Thursday, March 30, 2017

Jeremiah or Zechariah? Shedding Light On Apparent Bible Contradictions.

Did you know that there is an apparent contradiction in Matthew 27:9? In the English and some Greek translations, dated approximately, within the 4th century AD, Matthew appears to quote Jeremiah saying,

“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value.”
However, when avid Bible readers start searching out the references, they find that Jeremiah didn’t say anything like that. Further investigation would reveal that Zechariah actually said it, in Zechariah 11:12. This little tidbit leaves Atheist and other servants of Satan to foam at the mouth saying, “See, the Bible isn’t inerrant.” and “As a matter of fact, the Bible has many errors, in it. Therefore, it cannot be the Word of God.” Well, they would have a point, if the English translation was, in fact, the true Word of God.

Unfortunately, the English translators refused to search for the earliest transcripts and reconcile their beliefs to the true Word of God. Instead, they manipulated the English bible to match their own cultural and personal beliefs.
Anyway, what is the truth? The truth is that the earliest Greek and Aramaic transcripts didn’t mention a name, at all. The earliest version of the Bible says,

“Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet who said, “I took thirty silver coins, the price of The Precious One on which they of the children of Israel had agreed.”
Most likely, the name of Jeremiah was added by some well meaning scribe, in order to help readers, but instead, resulted in another roadblock for some Christians, to have to fend against.

And that's what you're find When You Search For The Truth.


23 comments:

  1. How wonderful Keith!
    I looked up the two verses you referred to in your post and was amazed at the error.
    I have to agree with what you say:-

    'Most likely, the name of Jeremiah was added by some well meaning scribe, in order to help readers, but instead, resulted in another roadblock for some Christians, to have to fend against.
    And that's what you're find When You Search For The Truth.'

    God is using you to reveal errors.
    God bless you.

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  2. Thanks Brenda! Like you have said before, "Praise God! How he uses each and everyone of us, to edify one another."

    God Bless You Too, My Friend and Sister In The Messiah!

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  3. Hi Keith! If you look closely at anything that is done by humans, you are most likely to find mistakes. I was not aware of this passage problem before, and I appreciate your explanation of it.
    It's so easy to jump in and criticize, isn't it? So much better to do the whole research, as you have done for us here. The real truth is found!
    Blessings,
    Ceil

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  4. Hi Ceil, I agree. I recently started this series due to the many increasing number of Atheist and Unbelievers taunting these same things, attempting to lead others away from the faith.

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  5. Thanks for clarifying this! We have a nephew who is not a Christian because he says the Word has contradictions in it. I appreciate your research.
    (I found you on Ceil's blog, and so glad I did!)
    --Jen

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  6. Hi Jen, You are welcome, and thanks for checking out the site. Unfortunately, Satan is alive and well and constantly bombarding our children with his lies. We need to look out for and edify one another.

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  7. Hi Keith, Zechariah 11:12, "I said to them, If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind! So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages"

    Matthew 27:9, "Then that which was spoke through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel."


    Look my friend, you don't need to compare the Bible with pagan books.
    The Bible is the Word of God and NO OTHER books or texts.

    This is what happens when you search in non-biblical books.

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  8. I'm sorry, Paul, but I don't really get your point. Your quote of Mt 27:9 shows that Matthew is telling us that Jeremiah spoke it. Your Zechariah quote tells us that is was Zechariah. The earliest manuscripts show that Jeremiah wasn't even mentioned. Again, I'm confused as to what is the point of your comment.

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  9. I don't know if I am seeing this right Paul, correct me if I am wrong on this issue, but you appear to be calling some of the books in the Old Testament 'pagan, non Biblical books.
    Is that correct?

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  10. Good Catch, Brenda! I didn't notice that. Good Question!

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  11. Wow! I don't know how many times, I have read that verse. I even looked at the references and never noticed the discrepancy before. This is good! Thanks!

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  12. Hey Hiker Boy. I agree. Me too. For years, I read the scriptures, in light of what I've been taught, not what was really there. I'm a firm believer that Satan has done had a very successful run, at the Body. However, I consider them body punches, because the Remnant, the Heart and Soul of the Body, is alive and well.

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  13. Well Keith, I believe the Word of God who said "Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:............. ."

    Remember, the Lord Jesus did not quoted Zechariah and neither did He quoted Jeremiah.
    The Lord made a statement that Jeremiah had spoken about Him etc. and that it was fulfilled.
    There is no discrepancy in the Bible.

    And neither are there photographs of Jeremiah and Zechariah in the Bible :-)

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  14. Once again, Paul, the scriptures doesn't say it, only your erroneous English translation of the BIble says that.

    By the way, do you have an answer to my question yet?

    What does the preface of your bible say about why the translators of your bible used the capitalized "LORD"?

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  15. Keith, all Bible believers call the Bible the inerrant Word of God, which means that the Bible has NO error.
    Concerning the word "LORD", I left you a comment on my blog.
    It seems to me that our debates are similar on all of our blogs :-)

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  16. Of course, they do, until they know the truth, that the real scriptures, not an erroneous translation, are the inerrant Word of God. I'll tell you what, you pray for me and I'll pray for you.

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  17. Keith,
    as I awoke this morning something came straight into my mind. It was what I had seen when I clicked on Hiker Boy, who left a comment on your blog. If you click on it you will see the picture come up larger. It is a sign that says 'Beware of rattle snakes'. I believe it is a sign to accompany what the Holy Spirit has been emphasizing during this whole discussion - 'Beware of the serpent, the spirit that says 'Did God really say?'.
    Hiker Boy was meant to come over to your blog and bring that message into the discussion.
    God bless.

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  18. Hi Brenda, I didn't notice that. Great point! God moves in mysterious ways. Isn't it amazing how God uses the smallest of things to remind us of his presence. Most people chalk it up to coincidence, but I'm a firm believer that he always there guiding us. May God Continue To Bless You and Your Family An Keep Giving You Insights Like That!

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  19. Hi Keith,
    just answered your comment on my blog with the following:- I think I get lazy in writing sometimes:-)

    Hi Keith,
    My friend and I have many things like this happen, signs to accompany God's Word, as I am sure you and many other brothers and sisters in the Lord do. I believe that sign, accompanying what we are discussing, is an encouragement to all of us (including Paul) not to question God's Word. If we try to change one thing we begin to change all else to fit together with that change.
    I know that the Lord sent you to share the original translations as I have over the years seen English versions of the scriptures change in what appear to be small ways - yet have altered the meaning quite substantially.
    I have often looked up original translations on line, well aware that the English language did not even exist until about 500 AD.

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  20. Hi Keith, you don't need prayers my friend, you need repentance.
    Turn away from your other god or gods and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Concerning original Scriptures;
    There are NO original Scriptures. All Scriptures are COPIES of COPIES.

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  21. Hi everybody! Good discussion going on here and love how your pointing out a lot of supposed contridictons.
    I was kind of wondering as of reading the comments what pagan sources Paul is believing Keith is using?

    Jeanette, sorry to hear about your nephew that is held up on contradictions. I was close to a guy at work that had the same problems, me and a brother I worked with committed to one another to pray for more opportunities to speak with him on these things, we also made our minds up that e would be saved. It was a great experience to see him come to tears confessing his life to Yashua!

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  22. Keith,

    I am not disagreeing with you but there also may be another reason why this happened. We do not have all the books written in our possession. As an example we know there were at least 4 letters written to the Corinthians. And we didn't have the Dead Sea scrolls for a long time. Perhaps we do not have the piece of scripture Matthew was referring to. Just a thought.

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  23. Hey Tim, I don't take it as disagreement. Two points I wanted to make in this post were Jews typically didn't mention the prophet that they were quoting because everyone knew the Torah. They didn't have to. Look at all the other times Matthew, Mark, Peter, Paul, etc. quoted the prophets. They didn't name them. The other point is that translators can't help to put in their bias. That is why we need to get back to the original language and allow the Spirit of God to guide us into all truth. I know that you will agree that God is not a God of confusion but continuity. Therefore, we need to distance ourselves from bad translations and traditional erroneous and sometimes paganistic teachings of the church. Unfortunately, most Christians will not challenge their "Sunday Teachers", because they would be ostracized socially.

    As for the other extraneous books, I have always been an advocate for these writings, especially the ones quoted by the biblical writers themselves. As a matter of fact, in a recent post I showed that the apocryphal books were part of the King James for years, before being removed, in an effort to separate or distance Evangelicals from Catholicism.

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