The Bible Exposed

Section: Critical Commentary

  • Sabbath: Exodus 31:17

    Exodus 31:17 says that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. The note observes that this language gives God a need for rest, and sets it against Isaiah 40:28, which says the everlasting God does not faint or grow weary. The question is how literally the language of Exodus is to be taken.

    It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

    Exodus 31:17

    Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

    Isaiah 40:28

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 36, p. 29).

  • Sarah: Genesis 21:1-2

    The argument raises an objection to the language of the Bible about conception. Genesis 21:1-2 says the LORD visited Sarah as he had promised and she conceived Isaac, and Luke 1:35 tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High overshadow her. It claims that this way of speaking brings God into the act of conception in terms that suggest a physical role, which it considers unfitting. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

    Genesis 21:1-2

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 37, p. 30).

  • Slavery: Leviticus 25:46

    Leviticus 25:46 allows the Israelites to take slaves from the surrounding nations, to leave them to their sons as property, and to hold them as slaves for ever, while forbidding Israelites to rule over one another ruthlessly. The argument says this means slavery is something the Bible sanctions as God’s own law, passed down in families and lasting for life.

    You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

    Leviticus 25:46

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 38, p. 30).

  • Sodomy: Romans 1:25-27

    Romans 1:24-27 connects idolatry with what follows: because people exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped created things, God gave them up to dishonourable passions, and women and men exchanged natural relations for those that are not. The argument draws attention to the fact that the New Testament explains same-sex desire as a consequence of idolatry, and presents it as a divine judgement. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 39, p. 30).

  • Sons of God: Luke 3:38

    The title Son of God is applied to many in the Bible, and the argument uses this to say it cannot prove that Jesus is God. Luke 3:38 calls Adam the son of God; Genesis 6:2 speaks of the sons of God who took wives from the daughters of men; Exodus 4:22 calls Israel God’s firstborn son; Jeremiah 31:9 says Ephraim is his firstborn; Psalm 2:7 has God say to the king, “today I have begotten you”; and Romans 8:14 calls all who are led by the Spirit of God sons of God.

    Two further questions are put: how can both Israel and Ephraim be firstborn, and how could God beget David on a particular day when David was a grown man? (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

    Genesis 6:2

    Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,

    Exodus 4:22

    I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

    Psalms 2:7

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 40, p. 31).

  • Swine: Leviticus 11:8

    Leviticus 11:8 forbids eating pork or touching the carcasses of pigs, which are unclean. In Mark 5:13 Jesus allows the unclean spirits to enter a herd of about two thousand pigs, which then rush down a slope and drown in the sea. The argument asks what the herd’s owners lost, and why a herd should be destroyed to heal one man. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

    Leviticus 11:8

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 41, p. 32).

  • Women: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

    1 Corinthians 14:34-35 says that women should keep silent in the churches and, if they wish to learn, ask their husbands at home, because it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. The note sets this beside 1 Corinthians 11:5, which speaks of women praying and prophesying in the assembly, and asks how the two instructions are meant to fit together. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 43, p. 32).

  • Worship: Mark 5:6

    In Mark 5:6 the man with an unclean spirit sees Jesus from far off, runs and worships him. Luke 8:28 describes the same event by saying he fell down before him. The argument concludes that the word translated worship can mean showing respect or reverence to someone, and does not by itself prove that Jesus was being treated as God. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 44, p. 32).

  • Polygamy: 1 Kings 11:3

    1 Kings 11:3 says Solomon had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. Abraham, Jacob and David also had more than one wife. The note observes that the Bible narrates plural marriage as an ordinary feature of the patriarchs’ households, and the only criticism recorded of Solomon concerns the effect of his wives on his loyalty to God, not the number of them.

    He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

    1 Kings 11:3

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 32, p. 27).

  • Prophecies: Genesis 2:17

    In Genesis 2:17 God warns Adam that on the day he eats of the tree he shall surely die. Yet Genesis 5:5 says Adam lived 930 years. In Genesis 3:4 the serpent tells Eve that she will not surely die. The argument says that on a plain reading the threat was not carried out when stated and the serpent’s word was nearer the facts, unless “in the day” is stretched to mean centuries later.

    but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

    Genesis 2:17

    Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

    Genesis 5:5

    But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

    Genesis 3:4

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 33, p. 27).