In the Biblical flood account, why are the details in disagreement?

Question

One chapter, God tells Noah to get 2 of every animal to put on the ark. Next chapter, he says to get 7 of some kinds and 2 of others.

This is not the only story in the Bible that does this. There are many others, even the Creation account doesn't agree with itself. Wouldn't the writers and translators catch this?

Answer 1

The whole story is fiction. The evidence is absolutely conclusive in proving that no such flood ever occurred.

Answer 2

This contradiction has to do with how the bible was put together. The prevailing point of veiw among biblical scholars redgarding the formation of the hebrew scriptures is that they were actually a combination of 4 different documents. They are generally referred to as Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomic, and Priestly. Over time, these documents merged to form one long narrative, which we call the old testament. To answer your question, the condradiction come from the fact that the flood story was written more than once, at different times. Another example of this would be the creation stories. However, this is only a theory. If you want a better answer, a good book to read is: "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" by John Shelby Spong.

Answer 3

These are reasonable differences. Consider an example:

Did Jesus wear a PURPLE garment on the day of his death, as Mark and John report? (Mark 15:17, John 19:2) Or was it SCARLET as Matthew says? (Matt. 27:28) Really, both can be correct. Purple has components of red in it. Depending on the observers angle of view, light reflection and background could have subdued certain hues, giving different casts to the garment.

So, why can't it be 2 of some animals and still 7 of others? These minor differences should help us trust the Bible even more, because if the Bible was "edited" then the editors would have made sure these discrepancies were fixed!

Answer 4

properly, because of the fact the cultures might have stepped forward after the flood, it would not be a contradiction if that they had a flood tale besides. in spite of each thing, Noah had childrens, and that they supposedly opened up over the earth. That distinctive communities have an identical theory of their flood thoughts (ie, that God flooded the earth because of the fact of sin) is what's used to argue that they got here from an identical source. the priority is, a number of those debts (like the Epic of Gilgamesh) have been written till now the bible. this manner of ruins the biblical account's credibility, in my opinion.

Answer 5

According to the biblical account Noah was to carry 2 of each ''unclean'' animals and 7 of the ''clean'' animals. The ''unclean'' were those which according to the bible were not fit for human consumption. The ''clean'' were edible. For a list of the ''clean'' and ''unclean'' animals go to Leviticus chapter 11.

Answer 6

There is no disagreement in the details, once you understand them. Noah was not instructed to get two of every animal. He was instructed to gather the animals in pairs; two pairs of the unclean animals, and seven pairs of the clean animals.
I hope that this clears things up for you. Read the story again and I am sure that you will see the truth of this matter.
God bless

Answer 7

.When the scriptures are read with prayerful consideration, many things become clear that seem cloudy without inviting the spirit to guide your learning. Genesis Chapter #1: The plan; Genesis Chapter #2: The implementation of the plan.

Everything that exists in physical form preexists in thought.

Answer 8

There are two versions of Genesis, because the stories had diverged into two separate dominant versions by the time they decided to write them down.

Once you give up the idea that the Bible is more than just a collection of books, these types of questions become trivial to answer.

Answer 9

Richard Elliot Friedman explains the situation in layman's terms in his book, Who Wrote The Bible.

Answer 10

Yeah, I've been wondering why some of the more blatant errors and contradictions were included.
IE-I found this interesting. The Book of Matthew includes some incredible stories of events after JC dies. No one else, not even the other Gospels, write about any of this.