Inerrancy of the Bible: Judges 1:19?

Question

I'd like to obtain answers to something that seems puzzling to me. http://bible.cc/judges/1-19.htm. It appears that the Lord could not drive out people who have iron chariots. God is described as being all-powerful.
Is this scripture "out of context" or is it "not meant to be taken literally"? I've included a link to various versions of the bible so I don't think it's a "mistranslation" or that "could not" meant something else. I think it must be a "misinterpretation" as this is always a good answer.
Is the bible prone to error like other works by mortals?

Answer 1

It doesn't say the Lord was unable, it says the people were unable.
No the Bible is not prone to error. God used human beings to physically pen the biblical text. But remember God is the author, they are His words. The Bible is inspired by God. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. The New Testament was originally written in Greek (with a few portions in aramaic). Learn those languages so you can read it for yourself in it's original. Check out some good commentaries (NIV Application commentary, Anchor Bible Commentary, New International Commentary on the New Testament (also one on OT), New International Greek Testament Commentary).

The Bible is inerrant and infallible. Inerrant means it is incapable of having errors, and infallible means incapable of being false. So this means that God protected the Bible while it was being translated to other languages and other translations.

Answer 2

There were 5 factors involved in this failure. (1) The Canaanites possessed superior weapons (which need not have been made largely of iron but simply wood with certain iron fittings, perhaps axles and rims). (2) Israel disobeyed God by making treaties with the Canaanites. (3) Israel violated the covenant God had made with their forefathers. (4) Yahweh was giving the army representing him opportunities to develop and sometimes the best way to learn is through our mistakes. (5) Yahweh was testing Israel's faithfulness to see if they would obey him implicitly.

For all those who look down on the Bible as a historical record, just remember that the Bible spares us no details about failure, sin, and outright wickedness. If the Bible was man-made, it would have edited out all the many parts that show God's people in a bad light. It does not. That's the kind of history you can trust.

Answer 3

Jg 1:19 Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but THEY could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. (NASB)

This is a common theme as Israel was taking the land of Canaan. God told them to drive out ALL the nations. And God would do it for them (like Jericho) as they trusted Him.

Joshua told them they could do it, "for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron [and] though they are strong. (Josh 17:18). But Israel did not trust in the Lord to do it!!

It's like when they first got to the land. God told them to take it. But they sent spies in, and 10 of the 12 spies reported back that the people were strong, that their cities were fortified (Num 13:28). In other words, there is no way we can take the land!

So God sent them to the desert for 40 years! They didn't listen to him.

It's the same here. They could have driven them out, even through they had iron chariots. But they didn't trust God! This is not a problem with God not being "all-powerful". He is. This is a problem of man (Israel) NOT trusting God.

There are many, many more examples of Israel not clearing the land. And God warned them that if they didn't, they would end up "worshiping their gods" (Ex 23:33). And that is exactly what ended up happening, just as God said.

Not only is He all-powerful, He is all knowing. The Bible is His words, not a work by mortals.

But were you really interested in understanding all this or just trying to disprove the Word of God?

Answer 4

Genesis 2:16-17 16 The LORD God gave man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden 17 except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die." ===================== According to the Bible, man was perfect until he attempted to know good and evil. As soon as he made that attempt to have the powers of judgment, he was doomed to die. Isn't it remarkable how thoroughly that lesson has been ignored by the fundamentalists? God puts a naked, unmarried man and woman together, and the only thing he tells them not to do is to try to learn what is good and what is evil. To hear the fundamentalists tell it, it's exactly the other way around - that judging good and evil is what we should do, and that being around naked people of the other sex is what we shouldn't do. I'd have liked to have thought that they could have at least read the first two short chapters of the Bible, but apparently that's beyond them.

Answer 5

God could do this easy, but some times he expects his followers to be a part of the plan. And people can be real weak and lack faith to do what God tells them because of circumstances. In them days Chariots were big circumstances or obstacles to doing what God told them to do. But also it could have been that God didn't hate them chariot driving people so much as the rest.

Answer 6

It was not God that was weak because of the iron chariot, but the Israelites. Remember, that God uses people to accomplish his purposes. God will not bring a person or group of people along any faster than they can cope with changes and situations. Eventually, the Israelites were able to overcome their enemies with chariots by learning to work with iron and make machines of war.

Answer 7

That's not true. People really show their ignorance when they are quick to charge the Bible with contradictions. If you look closely at that verse, it is NOT God who could not drive out the inhabitants of the low plain. It was the tribe of Judah that had dificulty obtaining complete victory. Because God’s orders were not fully carried out, many inhabitants of Canaan survived Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land.

Answer 8

The Bible doesn't say that God couldn't drive out the iron chariots. It says that Judah couldn't do it. The Lord was with Judah, but Judah worked within his own limitations.

Answer 9

Ok now it is in refrence to god being all powerful. But I have done lots of research to this question. And what I have found Is that the Israelites had lost fath in Gods help. They had lost fath because they had gotten scared because of the war chariots. I will explain why. This is what I have assertained from the scriptures.

Definition of the War Chariots- Basically, the chariot usually consisted of a platform mounted on a single axle, with thigh-high sides; the open back of the car provided quick and easy entrance. The chariot car had a tongue and yoke harnessed to speedy horses. Often chariots were outfitted with auxiliary equipment consisting of quiver and bow cases, shields, and spears. An added menace to foot soldiers was the practice of extending iron scythes from the hubs of the wheels of some war chariots. (Jos 17:16, 18; Jg 1:19) When there was only one charioteer, the reins were held around his waist or hips in battle, leaving his hands free to handle the weapons. Larger and heavier chariots with multiple spans of horses had crews of two, three, or four, with a driver and one or two fighters, and perhaps a shield-man.—Ex 14:7, ftn

The City---

One of the enclave cities of Simeon given them within the territory of the tribe of Judah. (Jos 19:1, 5; 1Ch 4:31) In the parallel account of the cities originally assigned to Judah (Jos 15:31), Beth-marcaboth’s place is possibly taken by Madmannah. If Beth-marcaboth is the same as Madmannah, then it evidently lay on the main highway leading from Beer-sheba to Jerusalem and locations N, and the name Beth-marcaboth may be a secondary name for Madmannah. The name of the town listed after Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah (or Hazar-susim), means “Courtyard (Settlement) of the Mare (or Horses).” Some suggest that both places were depots and stations for horses and chariots, which traveled the ancient routes between Palestine and Egypt. Chariots were also used for war (Jg 1:19), and Beth-marcaboth may have been a fortress city of the Canaanites from which their war chariots could proceed out onto the flatlands in the area of Beer-sheba.—
See (MADMANNAH - (A city in the southern part of the territory of Judah. (Jos 15:21, 31) Although Umm Deimneh may preserve the ancient name, there are no suitable remains at the site. Scholars in recent times favor Khirbet Tatrit, about 15 km (9.5 mi) NE of Beer-sheba. A comparison of Joshua 15:31 with the parallel lists at Joshua 19:5 and 1 Chronicles 4:31 indicates it to be the same as Beth-marcaboth. Beth-marcaboth (meaning “House of the Chariots”) may have been a secondary name of Madmannah)) The Philistine cities seem to have been at the peak of their power during the time of King Saul.

Now with that in mind there is also this to consider.

The Israelites---

In their conquest of the Promised Land, the Israelites were confronted with war chariots equipped with iron scythes. (Jos 17:16, 18; Jg 1:19) At one point during Saul’s reign, “there was not a smith [metalworker] to be found in all the land of Israel.” Because of a ban imposed by the Philistines, only the king and his son Jonathan had a sword; Israel was forced to take all metal tools down to the Philistines to have them sharpened.—1Sa 13:19-22.

Showing how Israel had “not listened” to God, the Scriptures relate that the tribe of Judah neglected to dispossess the inhabitants of a certain area of southern Canaan “because [the inhabitants] had war chariots with iron scythes.” (Judg. 1:19) Apparently these scythed chariots frightened the tribe of Judah. Thereafter the tribes of Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali and Dan likewise failed to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants of numerous cities and dependent towns. Instead, they consented to dwell in among the Canaanites, setting some of them to “forced labor.”—Judg. 1:21-36.

So with all this information, If the Israelites had no weapons and the land they were to take had such impressive weapons at their disposal, I can understand they would get affraid. And that is why God did not help them take the land.

Answer 10

Inerrancy?

Contradictions:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html

Absurdity:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/abs/long.htm

It's hard work to write a book or movie without plot holes, especially thousands of years ago when relatively little was known about the world.

The bible is inerrant and infallible... according to the bible. It's a circular argument, and a useless one. Those who repeat it simply highlight the fact that they have no basis for their beliefs.