We move from evangelical overreach by the political "right" to evangelical underreach by the "theologically right." One of our Shepherd School students who is also an international student studying at a university in Kansas City asked me a question recently.“I cannot find a good explanation about 2 Samuel 24:13 and 1 Chronicles 21:12. First one says seven years of famine, and second one says three years.”
He goes on to say, “I’m reading Basic Theology by Charles C. Ryrie. He believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, but I don’t think he has the same opinion about manuscripts and translations of the Bible as we believe. His book says ‘The Septuagint translation says three years in both places, so likely the figure in 2 Samuel is a scribal error. (It has been changed to say three years in some versions, including the NIV.) Though copies were very carefully made, errors inevitably crept in. This seems to be one, but it is not an error in the original—that was inerrant when it was written, but inerrancy cannot be extended to the copies.’
Really? So the same Spirit that gave us the originals through inspiration cannot be relied upon to preserve an inspired text of what he gave? How wonderfully existential. Now Charles, since I know you eschew crystal balls and that sort of thing, how do you KNOW the original did not say it just like we see it today? Just because you think it is a contradiction and an error? Did it never occur to you that it might be correct but that you just haven't figured out how to reconcile the two statements?
This created a dilemma for our intrepid student, who then asks, “I would like to know how I should understand this. Charles Ryrie tries to explain this is not a contradiction of the Bible, however, I believe God can preserve His word accurately. I cannot agree with his interpretation about this. The KJV says seven years and three years in these verses.”
Well, I hate to contradict C.C. Ryrie, because his body is 90% brain, but it is better to contradict him than contradict the Holy Ghost, AND I think there is a much better answer than the one he gives. He relies on the solution proposed by the ancient Septuagint (the Greek translation of these Old Testament Hebrew verses, which dates to the fourth century or earlier) and accepted by the NIV. That solution is to simply change one place to match the other and say the scribes copied it wrong.
There are a couple of “just so-so, okay” answers that would keep you from getting into the dilemma that Ryrie and the NIV do. Ryrie says he believes in inerrancy but admits he does not have an inerrant Bible; ...and he refers directly to the NIV in this camp. Some of these “scholars” are just too smart by half.
First, God could have talked to David more than once before David finally decided.
Second, the seven years concerned “thy land” specifically, whereas the three years were simply a general famine.
But the best answer (simple, elegant, and the one that Ryrie and the NIV translators missed by giving-in to the perfect scholars, imperfect scribes, and the Bible critics) is that four years of famine had already preceded David’s dilemma (2 Sam 21:1 = three years of famine plus a month more in verses 9-10 plus nearly a year to number the people in 2 Sam 24:8).
Boo-ya! So the seven years was three MORE years to make a TOTAL of seven. Maybe Ryrie missed it because he’s not so good at math. I don’t know what excuse to give for the NIV. Not completely God’s word, maybe?
