1001 Errors in the Christian Bible
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Matthew -- Errors 106-112
#106
Matthew 21: (KJV)
28 “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came
to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 He answered
and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came
to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir:
and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They
say unto him, The first.”
Normally I only claim a translation error when a majority of modern translations
don’t agree with the majority of the earliest extant manuscripts
but this one is irresistible. Sinaiticus and a majority of early manuscripts
have “first” at the end but Vaticanus, Manuscript D, most Latin
manuscripts and the Sinaitic Syriac have “latter” at the end
and NASV and NEB use “latter”.
#107
Matthew 22: (KJV)
23 “The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there
is no resurrection, and asked him, 24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a
man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise
up seed unto his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and
the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue,
left his wife unto his brother: 26 Likewise the second also, and the third,
unto the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore
in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all
had her. 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing
the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection”
This entire exchange is bizarre. The Sadducees are correctly stating that
according to the Tanakh in their example there would need to be seven
levirate marriages. What none of the related exchange in the Christian
Bible states is that by the first century the Rabbi’s had already
limited the remarriage of women to three or four times. As the Tanakh
makes no mention of “The Resurrection” the Sadducees’ question
is based totally on a knowledge of Scripture. Jesus’ response ignores
the Rabbinical limit on remarriage of his time, claims that the Sadducee
question is not based on Scripture even though it is, and gives an answer
that is not based on Scripture as the Tanakh has no description of any
“Resurrection”.
#108
Matthew 23: (KJV)
8 “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ;
and all ye are brethren.”
The Greek word that has been translated above as “Rabbi” is
also the adjective/noun “teacher”. A majority of modern Bible
scholars believe that this word did not acquire the meaning of the title
“Rabbi” until late first century. Almost all major Christian
Bible translations translate 23:8 as “Rabbi” and not “teacher”
as the context around 23:8 indicates that Jesus was probably using the
word as a title. Therefore, the use of “Rabbi” at 23:8 is anachronistic.
#109
Matthew 23: (KJV)
9 “And call no man your father upon the earth”
Are there any Christians who follow these words of Jesus? The Catholics
even refer to the Pope as “Holy Father”. Another violation of
the commandment to honor your parents.
#110
Matthew 23: (KJV)
17 “Ye fools and blind”
Contradicts Jesus’ own prohibition against use of the word “fool”
in 5:22:
“whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Ironically the author of Matthew has put Jesus here in the position of
“do what I say, not what I do” which seems to be Jesus’
main complaint against the “scribes and Pharisees”.
#111
Matthew 23: (KJV)
19 “Ye fools and blind”
In case you missed it the first time.
#112
Matthew 23: (KJV)
29 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye
be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed
the prophets.”
The Pharisees were the spiritual descendents of the Prophets as their
teachings were similar. Any famous Prophets killed were generally executed
by Kings (just like it’s
always been). It was the Priests who were generally allies of the Kings
in those times so the traditional rivalry was between the Priests and
Prophets. In Jesus’ time it would have been the Sadducees who were
the spiritual descendents of the Priests. The author of Matthew presumably
is largely ignoring the Sadducees, who would have been the natural rivals
of Jesus, in his narrative because he likely wrote after the Temple was
destroyed and the Sadducees were no longer a religious force. It’s
almost always a bad idea to criticize an entire group of people based
on a disputed understanding of what their “fathers” did (in
our time we call this “stereotyping”) and it’s an even
worse idea when you use the wrong “fathers”.
Star Of David Trek
It’s the year 2,010. Israel has recently achieved final peace with
all of its
Arab neighbors culminating in the opening of the Benjamin Netanyahu
Academy of Acting in Cairo and the Yassir Arafat Institute For
Reformed Terrorists in Tel Aviv. Thanks to the new peace Israel has
replaced its policy of mandatory military service with mandatory
graduation from medical school. Also, because of key military
secrets given to Israel by super spy Jonathan Pollard, Israel has
become the world leader in science and technology.
Through the conversion of its resources from military applications
to scientific applications Israel has become the first country to
develop a ship, the “USS Enteraplea Pollard”, which is capable
of
going back in time. The “USS Enteraplea Pollard” has been sent
on a
secret mission to go back in time and remove Chapter 53 from the
writings of Isaiah.
(To Be Continued)