Biblical curiosities

 

This is a list of Bible passages that are interesting for reasons that do not bear on religion or theology. All quotations from the Authorized Version (King James Version) of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Old Testament

Leviticus 16:8

...place lots upon the 2 goats, one marked for the Lord and the other marked for Azazel

This verse is the origin of the phrase scapegoat. Azazel's identity is a curiosity in itself.

2 Samuel 8:1

After this David attacked the Philistines and conquered them, wresting the [methegammah] from the Philistines

Part of the problem with translating ancient texts is the presence of idioms that were understood at the time but are not now. Consequently some translations just guess a suitable phrase. In the example above, the Hebrew word methegammah literally translates as bridle of the cubit, the alternative translations being bridle of Ammah, and Metheg and her mother. Most English versions, however, render methegammah as chief cities.

2 Samuel 23:24

Asahel, brother of Joab. Among the Thirty were: Elhanan, son of Dodo, from Bethlehem

The previous verse is unconnected to this one, leading to suspicions that there is a chunk of text missing between the words Joab and Among.

2 Samuel 23:24-39

Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,/ Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,/ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,/ Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,/ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,/ Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,/ Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,/ Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,/ Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,/ Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,/ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,/ Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,/ Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,/ Zelek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah,/ Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,/ Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.

The apparent discrepancy between the phrase "the thirty," the list of thirty names (Asahel, Elhanan, Shammah, Elika, Helez, Ira, Abiezer, Mebunnai, Zalmon, Maharai, Heleb, Ittai, Benaiah, Hiddai, Abialbon, Azmaveth, Eliahba, Shammah, Ahiam, Eliphelet, Eliam, Hezrai, Paarai, Igal, Bani, Zelek, Nahari, Ira, Gareb, and Uriah), and the concluding phrase "thirty and seven in all" is puzzling.

1 Kings 7:23

And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

This is the famous passage that implies that pi = 3, if taken literally, and if round is taken to mean circular, and if the measurements are taken to be precise, and if the diameter was measured across the outside of the brim.^[1].

1 Kings 13:27

And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

The King James translators highlighted words added by the translators which did not correspond literally to any specific words in the original texts. Occasionally this produced an unintentionally comic effect, as with the word him in this example.

2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37: these entire chapters are almost but not quite word-for-word identical.

1 Chronicles 1:25

Eber, Peleg, Reu,

Shortest verse in the Old Testament. (The numbering of verses is a Medieval innovation, and thus there is nothing intrinsically notable about these three words.)

Isaiah 34:14

The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; Lilith / the Screech Owl] also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest

This verse is notable both for its mention of creatures of Greek mythology - the satyr, but also of Jewish mysticism - Lilith (which the King James Version translates as Screech Owl).

Ezekiel 23:20

For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses

This reference to penis size, and semen, is perhaps one of the crudest parts of the entire bible.

Job 3:2

And Job spake, and said,

In the NIV, this is translated as He said:, thus making it the shortest verse in the NIV Bible.

Job 9:9

Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

Job 38:31-32

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

Only places in the Bible where a star (Arcturus), constellation (Orion), or asterism (the Pleiades) are mentioned by name.

Job 39:9

Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?...

A mistranslation of the Hebrew word ראמ "wild ox".

Psalm 46:3

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Psalm 46:9

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

As sometimes presented: the forty-sixth word in the psalm is "shake" (in verse 3 above). If we decide, for some reason, not to count the "selah" at the end, the forty-sixth word from the end (in verse 9 above) is "spear." William Shakespeare was baptized in 1564, and could arguably have been 46 years old when the King James version was published in 1611, or when the translation was completed. Therefore: William Shakespeare was secretly one of the King James translators.

Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem in the Hebrew alphabet; each section begins with a new letter.

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Correct wording of the verse very frequently misquoted as "Pride goeth before a fall."

Potential Answers

2 Samuel 23:24-39

At first glance there would seem to be 31 people listed from 2 Sam. 23:24-39. However, two are previously said to be above the 30 lesser referred to in v. 23, and are already named earlier in the chapter. Their names are Shammah son of Agee the Hararite (v. 11, 25) and Benaiah the Pirathonite (v. 20, 30). Note that even though Benaiah is listed among the 31, in verse 23 he is specifically said to be "more honourable then the thirty", clearly showing he was not a part of the 30.

Closer inspection also shows v. 34 has an extra member, called only "the son of the Maachathite". Note that this is the one part of the list where a member is left unnamed, and a family/city reference is given without a first name surrounding it. This unnamed man may be "Hepher the Mecherathite" of 1 Chr. 11:34.

The army's structure includes 30 lower-ranked captains (2 Sam. 13,23), of whom 3 by a valiant deed became elevated above the 30 (1 Chr. 11:15-21, 2 Sam. 23:13-19). These 3 were Abishai and apparently his brother Joab, as well as Benaiah [prev. mentioned]. Joab, while not explicitly said to be the 3rd person doing the deed, is said in 1 Chr. 11:6 to have been set apparently as 2nd in command to David. Since it should then be assumed he'd be one of the 37 in 2 Sam. ch. 23, it is logical to believe he was the unnamed 3rd mentioned and apparently not intended to be listed merely as a relative in 2 Sam. 23:18. Due to Joab's incredible fame (125 verses in the Bible reference him, if that's any indication) the human writer may have thought it went without saying, so to speak, that Joab was responsible for such exploits.

Then above all 33 are said to be 3 "mighties" [1 Chr. 11:12] as listed in 2 Sam. 23:8-11 and 1 Chr. 11:10-14. They were Adino the Eznite the Tachmonite (apparently Jashobeam the Hachmonite of 1 Chr. 11:11), Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, and Shammah the Son of Agee the Hararite [prev. mentioned]. Thus, all warriors listed so far from 2 Sam. 23 total 36. 3 "mighties" [verses 10-14], 3 slightly lesser mighty men [verses 15-25](save Joab, who might be said to skip a rank due to another deed he did), and 30 captains to rule the entire army [verses 26-39].

The final piece in the puzzle is that David who of course is listed all throughout the chapter, especially the beginning, could well be counted the 37th. Verse 39 concludes only "thirty and seven in all" without saying something such as "mighty men of David" and thus excluding him from the count. Thus, there are indeed 37 all in all as v. 39 says, 30 captains as v. 23 says, and as a comparison of verses 19 and 23 shows, there are then 2 more groups of 3 mighty warriors each. David (or perhaps Joab, if Joab was not the 3rd warrior in the 2nd rank of 3, and someone else yet unknown was) are apparently the only 2 choices available to be the 37th man.

1 Kings 7:23

This link to Creation On The Web provides some feasible explanations for the seeming mathematical inaccuracy of the Bible. Basically they point out cubits were measured through forearm lengths and when you are using body parts for measuring, you are going to do some rounding, as it's hard to be exact unless you want to end the measurements with your toenails. They also point out other verses about the structure's makeup, which could affect the distance when taken directly across the object's surface.

New Testament

John 11:35

Jesus wept.

Shortest verse in the New Testament and shortest verse in the KJV Bible. (The numbering of verses is a Medieval innovation, and thus there is nothing intrinsically notable about these two words; however, see Dominus Flevit Church.) In the NIV translation, the shortest verse is actually Job 3:2, see above.

Titus 1:12,13a

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true.

This is an allusion to a verse attributed to the Cretan philosopher Epimenides. It has later been summarized as the Epimenides paradox: The Cretans are always liars. Logicians of the 19th century started to consider the truth or falseness in a liar talking about his truthfulness. It seems that neither Epimenides nor the author of the letter (presented as Paul of Tarsus) intended to issue a paradox.

See also

• Chapters and verses of the Bible

References

1. ^ For a discussion of this point, see Pi: What if the best isn't good enough?. Abarim Publications' Bible Commentary. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.

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