Hostile critics turn molehills into mountains. They apply unequal weights and measures to the Old Testament and the synoptic Gospels and John. That’s unfair. The Gospel writers were conforming to Old Testament precedence. Here’s the evidence.
The four Gospel writers had no qualms about including or omitting details for their own purposes or due to the different sources of their narratives (e.g. the Gospel of Mark as a source for Matthew and Luke or various face-to-face interviews in Luke, or personal memories from Matthew and John, Yes, I take Matthew’s and John’s authorship seriously).
The following OT examples demonstrate the synoptic Gospel writers and John conformed to the precedence laid out in parallel OT texts. So these differences in both sets of Scriptures turn out to be no crisis at all, but expected. After all, they did not have the Gutenberg printing press, which was invented in the mid-1400s. Differences in the ancient texts are normal.
I now celebrate the differences and omissions and inclusions of data points in each parallel passage.
FYI to the newbies, the synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. “Synoptic” means “viewed together” or “viewed with each other.” (The prefix syn– in Greek usually means “with,” and “optic” means, well, “view” or yes, “optics!”)
This post is long because the word count is high since I quote huge passages in the OT. Be patient.
The New English Translation (NET) is used here. If you want to read the reasons for all their superscript footnotes, go to netbible.org. For many other translations. click on biblegateway.com.
I don’t know whether the goal of allaying the criticisms of hostile readers is even possible. But maybe we can explain things to curious or semi-friendly readers.
One final word. Tradition says Moses authored the bulk of the Torah, so I will stick with the tradition and not quarrel about it, just for convenience.
Let’s begin.
Five Tables
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The Ten Commandments |
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Exodus 20:1-12 God spoke all these words:[b] 2 “I,[c] the Lord, am your God,[d] who brought you[e] from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.[f] 3 “You shall have no[g] other gods before me.[h] 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image[i] or any likeness[j] of anything[k] that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.[l] 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,[m] for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous[n] God, responding to[o] the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations[p] of those who reject me,[q] 6 and showing covenant faithfulness[r] to a thousand generations[s] of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take[t] the name of the Lord your God in vain,[u] for the Lord will not hold guiltless[v] anyone who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember[w] the Sabbath[x] day to set it apart as holy.[y] 9 For six days[z] you may labor[aa] and do all your work,[ab] 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it[ac] you shall not do any work, you,[ad] or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.[ae] 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. 12 “Honor[af] your father and your mother, that you may live a long time[ag] in the land[ah] the Lord your God is giving to you. 13 “You shall not murder.[ai] 14 “You shall not commit adultery.[aj] 15 “You shall not steal.[ak] 16 “You shall not give[al] false testimony[am] against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet[an] your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”[ao] |
Deuteronomy 5:6-21 6 “I am the Lord your God—he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery. 7 “You must not have any other gods[d] besides me.[e] 8 “You must not make for yourself an image[f] of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath.[g] 9 You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish[h the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject[i] me,[j] 10 but I show covenant faithfulness[k] to the thousands[l] who choose[m] me and keep my commandments. 11 “You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes,[n] for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way.[o] 12 “Be careful to observe[p] the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath[q] of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the resident foreigner who lives with you,[r] so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power.[s] That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe[t] the Sabbath day. 16 “Honor[u] your father and your mother just as the Lord your God has commanded you to do, so that your days may be extended and that it may go well with you in the land that he[v] is about to give you. 17 “You must not murder.[w] 18 “You must not commit adultery. 19 “You must not steal. 20 “You must not offer false testimony against another. [x] 21 You must not desire[y] another man’s[z] wife, nor should you crave his[aa] house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.”[ab] |
Comments:
In addition to the verbal differences “You shall not” and “you must not” (in English) the second, later version trimmed out some details, notably the ones connected to the Sabbath.
These differences do not add up to a contradiction of the gist of the commandments. Just because Exodus inserts the fuller bit about God’s creation in six days and he rested on the seventh (see Gen. 1-2:1-3) and Deuteronomy omits these data points do not add up to a contradiction. A contradiction would say,
“Worship other gods” and
“Do not worship other gods.”
In no place in each commandment does a contradiction exist.
Clearly Moses had different purposes in mind because of the timeframe, Exodus: shortly after the creation account at the beginning of the wilderness wanderings; Deuteronomy: the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, and the creation was a distant memory for the newer generation.
In the Gospel of Matthew I have learned to call Matthew the Trimmer because he trims out the details which the other synoptic writers leave in. Neither sets of Scriptures, Old and New, contradict each other because inserted details in one text cannot contradict omitted details in another one. Included data points cannot contradict silence or an absence of data points.
Another example from the OT, the very important Passover ritual:
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Passover Accounts |
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Exodus 12:1-28 [a] The Lord said[b] to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,[c] 2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year.[d] 3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘On the tenth day of this month they each[e] must take a lamb[f] for themselves according to their families[g]—a lamb for each household.[h] 4 If any household is too small[i] for a lamb,[j] the man[k] and his next-door neighbor[l] are to take[m] a lamb according to the number of people—you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat.[n] 5 Your lamb must be[o] perfect,[p] a male, one year old;[q] you may take[r] it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You must care for it[s] until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community[t] of Israel will kill it around sundown.[u] 7 They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. 8 They will eat the meat the same night;[v] they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast[w] and with bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw[x] or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning. 11 This is how you are to eat it—dressed to travel,[y] your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.[z] 12 ‘I will pass through[aa] the land of Egypt in the same[ab] night, and I will attack[ac] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals,[ad] and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.[ae] I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see[af] the blood I will pass over you,[ag] and this plague[ah] will not fall on you to destroy you[ai] when I attack[aj] the land of Egypt.[ak] 14 ‘This day will become[al] a memorial[am] for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival[an] to the Lord—you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.[ao] 15 For seven days[ap] you must eat[aq] bread made without yeast.[ar] Surely[as] on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast[at] from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off[au] from Israel. 16 ‘On the first day there will be a holy convocation,[av] and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind[aw] on them, only what every person will eat—that alone may be prepared for you. 17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very[ax] day I brought your regiments[ay] out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance.[az] 18 In the first month,[ba] from the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 19 For seven days[bb] yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast—that person[bc] will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a resident foreigner[bd] or one born in the land. 20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’” 21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select[be] for yourselves a lamb or young goat[bf] for your families, and kill the Passover animals.[bg] 22 Take a branch of hyssop,[bh] dip it in the blood that is in the basin,[bi] and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out[bj] the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees[bk] the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer[bl] to enter your houses to strike you.[bm] 24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe[bn] this ceremony. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’[bo]— 27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice[bp] of the Lord’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck[bq] Egypt and delivered our households.’” The people bowed down low to the ground,[br] 28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.[bs] Leviticus 16:4-8 4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,[c] is a Passover offering to the Lord. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month[d] will be the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work.[e] 8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’” |
Numbers 9:1-14 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out[b] of the land of Egypt: 2 “The Israelites are to observe[c] the Passover[d] at its appointed time.[e] 3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight,[f] you are to observe it at its appointed time; you must keep[g] it in accordance with all its statutes and all its customs.”[h 4 So Moses instructed[i] the Israelites to observe[j] the Passover. 5 And they observed the Passover[k] on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the desert of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did. 6 It happened that some men[l] who were ceremonially defiled[m] by the dead body of a man[n] could not keep[o] the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to Moses,[p] “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 8 So Moses said to them, “Remain[q] here and I will hear[r] what the Lord will command concerning you.” 9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any[s] of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may[t] observe the Passover to the Lord. 11 They may observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month[u] at twilight; they are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover. 13 “‘But[v] the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails[w] to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people.[x] Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin.[y] 14 If a resident foreigner lives[z] among you and wants to keep[aa] the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have[ab] the same[ac] statute for the resident foreigner[ad] and for the one who was born in the land.’” Numbers 28:16-25 16 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s Passover. 17 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the festival. For seven days bread made without yeast must be eaten. 18 And on the first day there is to be a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work[t] on it. 19 “‘But you must offer to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs one year old; they must all be unblemished.[u] 20 And their grain offering is to be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil. For each bull you must offer three-tenths of an ephah, and two-tenths for the ram. 21 For each of the seven lambs you are to offer one-tenth of an ephah, 22 as well as one goat for a purification offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You must offer these in addition to the burnt offering in the morning that is for a continual burnt offering. 24 In this manner you must offer daily throughout the seven days the food of the sacrifice made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord. It is to be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. 25 On the seventh day you are to have a holy assembly, you must do no regular work. Deuteronomy 16:1-8 Observe the month Abib[a] and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month[b] he[c] brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal[d] (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he[e] chooses to locate his name. 3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as symbolic of affliction,[f] for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your lives the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land[g] for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning.[h] 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages[i] that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but you must sacrifice it[j] in the evening in[k] the place where he[l] chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt. 7 You must cook[m] and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents. 8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day.[n] |
Comments:
These differences are easily accounted for. They come at different times in the forty years of wandering, so their purposes are different. In Exodus, Moses is laying out the rules in the context of a narrative, just before the ancient Israelites set out from Egypt (see Num. 33:3). The purpose of judgment on the ancient Egyptians is clarified in greater details than in the later passages.
in Leviticus 16:4-8, the Passover is reduced to its simplest form. The book of Leviticus seems to me, as a non-specialist in the OT, to be a handbook for priests. They had to know and apply the basics and teach the people simply. The priests could add in the longer version in Exodus as they saw fit, in order to add to the earlier narrative in Exodus. That is, they could tell the people that the parallels are complementary.
In Numbers 9:6-12, the complication of men who were ceremonially unclean was added, and in 9:13-14 the issue about the people who were ceremonially clean but did not keep the Passover was explained. These later details after Exodus 12 prove the flexibility of the Torah. It was not fixed in details, It could be added to, as different scenarios came up. It was not the perfect and complete law in the earlier sections.
The Synoptic writers gave themselves permission to include or exclude details without qualms.
In Numbers 28:16-25, it is an abbreviated account that simplifies the long, initial institution of the Passover in Exodus 12. Trimming out the details helps people keep the ritual correctly because this boils things down to the Passover’s essence.
In Deuteronomy 16:1-8, which is much later in their wanderings, just on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, Moses inserted the details about God locating his name in certain places, where the Israelites may celebrate the Passover. Evidently, this anticipates the immobile temple or other locations that were sacred. The inserted detail about locations makes sense in Deuteronomy because they now saw how big the Promised Land was (see Num. 13) and were about to enter it in earnest.
The main point for the Gospels is to respect their differences, for they may have different purposes and angles by which to view the same story. Don’t apply unequal weights and measures. The gospel differences conform to OT precedence. Don’t put unrealistic demands on either set of Scriptures, Old and New.
Now let’s cover another extremely important ritual: the Day of Atonement.
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The Day of Atonement |
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Leviticus 16:2-10 […] 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the special curtain[b] in front of the atonement lid[c] that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement lid. Day of Atonement Offerings3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary—with a young bull[d] for a sin offering[e] and a ram for a burnt offering.[f] 4 He must put on a holy linen tunic,[g] linen leggings are to cover his body,[h] and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash[i] and wrap his head with a linen turban.[j] They are holy garments, so he must bathe[k] his body in water and put them on. 5 He must also take[l] two male goats[m] from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 7 Next he must take the two goats[n] and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats,[o] one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel.[p] 9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord,[q] and he is to make it a sin offering, 10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive[r] before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away into the desert to Azazel.[s] |
Leviticus 23:26-32 26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 27 “The[am] tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.[an] It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves[ao] and present a gift to the Lord. 28 You must not do any work on this particular day,[ap] because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves[aq] before the Lord your God. 29 Indeed,[ar] any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.[as] 30 As for any person[at] who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate[au] that person from the midst of his people[av]— 31 you must not do any work! This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations[aw] in all the places where you live. 32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.”[ax] Numbers 29:7-11 7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves;[a] you must not do any work on it. 8 But you must offer a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs one year old, all of them without blemish.[b] 9 Their grain offerings must be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 10 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, 11 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings. |
Comments:
Some details are similar, but Leviticus 23 is about an attitude of humility, while Leviticus 16 does not mention this. Leviticus 16 also lays down the rules for the scapegoat and other sacrifices–how and why to sacrifice animals for Moses himself and Aaron and the people, while Leviticus 23 omits these complicating aspects.
Numbers 29:7-11 adds a few details and also omits the ritual of scapegoat and the sacrifices for Moses and Aaron and the people. It does not mention humility, either. Does this mean they should be skipped? Does this mean the people can become arrogant on this day, according to Numbers? Of course not. Each passage clarifies the other two.
Another surprising element: Exodus and Deuteronomy do not include this essential ritual of atonement. The omission in Exodus is easy to explain. The tabernacle was just barely set up, in which to perform the sacrifices in the Most Holy Place. The tabernacle had to be dedicated first (Lev. 8-10; Num. 7). As for Deuteronomy, does the omission of the Day of Atonement mean that the Israelites who were about to enter the Promised Land can skip the day, once they got there? No.
Each passage reveals the differences that complement each other. There is no reason to become hostile critics of these complementary differences. Personally I celebrate them.
John includes miracles and teachings that the synoptic Gospels omit: 3 Gospels against 1. Some synoptic Gospel include a teaching or miracle that the other ones omit. Does this mean the miracles and teachings in John’s Gospel and in the other synoptic Gospels did not happen? No, of course not. The synoptic Gospels conform to the same purpose of complementarity, and John’s Gospel has its own sources and purposes. Each version adds something beneficial or omits other details to suit the writer’s own purposes.
Remember the rules:
(1) Differences ≠ Contradictions
How can included details contradict omitted details?
(2) The other rule:
The synoptic Gospel writers and John conformed to Old Testament precedence.
They had no worries about omitting or including details, for they understood that their narratives and teachings were clear from each point of view. They were authoritative for the original community or communities and later for all peoples everywhere.
There is no need to become hostile critics of the four Gospels and apply different weights and measures than those in the Old Testament. But hostile readers won’t be convinced, so I appeal instead to curious or semi-friendly readers.
Transition.
It could be objected that the three tables are about the law, while the synoptic Gospels are narratives. In reply, the laws in the Torah are found in the larger storyline of the wandering in the wilderness. Likewise, the Gospels also have basic rules in them, like the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain (level place). But each Gospel incorporated story and teaching elements as each author saw fit, in the larger narrative.
In any case here is a narrative in the OT.
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The Death of Saul |
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1 Samuel 31:1-13 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels[a] of Saul and his sons. They[b] struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 Saul himself was in the thick of the battle;[c] the archers[d] spotted him and wounded him severely. 4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me.” But his armor-bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that day. 7 When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them. 8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead[e] on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul’s[f] head and stripped him of his armor. They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines. 10 They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths[g] and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan. 11 When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul’s corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went[h] to Jabesh, where they burned them. 13 They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days. |
1 Chronicles 10:1-14 Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The Israelites fled before the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels of[a] Saul and his sons. They[b] struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 The battle was thick[c] around Saul; the archers spotted him and wounded him.[d] 4 Saul told his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me.”[e] But his armor-bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household[f] died together. 7 When all the Israelites who were in the valley saw that the army[g] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them. 8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped his corpse, and then carried off his head and his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the news to their idols and their people. 10 They placed his armor in the temple of their gods[h] and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. 11 When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons[i] and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains[j] under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days. 13 So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.[k] 14 He did not seek the Lord’s guidance, so the Lord[l] killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse. |
Comments:
This one example of differences in two parallel accounts could be multiplied many times in the OT history books.
The first and main difference is the ending. The author of 1 Chronicles inserts the degradation and disobedience of Saul. The reason is the different time frames. First Samuel was written much earlier than the Chronicles. so the chronicler needs to spell out to his exiled readers the consequences of Saul’s disobedience. Hint: this is why Jerusalem was conquered: disobedience.
Next, I in no way wish to equate the death / suicide of Saul with the unjust yet redemptive death of Jesus. My only point here is that the four Gospels have different perspectives and include and exclude certain data points on the very important, global-changing event, like the Passover lambs being slaughtered while Jesus was on the cross (John), and the different sayings on the cross in each gospel. Another example: only Matthew has the account about the guards being bribed to say the body was stolen (Matthew 28:11–15). Luke is the only Gospel to include Jesus’s examination before Herod Antipas during Pilate’s prolonged examination of Jesus (23:7–15). The list of differences could go on.
Conclusion
I can’t say I convinced any hostile reader, but maybe other readers can now see the biblical texts in their historical contexts. We should expect to see differences in the parallel accounts. I see no reason to turn little molehills into mountains, as hostile critics are eager to do.
In any case, the above five tables demonstrate that the synoptic Gospel writers and John conformed to OT precedence. The ancient OT writers were free to include or omit data in their stories and laws. Likewise the Gospel writers felt the same freedom, but on a smaller scale. We understand their Gospels and one unified story from the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, through his ministry and up to his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Matthew and Luke include the birth and infancy narratives, which also differ in some details.
Common Details in Matthew’s and Luke’s Birth Narratives
Some writers omit even the ascension (John), while others include it (Luke). But the important point was his resurrection.
For the Christian, your faith should not be so brittle that it snaps in two when differences emerge. Personally, I celebrate them. They have the feel of authenticity. I’m glad the Gutenberg printing press was invented only in the mid-1400s, long after the OT and NT documents were written. Now we can read the oral traditions behind the four Gospels. They live and breathe and pulsate with the truth of the main storyline.
Our rule (again):
Differences ≠ contradictions.
How can omitted data contradict included data? Silence cannot contradict speech.
Another rule:
Differences = fuller perspectives
Final rule:
Celebrate them.
Recommendations
Begin a series on the reliability of the Gospels. Start with the Conclusion which has quick summary of each part and links back to them:
15. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Conclusion
See this part in the series that puts differences in perspective:
13. Are There Contradictions in the Gospels?
The Gospels have a massive number of agreements in their storylines:
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
Celebrate the similarities too.
But the bigger picture for the Christian is, as noted, to not allow your faith to become so brittle that it snaps in two because of these differences. It’s time to stop demanding no discrepancies in parallel accounts, or else you will leave the Christian faith. Let’s be calmer and more realistic about such minor things and not turn molehills into mountains, whether in the OT or NT.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 