The Skeptics Annotated Bible
Page 136
4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.
6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.
8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment.
11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.
13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.
14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
(35.23-24) “The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants … I am sore wounded … and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died.”
252 How did Josiah die?
253 Where did King Josiah die?
25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,
27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
2 CHRONICLES 36
36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
(36.6) “Nebuchadnezzar … bound him [Jehoiakim] in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.”
267 Did Jehoiakim die in Babylon or near Jerusalem?
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
(36.9) “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign … and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” What did an eight year old do that was “evil in the sight of the Lord”?
255 How old was Jehoachin when he began to reign?
10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
(36.16-17) God gets angry with his people, so he sends the king of Babylon to kill all the “young men with the sword.” He has compassion for no one, not even old men that are “stooped for age.” In his tender mercy and loving kindness, he has them all killed.
God’s 129th Killing
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
(36.16) “The wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there
was no remedy.”
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
(36.17) “Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword … and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.”
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
(36.23) “The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.” Now how’s that for a strange ending? Actually, the last two verses from 2 Chronicles are taken from the first few verses of Ezra. It just happens that whoever decided to tack these verses on (for whatever reason) forgot to finish the sentence!
EZRA
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonished. — Ezra 9.3
There’s not much in this little book to interest skeptics (or anyone else as far as I can tell). But here are a few things worth noting.
Check out the contradictions between the boring lists given in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7.
The Israelites offend God by “taking” foreign wives and thereby corrupting the “holy seed.” 9.2
When Ezra hears of the intermarriages he tears his clothes, plucks out his hair and beard, and sits down astonished. 9.3
Ezra tells the men that they must abandon their “strange” wives and children if they want to avoid God’s wrath. 10.2-3, 12
EZRA 1
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
6 And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.
7 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;
8 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
9 And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,
10 Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.
11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.
(1.11) “All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred.” In verse 11, the total number of items listed in the previous two verses is said to be 5400. The actual total is 2499.
EZRA 2
2 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;
2 Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
3 The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.
4 The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy and two.
(2.5-65) The second chapter of Ezra provides a list of the Jewish people returning to Judah after their captivity in Babylon. It makes for rather dull reading: just a list of men’s names and the number of offspring that accompanied each of them. The same list is given in the seventh chapter of Nehemiah (as though once were not enough), but the two lists contradict each other in 19 places. As an example, consider the very first of these contradictions: Ezra 2.5 says “the children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five,” but Nehemiah 7.10 contradicts this saying, “the children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two.” There are 18 other similar contradictions between the two accounts.
5 The children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five.
(2.5) “The children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five.”
268 How many children of Arah returned from Babylon?
6 The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.
(2.6) “The children of Pahathmoab … Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.”
269 How many children of Pahathmoab, Jeshua and Joab?
7 The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.
8 The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty and five.
(2.8) “The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty and five.”
270 How many children of Zattu?
9 The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and threescore.
10 The children of Bani, six hundred forty and two.
(2.10) “The children of Bani, six hundred forty and two.”
271 How many children of Bani?
11 The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three.
(2.11) “The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three.”
272 How many children of Bebai?
12 The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty and two.
(2.12) “The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty and two.”
273 How many children of Azgad?
13 The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.
(2.13) “The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.”
274 How many children of Adonikam?
14 The children of Bigvai, two thousand fifty and six.
(2.14) “The children of Bigvai, two thousand fifty and six.”
275 How many children of Bigvai?
15 The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four.
(2.15) “The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four.”
276 How many children of Adin?
16 The children of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety and eight.
17 The children of Bezai, three hundred twenty and three.
(2.17) “The children of Bezai, three hundred twenty and three.”
277 How many children of Bezai?
18 The children of Jorah, an hundred and twelve.
19 The children of Hashum, two hundred twenty and three.
20 The children of Gibbar, ninety and five.
21 The children of Beth-lehem, an hundred twenty and three.
22 The men of Netophah, fifty and six.
(2.21-22) “The children of Bethlehem, an hundred twenty and three. The men of Netophah, fifty and six.”
278 How many children of Bethlehem and Netophah?
23 The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.
24 The children of Azmaveth, forty and two.
25 The children of Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty and three.
26 The children of Ramah and Gaba, six hundred twenty and one.
27 The men of Michmas, an hundred twenty and two.
28 The men of Beth-el and Ai, two hundred twenty and three.
29 The children of Nebo, fifty and two.
30 The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six.
31 The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.
32 The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
33 The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and five.
(2.33) “The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and five.”
279 How many children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono?
34 The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five.
35 The children of Senaah, three thousand and six hundred and thirty.