Page 26 - Foundations

I Kings 7:26
And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with
flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
KJV

II Chronicles 4:5
And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup,
with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.
KJV

Similarly, we see a discrepancy in the number of days that passed from the time Christ was said to
have taken Peter, James, and John up to the mount of transfiguration.

Mark 9:1-2
And He was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who
shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." And six days
later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by
themselves.
NAS

Luke 9:27-28
"But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they
see the kingdom of God." And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He took along
Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray.
NAS

These types of errors are not uncommon in the Bible. What are we to attribute them to? Did the Holy
Spirit inspire the original writers of these books to present contradictory information? Have these
writings been altered over the millennia as scribes copied and re-copied the Scriptures? Are there
errors in translation that can account for these differences? Certainly the role man has played in
copying and translating the Scriptures has led to the introduction of a great many errors. In the case
of the above two examples, it would be very easy for a scribe, or a translator, to change one number
to another by accident.

There is another type of Bible error of which those who seek truth must be aware. It is an error of
understanding. When the Bible is translated from one language to another those laboring to produce
a copy of the Scriptures must not only have an understanding of the original languages of the Bible,
and the language to which it is being translated, they must also understand the truths contained in
the Bible. It is common for a single Hebrew or Greek word to bear a diversity of meanings. If a
translator does not have an accurate understanding of what is being declared in a Bible passage,
he/she will find it difficult to identify correctly which meaning a Hebrew or Greek word was
intended to convey. This is a very problematic issue. A man could be the foremost Hebrew or Greek
scholar of his day and, not understanding the truths of the Bible, he would frequently err in bringing
forth a translation.