Biblical problems caused by translation

1. Sea of Galilee is not a sea.

2. Was Jesus born in a stable?  info-1

The Biblical story of the birth of Jesus is found primarily in Luke 2. Dr. Luke neither quotes nor mentions an innkeeper. We suggest the story does not refer to an inn, a cave or even a barn, but rather a house!

The text of Luke 2 notes there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the “inn.” Unfortunately, the Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had multiple meanings, among them inn or caravansary. Used only one other time in the New Testament (Luke 22:11 and the parallel passage, Mark 14:14), it was the place where Jesus observed the Last Supper with His disciples. Here, Dr. Luke gave additional information about the kataluma. He said it was a furnished large upper story room within a private Jerusalem house. The kataluma of the last night of Jesus' earthly ministry was the “upper room.”

We suggest the kataluma of Jesus' first night was a similar room in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph came into town with Mary ready to deliver. Arriving at Joseph's ancestral home, they found it already full of other family members who had arrived earlier. While the exact reason space was not made for a pregnant woman is unknown, it probably indicates the house was full of elder members of Joseph's family, who had priority.

So that is when Mary and Joseph went to the barn, right? Not exactly. The Biblical account mentions neither barn nor cave—it is assumed because of the manger (Chinese translation: 馬槽). Mangers are animal feeding troughs, and barns are where one would expect to find them. But in the ancient world, as well as in primitive modern cultures, mangers are also found within the house itself. Animals are regularly kept in homes at night.

A small number of flock animals were housed, not in attached exterior sheds, but inside the house in one of the ground floor rooms. Here, animals, tools and agricultural produce were stored. Here, too, food was prepared and possibly consumed. Family sleeping quarters were on the second floor (an upper room). By being inside, the animals were protected from the elements and theft. In addition, their presence provided body heat for cool nights, access to milk for the daily meal and dung as a critical fuel source.

Excavations in Israel have uncovered numerous installations within domestic structures which probably represent ancient mangers. Some are carved, but most are stone built. Wooden mangers, of course, have not survived in the archaeological record.

Consequently, Mary and Joseph did not find space in the living quarters of the ancestral family home. Instead, they stayed downstairs in the domestic stable, still within the ancestral home, where a manger or two was located. Here they were visited by the shepherds, and maybe the wise men some time later.

Side Notes:

(1) Was Jesus Born in a Cave?

(2) The Magi were Persian priest or occultic heathens (秘術異教徒); being misinterpreted as kings or translated as wise men.

(3) What are some of the most common misconceptions about Jesus Christ’s birth?   

3. Moses crossing Red Sea -

     The True Location of the Red Sea Crossing

     wiki - The Hebrew term for the place of the crossing is "Yam Suph". Although this has traditionally been thought to refer to the salt water inlet located between Africa and the Arabian peninsula, known in English as the Red Sea, this is a mistranslation from the Greek Septuagint, and Hebrew suph never means "red" but rather "reeds."

     Moses' Red Sea Parting Explained by Computer Model

     Carl Drews' research - personal page   Master Thesis (2009) [pdf]

     Others:

4.

At what age Solomon requests for wisdom?

(1) 12, a child - Judaism 101:

Before David dies, he appoints as king his son Solomon, who is 12 years old at the time, with these words:

"I go the way of all the earth. You shall be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His testimonies. As it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn." (1 King 2:2-3)

This classic blessing is often quoted by fathers to their sons on the day of their Bar Mitzvah. It restates the cardinal rule that has guided the Jewish people from the time of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai: in order to prosper keep the Torah.

Shortly after Solomon is anointed king, God appears to him in a dream in which He invites Solomon to make a request for himself. Solomon answers:

"I am but a small child ... Give therefore your servant an understanding heart to judge your people..."

His request pleases God who tells him:

"Because you have not requested riches and honor but only that which would benefit all the people, I will give you not only an understanding heart like none other before or after you ... but also riches and honor like no other king in your days." (1 Kings 3:7-13)

Born in 848 BCE, Solomon dies at age 52 in 796 BCE, ruling as king for 40 years -- the best years in all of Israel's history -- 40 years of peace and prosperity. 

(2) 20+, a young man - src

Solomon was a young man, about twenty years of age, when his father David died and he became king. A young man presented with the vast array of possibilities God offer could have been tempted in many different directions, yet he simply asked God for the most important thing he could think of—and God answered his prayer. “lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart” (1 Kings 3:12).

(3) wiki of King Solomon

(4) 20+ - Solomon's Age   mirror: page 1   page 2   page 3   page 4

• However, the article “Child’s Age”^[1] indicates the word translated as “child” can be applied to a male as old as 45 years old.

PROVE YOURSELF A MAN

“Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: ‘I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.’” (1 Kings 2:1-2 NKJV)

• Some may think that the encouragement to “prove yourself a man” indicates that Solomon was not yet a man, and needed to prove that he was mature enough to be considered as a man.
• Yet the encouragement by David actually indicates that Solomon had already reached the age of manhood, but must demonstrate the behavior of a man.

SOLOMON HAD A SON BEFORE BECOMING KING

“Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem” (1 Kings 14:21 ESV)

“So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 12:13 ESV)

Solomon had his son Rehoboam one year prior to ascending to the throne:

• The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges states, “Rehoboam was forty and one years old] As Solomon’s reign lasted forty years ([1 Kings] 11:42), this son must have been born a year or more before his father came to the throne, and Solomon must have married this Ammonitish wife, Naamah, before Pharaoh’s daughter.”^[8]
• The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible states, “His mother, Naamah, was an Ammonite whom Solomon had married before he began his forty-year reign.^[9]
• The Keil and Delitzsch Commentary states, “Rehoboam, who ascended the throne at the age of forty-one, was born a year before the accession of Solomon (see at 1 Kings 2:24)^[10]
• The KJV Bible Commentary states, “Comparing his age (forty-one years) and the length of his father’s reign (forty years, 11:42), it becomes apparent that Solomon had engaged in foreign marriages prior to his becoming king.”^[11]
• Matthew Poole’s Commentary states, “Rehoboam was forty and one years old; therefore he was born a year before Solomon was king, as appears from 1 Kings 11:42.”^[12]
• Warren Wiersbe states, “According to 1 Kings 14:21, Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign. (Some question that a man forty-one years old could be called “young and indecisive” (2 Chron. 13:7), but age and maturity are two different things … Since Solomon reigned for forty years (11:42), this means that Rehoboam was born before Solomon became king.”^[13]
• John Wesley states, “Forty one years—Therefore he was born a year before Solomon was king, as appears from chap. 11:42 this is noted as an aggravation of Rehoboam’s folly, that he was old enough to have been wiser.^[14]”

Some have thought the age of Rehoboam when he ascended the throne to be a copyist error. Yet the same “copyist error” would have been needed in both 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The article “Fathers at Impossible Ages”^[15] describes Ahaz, who became the father of Hezekiah at age 11^[16], and Josiah, who became a father to his oldest son at age 14^[17]

SOLOMON CALLED “OLD” WHEN HE DIED

“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11:4 ESV) “Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years.” (1 Kings 11:42 NET)

• The completion of a forty-year reign at a time when a person is described as “old” indicates that they began the forty-year reign when they were at least twenty.
• The article “Young and Old”[18] describes the four age categories listed in the Bible: a) one month to five years, b) five years to twenty years, c) twenty years to sixty years, and d) sixty years and older.
• Paul described women over sixty as different from “younger widows”: “Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry” (1 Timothy 5:9–11 ESV)
• Solomon was already called “old” when he began to allow idolatry. The number of years he allowed idolatry is not given, but may have extended for several years.

It is likely that Solomon concluded his reign during the LAST age category described in Scripture, namely after age sixty

Ahaz - a Young Father

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.” (2 Kings 16:2 NKJV) “Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king.” (2 Kings 18:1 NKJV)

VERY YOUNG FATHERS

Although many have difficulty with the idea that a man could become a father at such a young age, there have been multiple reports of men becoming fathers at this age and even YOUNGER:

• 11 year old - The article “11-Year-Old Boy Is World's Youngest Father”[17] states, “An 11-year-old boy from Auckland, New Zealand, has become the world's youngest father after having a child with the 36-year-old mother of his school friend”.
• 9 year old - The article “Top 10 Youngest Fathers in the World”[18] describes a NINE year old father and states, “It has been a common practice in China to have children ages 10 and above to be married despite of the overpopulation issue in the country”
• Kings would bring older brides to their sons to ensure a male heir as early as possible.

The article “Solomon’s Age”[19] indicates that Solomon also may have had a son when Solomon was only 11 years old.

SCRIPTURES CANNOT BE BROKEN

It would appear prudent to simply trust that the Scripture is accurate

·      Adam Clark states, “Ahaz might be only eleven or twelve years old when he had Hezekiah: this is not at all impossible; as we know that the youth of both sexes in the eastern countries are marriageable at ten or twelve years of age, and are frequently betrothed when they are but nine … I hold it therefore quite a possible case that Ahaz might have had a son born to him when he was but eleven or twelve years old.”[20]

• Barnes Commentary states, “This statement, combined with that of 2 Kings 16:2, would make it necessary that his father Ahaz should have married at the age of 10, and have had a child born to him when he was 11 years of age.”[21]

• The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary states, “He must have been born when his father Ahaz was no more than eleven years old. Paternity at an age so early is not unprecedented in the warm climates of the south, where the human frame is matured sooner than in our northern regions.”[22]
• The Keil and Delitzsch Commentary states, “Ahaz must have begotten him in the eleventh year of his age. It is true that in southern lands this is neither impossible nor unknown. In the East they marry girls of nine or ten years of age to boys of twelve or thirteen. Among the Indians husbands of ten years of age and wives of eight are mentioned. In Abyssinia boys of twelve and even ten years old marry … Bochart has also cited examples of one boy of ten years and another of nine.[23]

Many think it incredible that such a young man would become a father. Yet how much more incredible must it seem that a virgin would conceive: “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” (Isaiah 7:14 NLT)

以色列君王

耶羅波安 → 拿答 → 巴沙 → 以拉 → 心利 → 暗利 → 亞哈（王后耶洗別） → 亞哈謝 → 約蘭 → 耶戶 → 約哈斯 → 約阿施 → 耶羅波安 → 撒迦利雅 → 沙龍 → 米拿現 → 比加轄 → 比加 → 何細亞

巴沙 的父亲是亚希雅 (列王纪上15:33)。     以薩迦人亞希雅的兒子巴沙背叛拿答，在非利士的基比頓殺了他。

「有管理他一半戰車的臣子心利背叛他。當他在得撒家宰亞雜家裡喝醉的時候，心利就進去殺了他，篡了他的位。 」

「民在營中聽說心利背叛，又殺了王，故此以色列眾人當日在營中立元帥暗利作以色列王。」

「亞哈謝果然死了，正如耶和華藉以利亞所說的話。因他沒有兒子，他兄弟約蘭接續他作王。」  

耶户 的父亲是约沙法 (列王纪下9:2)。 「你(耶户)要擊殺你主人亞哈的全家，我好在耶洗別身上伸我僕人眾先知和耶和華一切僕人流血的冤。」

沙龍 的父親是雅比 (列王紀下15:13)。

米拿现的父亲是迦底 (列王纪下15:17)。

比加 的父亲是利玛利 (列王纪下15:27)。