the community on appointed days."
As to the location of Meribah, near Rephidim, Exodus 17:1-7; near Kadesh, Numbers 20:13, we know that on two distinct occasions the Israelites rebelled for want of water. Hence both localities were appropriately named "Meribah" (strife). 205 On the second occasion Moses and Aaron transgressed, and offended Jehovah.
Israel's boundary the Euphrates.
Genesis 15:18;
Deuteronomy 11:24;
2 Samuel 8:3
A different limit.
Numbers 34:10-12; Joshua 13:9-12
Keil suggests that these different passages give the limits—the maxima and minima—of the promise; the actual extent to be determined by, and proportionate to, Israel's loyalty and fidelity to God. It is thought by Ewald,206 Hervey,
200Sinai and Palestine, pp. 93-94, notes.
201 Desert of Exodus, p. 420.
202Smith's Bible Diet., ii. 1519.
203 See Smith's Bible Diet., Art. "Paran."
204Kurtz, hi. 246-247, 305-309.
205SeeKitto,iii. 138.
206History of Israel, hi. 150, note.
and Newman 207 that "his border," in 2 Samuel 8:3, refers not to David's border, but to that of his opponent.
Israelites returned to Gilgal.
Joshua 10:15, 43
Returned to Makkedah.
Joshua 10:21
Davidson, Espin, Hengstenberg, Keil, and others take the fifteenth verse as a part of the quotation from the "book of Jasher"—the citation beginning with the twelfth, and ending with the fifteenth verse. The return to the temporary camp at Makkedah preceded that to Gilgal.
Jehoiakim carried to Babylon.
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36:6
Died at Jerusalem.
So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.
2 Kings 24:6
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 22:19
His dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
Jeremiah 36:30
Bertheau, Hasse, and Movers think that the Hebrew of the first passage implies that Jehoiakim was not actually carried to Babylon. Bleek 208 pertinently suggests that he may have gone out against the enemy, and been slain outside the city. Rawlinson supposes that he was bound with the intention of carrying him to Babylon, but instead was slain, and his corpse ignominiously treated. After the withdrawal of the Babylonians the remains were collected and interred in the royal burial place, so that, ultimately, the unhappy prince "slept with his fathers." Winer 209 thinks that, at the capture of Jerusalem in the next reign, the enemy, or even his former subjects, may have vented their rage upon the remains of the deceased Jehoiakim in the manner above described. Wordsworth 210 calls attention to the fact that, of all the kings of Judah whose deaths are spoken of in scripture, Jehoiakim is the only one whose burial is not mentioned.
Jeroboams residence Shechem.
1 Kings 12:25
He resided at Tirzah.
1 Kings 14:12-17
He lived at one place in the early, at the other in the later, part of his reign. Bahr suggests that Tirzah may have been merely a summer residence of this monarch.
207History of Hebrew
Monarchy, p. 80.
208Introd. to Old Testament,
ii.72-73.
209Real-Worterboch, i. 595.
210 Replies to Essays and Reviews, p. 434.
Jerusalem in Judah.
Joshua 15:8
In land of Benjamin.
Joshua 18:28
The city was actually within the limits of the territory of Benjamin, yet on the very border line of Judah, 211 so that it might be popularly assigned to either tribe. Stanley, 212 indeed, maintains that the Jebusite fortress stood upon "neutral ground in the very meeting point of the two tribes"; and Lightfoot 213 mentions a Jewish tradition that the altars and sanctuary were in Benjamin, the courts of the temple in Judah.
Jordan—"this side" east of river.
Numbers 35:14;
Deuteronomy 1:1;
Joshua 1:14
Phrase denotes west of river.
Joshua 12:7; 22:7; 1 Chronicles 26:30
The expression "this side Jordan," like its Hebrew equivalent, 214 is ambiguous, and may denote either side of that river, according to the mental standpoint which the sacred historian occupies at the time of writing. So Fuerst, Gesenius, and others.
Joshua conquered all Canaan.
Joshua 11:16-17, 23; 12:7-8; 21:43
Conquered only apart.
Joshua 13:1-6; Judges 2:23
The solution appears to be that Joshua had virtually conquered the whole land. He had so thoroughly broken the power of the Canaanites that they could no longer make head against him. The land was now within the grasp of the Israelites. All they needed to do was to go forward valiantly, and occupy it. But, through indolence and unbelief, they did not avail themselves fully of that dominion which was within their reach.
Josiah died at Megiddo.
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre.
2 Kings 23:30
Died at Jerusalem.
And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers.
2 Chronicles 35:24
Davidson, 215 Fuerst, Gesenius, and Rawlinson agree that the word "meth," in the first text, may mean dying, or in a dying state. 216 Josiah was carried off the field in a dying condition; he expired on the way to Jerusalem.217
211 Smith's Bible Diet, ii. 1273.
212 Sinai and Palestine, p. 175.
213 Prospect of Temple, chap. 1.
214 See different senses, Numbers 32:19, 32.
215 Sacred Hermeneut. p. 551.
216 See use in
Genesis 20:3.
217Compare Zechariah 12:11.
Law given at Sinai.
Exodus 19:11,18
Given in Horeb.
Deuteronomy 4:10-15
Sinai may be the older, and Horeb the later, name. So Davidson, Stanley 218 apparently, and Ewald. 219
Horeb may be a general name of the district or range of mountains, and Sinai the specific name of some peak. So Hengstenberg, 220 Robinson, Palmer, 221 Rodiger, Ritter, Kurtz, Dr. J. P. Thompson, 222 and others.
Sinai may be taken as the original name of the entire group, whilst Horeb is restricted to one particular mountain. Gesenius takes this view; and Lepsius thinks that the two names are applied alike to the mountain of the law. Any one of these hypotheses relieves the difficulty completely.
Moses commissioned in Midian.
Exodus 3:10; 4:19
Received commission in Egypt
Exodus 6:10-18
His failures to persuade Pharaoh to a dismission of the Israelites, as well as the sudden revulsion, on their part, from buoyant hope to unseemly dejection, rendered it absolutely necessary that Moses' wavering faith should be strengthened by a solemn renewal of his commission.
Nebuchadnezzar encamped at Riblah.
2 Kings 25:6
Came against Jerusalem.
2 Kings 25:1
The expression "came against" does not imply that he came to the city in person. He sent his army to besiege the city; but he himself made his headquarters at Riblah, from which place he could conveniently direct hostile operations against Jerusalem and Tyre, both of which cities he was besieging at the time.
Passover slain at home.
Exodus 12:7
Slain at sanctuary.
Deuteronomy 16:1-7
The first precept was addressed to the Israelites in Egypt, when they had "no common altar" nor sanctuary; hence the houses in which they dwelt were, so to speak, consecrated as altars and sanctuaries. The second passage contemplates them as settled in Palestine, where they had a common sanctuary, around which it was desirable that their religious sentiments, services, and associations should
218 Sinai and Palestine, 31, note.
219 History of Israel, ii. 43, note.
220Gen.ofPent.,ii.327.
221 Desert of Exodus, p. 103.
222 Smith's Bible Diet, iv. 3054.
be clustered. Kurtz 223 thinks that the words "in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose" 224 include the whole city in which the tabernacle was located; so that the passover might be slain upon any spot within that city.
Kurtz has the correct answer - Keith Hunt
Peters residence Capernaum.
Mark 1:21, 29
Apparently Bethsaida.
John 1:44
Peter and his brother were "of Bethsaida," in that they were natives of that city; yet they afterward dwelt in Capernaum.
Sanctuary at Shiloh.
Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 3:21; 4:3
Located at Shechem.
Joshua 24:1, 26
Masius, Michaelis, and other critics say that "miqdash," sanctuary, in the last text, denotes simply the holy place which Abraham consecrated, 225 and in which Jacob dwelt a long time, and where he purified his family from idolatry. 226 This place, however, was different from the "sanctuary" proper, where the ark had its seat. Hengstenberg 227 has clearly shown that the phrase "before God" does not invariably imply the presence of the sacred ark or tabernacle.
Solomons ships went to Ophir.
1 Kings 9:26-28
They went to Tarshish.
1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21
Rawlinson thinks that different fleets are intended; also that the name "Tarshish" was applied to two different places, one of which was situated on the shores of the Indian Ocean or the Persian Gulf, since the Phoenicians had trading establishments in this quarter, and were in the habit of repeating their local names. Hence this name, like our term "Indies," may have been applied to places widely separated. It was to this eastern Tarshish, and not to that in Spain, that Solomons fleet made the triennial voyage. 228
Bahr, Bleek, 229 Davidson, 230 DeWette, Ewald, Gesenius, Havernick, Movers, Winer, and Mr. Twistleton, 231 however, take the expression "ships of
223History of Old Covenant, iii. 213.
224In Deuteronomy 16:7.
225 See Genesis 12:6-7.
226Genesis 33:19; 35:2, 4.
227Gen. of Pent. ii. 32-46.
2281 Kings 10:22.
229Introd. to Old Testament, i. 441.
230Introd. to Old Testament, ii. 90.
231 Smith's Bible Diet., iv. 3178-3181. See references, p. 3180.
Tarshish," not as denoting that these vessels actually went to Tarshish, but that they were of the kind ordinarily employed in commerce with that place. That is, "Tarshish ships," like our term "East Indiamen," would loosely indicate the larger class of merchant vessels. On this hypothesis, the chronicler 232 misunderstood the appellation, as if it denoted that these ships actually went to Tarshish.
Tabernacle located without the camp.
Numbers 11:16,24-26;12:4
Within the camp.
Numbers 2:2-3
The encampment of the Israelites was arranged in the form of a hollow square, with a large unoccupied space in the middle.
At the center of this space the tabernacle was located; being thus, as is thought, some two thousand cubits removed, on all sides, from the tents of the people. In consequence of this isolation of the tabernacle, those who visited it were necessitated, as it were, to leave the encampment, and "go out" to the tabernacle. The latter was within, yet virtually outside of The camp.
A recent writer 233 finds, in 1 Kings 19:3, 8, a "geographical anomaly," in that, as he thinks, "Elijah is represented as travelling uninterruptedly forty days and forty nights from Beersheba to Horeb; whereas the distance is little more than forty geographical miles." To which we reply: (1) That, according to the best maps, such as those of Kiepert, and Smith and Grove, the distance is some two hundred statute miles; and (2) that there is no intimation that Elijah was walking the whole time, neither that he pursued a straight course in his wanderings.
The same author 234 finds a similar difficulty in 1 Samuel 10:1-9, where, as he maintains, Saul went first to Rachel's sepulchre, near Bethlehem, and thence to (Mount) Tabor in Zebulon, across the territory of four tribes, making the whole circuit in a single day. But the Hebrew "elon tabor," rendered plain of Tabor in verse 3, means, according to Fuerst, Gesenius, and the Septuagint, oak of Tabor. Keil and Ewald 235 say, the "terebinth of Tabor"; the latter adding that "Tabor" is certainly only "a dialectic variation" for "Deborah," and, with Thenius, maintaining that the tree in question was that under which Deborah was buried. 236 There is not the least proof that Mount Tabor is here intended.
2322 Chronicles 9:21; 20:36-37.
233 See in Davidson's Introd. to Old Testament ii. 36-37.
234In Davidson, Vol. i. 515.
235 History of Israel, iii. 21, and note.
236Genesis35:8.
………………..