Has The Bible Been Tampered With?

Biblegems #295

Question: Jeremiah 8:8 says that the scribes who copied God’s Word sometimes falsified it. If this is true, how can the Bible be trusted at all if it can’t be trusted in part?

Here’s the text:

         Jer. 8:8  How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?

To understand this verse, two questions need to be addressed: (1) Who were these “scribes;” and (2) what is meant by the phrase, “the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely”?

The Scribes

The scribes of the Bible were typically chosen from the tribe of Levi.

         2Chr. 34:12b-13  …The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments—had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and gatekeepers.

Their task was to study, teach, and explain the meaning and application of “the Law of the Lord” —meaning the first five books of the Bible, plus all of the commands, teachings, rules and regulations found elsewhere in God’s Word. They were Bible scholars, the Bible experts who advised how to apply God’s “law” to everyday life. Ezra is a classic example of a good and godly scribe.

Another responsibility of the scribe was to provide accurate copies of God’s Word. In that capacity, they were the equivalent of today’s copy machines. They worked in teams, copying biblical text onto a new surface, such as vellum or papyri, checking and correcting each other’s work. This highly respected and trusted role in the community continued on into New Testament times and beyond.

The “Lying Pen”

God accused certain specific scribes of misinterpreting the law of the Lord in such a way that would make some unacceptable, sinful behaviors appear to be acceptable to God. God did not condemn the scribes as a whole, but specifically those who abused their responsibilities.

Were these irresponsible scribes actually changing the text of Scripture as they copied the old to new? Not likely. For one thing, others carefully edited each scribe’s work in order to ensure against copying errors—intentional or otherwise. Several sets of eyes helped to insure the incredible accuracy of the Scriptures.

“The lying pen” refers to the written interpretations of the Scriptures the scribes compiled to suit their own opinions. In the Gospel of Matthew (20:41-44), for example, Jesus challenges the teaching of the scribes on Psalm 101:1 as a misinterpretation. He then warns His disciples:

         Matt. 20:45-47a  “Beware of the teachers of the law [i.e., “scribes”]. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.”

If anything, Jeremiah 8:8 proves how trustworthy the Bible is, for God does not ignore those who seek to abuse it, change it, or misrepresent it. As Jesus concluded in Matthew 20:47b, “These men will be punished most severely.”

Duplicated Bible Chapters—follow-up

Biblegems #172

Question: A Bible Gems reader asked this question from Bible Gems #105, Duplicated Bible Chapters:  “There are duplications where the authors were more than a hundred years apart. Since they couldn't be eye witnesses what does it mean??”

The original question had to do specifically with the duplication of entire chapters of Scripture, so I am assuming the follow-up question still has duplicated Bible chapters in view. Here are some examples of duplicated Bible chapters, or large chapter portions:

         Psalms 14 & Psalm 53

         2 Kings 19 & Isaiah 37

         2 Kings 18:13-20:11 & Isaiah 36:1-38:8

2 Kings 24:18-25:30 & Jeremiah 52

Psalm 40:13-17 & Psalm 70

Psalm 57:7-11 & Psalm 60:5-12 & Psalm 108

As was mentioned in Duplicated Bible Chapters, part 1, Kings and Chronicles contain material common to both books. These, along with 1 & 2 Samuel, are books that cover hundreds of years of Israelite history. And even though 1 & 2 Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew Bible, as were the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles, they were not each written by one human author. Rather, they contain the records of kings, scribes, prophets and court officials.

These records were then compiled by men led by the Holy Spirit to show the spiritual meaning behind historical events.

         2Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

The books of Samuel reveal what happens when God’s people trust their own judgment instead of God’s in the choice of a leader. Kings and Chronicles, each through a unique perspective, show how God blesses godly and obedient nations and their leaders, punishing the disobedient, as He exercises ultimate control over the flow of history to His predetermined conclusion.

It should be no surprise that the human authors of these books would draw on some of the same reliable historical records, even duplicating them, especially when reporting events taking place long past. Such duplication demonstrates that the author is not making things up as he goes along.

A good example of this is where the prophet Jeremiah describes how the reign of king Zedekiah was the primary cause behind the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 587-586 B.C. (Jeremiah 52). In fact, Jeremiah himself had even described this once before (Jeremiah 39:1-14), like a preacher re-using information from a previous sermon. This same material is found twice more in the Bible (2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21).

The book of Kings was completed very near the same time as Jeremiah. Chronicles, however, was completed much later, perhaps around 400 B.C.—almost two hundred years later. The author of Chronicles (Ezra?) was not an eyewitness of the events leading to Jerusalem’s destruction. But he did have the reliable accounts of Jeremiah (an eyewitness) and the complimentary record in the book of Kings to draw upon as his sources. This shows how committed he was to giving an accurate account.

You can trust the Bible to be historically accurate. God is not afraid of being proved wrong. God’s revelation to humanity through the inspired Word is based in the real world of historically and scientifically verifiable events.

         Ps. 119:89  Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

Duplicated Bible Chapters

Biblegems # 105

Question: Many chapters in OT books are duplicated, or nearly duplicated, in other OT books. I heard that repetition is caused by one passage being a history while the other is poetic. How can I best understand this repetition, and thus understand the Bible better?

Actually, this duplication of material between books of the Bible extends to the New Testament as well, notably the Gospels. One of the benefits of this is that multiple witnesses add to the strength of any testimony. So when an event recorded in the Scriptures is repeated elsewhere in Scripture, the duplication actually adds weight to the claim that the event is historically accurate. But—let’s look at some examples in both the Old and New testaments.

The books of 1 & 2 Chronicles, perhaps composed by Ezra around 400 B.C., contain a record of God’s dealings with the Hebrew people from Adam to the captivity—and release—of the Jews under Cyrus—a period paralleling biblical history from Genesis to Ezra and Nehemiah. Some of the historical content in Chronicles was intended to fill in some gaps in other “official records” of the kings of Israel:

         1 Chr. 27:24 Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. Wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book of the annals of King David.

For the most part, however, the purpose of Chronicles is not to give a chronological timeline of events, but to demonstrate through examples in history of how God blesses obedience and disciplines disobedience in His people.

The books of 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings on the other hand, many portions of which show up in the Chronicles, are intended to demonstrate God’s control, His absolute sovereignty, over the people of Israel in the fulfillment of His plan of salvation. So, king Josiah is commended in 2 Kings for eradicating idolatry from Israel:

         2 Kings 22:2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

         Josiah’s actions are also recorded in 2 Chronicles 34-35. The difference is not so much in the details but in the purposes of the two accounts. The books of Kings highlight God’s sovereignty; Chronicles highlights God’s guidance through blessing and discipline. The result is like looking at the same event through binoculars.

The same principle is at work in the Gospels. Four Gospels represent four perspectives on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy; Luke emphasizes the Holy Spirit and healing; Mark highlights Jesus’ sinless humanity; John exalts Jesus’ divine nature in human flesh.

We are fortunate indeed to have such a full account of biblical history, for—unlike human history recounted by a meaningless maze of dates and events—this is HIS-story:

         Heb. 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.