Do Genesis chapters 1 and 2 conflict? Many scoffers claim that the Bible is full of contradictions.
They will nearly always cite Genesis 1 and 2 as examples.
Supposed Contradiction # 1:
Gen. 1:11 has the trees made on day 3 before man; Gen. 2:8 has the trees made on day 6 after man.
Gen. 1:20 has birds made out of the water on day 5; Gen. 2:19 has birds made out of the ground (after man) on day 6.
Gen. 1:24, 25 has the animals made on day 6 before man; Gen. 2:19 has the animals made on day 6 after man.
Here is the solution:
A careful reading of the two chapters will show the solution for each of the supposed contradictions.
Explanation of supposed contradiction a:
Chapter 1 tells the entire story in the order it happened. Gen. 2:4-6 gives a quick summary of the first five days of creation. Gen. 2:7-25 is describing only the events that took place on day 6 in the Garden of Eden.
The trees described in Genesis 2:8 are only in the Garden (the rest of the world is already full of trees from day 3).
The purpose of this second creation of trees may have been to let Adam see that God did have power to create, that
He was not just taking credit for the existing world. Notice that the second creation of trees was still on day 6
and was only those trees that are "pleasant to the sight and good for food."
Explanation of supposed contradiction b:
The birds created out of the ground on day 6 are only one of each "kind" so that Adam can name them and select a wife.
The rest of the world is full of birds from day 5.
Explanation of supposed contradiction c: Genesis 2:19 is describing only the animals created in the Garden, after man. The purpose of this second batch of animals being
created was so that Adam could name them (Gen. 2:19) and select a wife (Gen. 2:20). Adam, not finding a suitable one
(God knew he wouldn't), God made Eve (Gen. 2:21-22).
There are no contradictions between these two chapters. Chapter 2 only describes in more detail the events in the Garden of
Eden on day 6. If ancient man had written the Bible (as some scoffers say), he would never have made it say that the light
was made before the sun! Many ancient cultures worshiped the sun as the source of life. God is light. God made the light before
He made the sun so we could see that He (not the sun) is the source of life.
Are there contradictions in the King James Bible? Many Bibles have footnotes that say there are "copyist's errors" in the King
James Bible. I disagree strongly! They need to read the verses carefully. Below are a few examples.
Supposed contradiction # 2:
How many chariot horses did Solomon have, 40,000 (I Kings 4:26) or 4,000 (II Chron. 9:25)?
"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen." I Kings 4:26
"And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen;" II Chron. 9:25.
Read the verses carefully and you will see that there is no contradiction.
They had chariot teams with ten horses and ten men per chariot in case you got a flat tire!
If he had "four thousand stalls for horses and chariots" he would need fourty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots.
Many modern versions of the Bible try to "fix" what they thought was a mistake and actually created an error.
Supposed contradiction # 3:
How many men did David kill, 700 (II Sam. 10:18) or 7,000 (I Chron 19:18)?
"And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians," II Sam. 10:18
"But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots," I Chron. 19:18
Since they had ten men per chariot both verses are fine
Supposed contradiction # 4:
How many died in the plague?
"And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand." [24,000] Numbers 25:9
"Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand." [23,000] I Cor. 10:8.
Obviously 1,000 died the next day! There is no contradiction.
Supposed contradiction # 5:
How much gold did Solomon get from Ophir, 450 talents or 420?
"And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon." I Kings 9:26-28
"Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom. And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon." 2 Chronicles 8:17-18
This is talking about two different trips! We can see from other verses that obviously many trips to Ophir were made! "For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." 1 Kings 10:22
"Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:" 1 Chronicles 29:4
Supposed contradiction # 6:
Isn't "Easter" an error in Acts 12:4? Shouldn't pascha be "passover" like every other version has?
"Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church." 2"And he killed James the brother of John with the sword." 3"And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people." Acts 12:1-4
The word 'Easter' is the correct word and the KJV is the only version I have seen that gets it right. Read Ex. 12 and Num. 28:16-17 and it will be clear that the Passover came before the days of unleavened bread.
In fact, by translating "pascha" as "passover" in Acts 12:4 modern bibles have inserted an ERROR that displays not only their lack of knowledge of Greek in context, but even more their lack of knowledge of ENGLISH!
You see, the man who INVENTS a particular word is the world's foremost authority on that word. In this case, the word "passover" was INVENTED by William Tyndale. Thus, William Tyndale knew the CORRECT definition of "passover" since he INVENTED the word "passover" in the first place.
Singular to relate, William Tyndale did NOT use the word HE INVENTED - "passover" - in Acts 12:4. Why? Why did William Tyndale not use the word HE INVENTED in Acts 12:4? Because, as Dr. Thomas Holland demonstrated, the days of unleavened bread come AFTER Passover. That's ONE reason Tyndale did not employ the word HE INVENTED in Acts 12:4. The second reason, of course, is because Herod was looking forward to the pagan feast of Ishtar, from which the word "Easter" is derived, and so Tyndale, who INVENTED the word "passover" did NOT use the word "passover" in Acts 12:4 in HIS OWN TRANSLATION.
In summary, had modern translators bothered to learn ENGLISH etymology, they would have discovered that the INVENTOR of the word "passover" declined to use the word HE INVENTED in this verse, because the INVENTOR of the word "passover" did not want to MISTRANSLATE the passage, as modern bibles have done.
An article which appeared in The Trinitarian Bible Society Quarterly Record states:
"When Tyndale applied his talents to the translation of the New Testament from Greek into English, he was not satisfied with the use of a completely foreign word, and decided to take into account the fact that the season of the passover was known generally to English people as 'easter' ... Tyndale has ester or easter fourteen times, ester-lambe eleven times, esterfest once, and paschall lambe three times. When he began his translation of the Pentateuch, he was again faced with the problem in Exodus 12:11 and twenty-one other places, and no doubt recognizing the easter in this context would be an anachronism he coined a new word, passover and used it consistently in all twenty-two places. It is, therefore, to Tyndale that our language is indebted for this meaningful and appropriate word."
Some points to ponder about Easter:
The Passover was at night on the 14th day of April.
The seven days of unleavened bread always followed the Passover.
The pagan festival of Astart or Ishtar (Easter) was always held late in April to celebrate the earth regenerating itself after winter. That is why rabbits (Playboy) and eggs, symbols of fertility are used.
The feast days are never called the Passover anywhere in scripture.
Peter was arrested during the days of unleavened bread after Passover.
Herod wanted to kill him during his own pagan festival of Easter coming up in a few days.
KJV is the only version to get it right.
Supposed contradiction # 7:
Did David pay 600 shekels in gold or 50 shekels in silver for the land?
"And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." 2 Samuel 24:24
"So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight." 1 Chronicles 21:25
There is no contradiction. 50 shekels of silver was paltry (reference Exodus 21:32) to pay for a site that was later to become the temple mount. However, it might be an appropriate figure to pay for a yoke of oxen. I Chronicles seems to indicate that the initial discussion was about the property. Ornan then offered David the oxen too. David paid 600 shekels in gold for the land and 50 shekels in silver for the oxen.
Many other alleged contradictions are explained on videotape #7 of my creation seminar series.
Dr. Kent Hovind
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