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It's hard to get inside the minds of people from other cultures, especially when we are separated by time as well as distance. And the main problem here is cultural: We have an expectation of greater precision than ancient people did. The other answers hint at this, but IMO they don't fully appreciate the divide between modern and ancient levels of ...

Many different explanations have been proposed. The best article I've read on the subject is The Number Pi in the Bible by Abarim Publications. I'll begin with what I think is the obvious and correct explanation, then mention some other explanations (mentioned e.g. in the article above). 10 ≠ 10.0 (rather, "10" means (10.0 ± 0.5)) 1 Kings 7:23 says ...

To start with, compare the circle the diameter we're given would make with the circle the circumference we're given would make: Since a circumference is π times the diameter, a 'pure' circle of 10 cubits in diameter as we describe the sea as having would be 10π cubits in circumference, or roughly 31.4 cubits. Now, since the circumference attributed to ...

The choices seem to be: We correctly understand the text and it was a miracle. Two million or so people left Egypt and (mostly) died in the desert, where their bones were never found (looking would be a huge archeological task). If we can accept the miracles of the plagues, the crossing of the sea of reeds, the giving of torah, and sustaining everybody ...

The numbers are accurate as they have been translated. There were ~600,000 Israelites in the Wilderness (and in Egypt). Proof These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730. -Numbers 26:51 Earlier in the chapter we are given the counts of each individual tribe. They add up as follows: 1) 43,730 from the tribe of Reuben 2) 22,200 ...

The argument I have read is that the word often translated thousands means "fighting units" and the number after is the number of soldiers in those units. Thus, it would be "64 units, 400 soldiers from the tribe of Dan." While the Lexicons and word books such as Gesenius and Strong point out that eleph can mean "a company of troops fighting under one ...

I asked this question on Mi Yodeya and this answer says that these were different measuring utensils (standard weights). This answer is based on the Targum, an early translation into Aramaic; I don't have the linguistic skills to evaluate that myself, but it's generally held to be a faithful translation + clarifications (like this). When transactions were ...

ψηφίζω (Strongs G5585) - to count with pebbles, to compute, calculate, reckon; to give one's vote by casting a pebble into the urn; to decide by voting. This is the same word used in Luke 14:28 in which the builder of a tower will "count the cost" to ensure he has enough to complete it. As for its usage in this passage, J. Hampton Keathley, III, the author ...

From a post by Cecil Adams, aka The Straight Dope In 150 A.D. a Hebrew rabbi and scholar named Nehemiah attempted to explain away the anomaly in Chronicles by saying that the diameter of the tub was 10 cubits from outer rim to outer rim, whereas the 30 cubit circumference was measured around the inner rim. In other words, the difference between the ...

Although it's an interesting argument, I would say no. For one thing, this supposed tablet being pre-Babel, all bets are off as to what language and number system it would have been written in. It could have been Mesopotamian, but I do not see why it has to be. More importantly, however, even assuming the hypothetical tablet was not originally in Hebrew, ...

One half: Half the people Jos 8:33 See also Dt 27:12-13; 1Ki 16:21; Ne 4:16; Ne 12:31-32,38; Ne 13:24 The half-tribes of Manasseh Dt 3:13 See also Nu 32:33; Nu 34:13-14; Dt 29:8; Jos 13:29-31; Jos 22:10; 1Ch 5:23 Halves in offering sacrifices Ge 15:10 See also Ex 24:6; Ex 30:13; Lev 6:20 Significant examples of halves 2Sa 10:4 pp 1Ch 19:4 David’s men and ...

In "Living by the Book" (chapters 19-23), Howard Hendricks emphasizes several points used in observation of a passage: What things are emphasized? What things are repeated? What things are related? What things are alike? What things are unalike? What things are true to life? A literary device like this allows us to see aspects of all of these. The ...

Bible allusions are simpler than that. It is a simple reference to the numbers of bars of gold collected by Solomon in his first year, breaking one of the three Mosaic laws for Israelite kings (Deuteronomy 17) thus beginning Solomon's, and Israel's, downfall: Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that ...

we don't even know what the real numerical value of pi is. When written out as a number, it will always be rounded. The question is: At which decimal place will you believe God's Word is true? The hundredth decimal place, the thousandth decimal place? I'm guessing for most, there will never be enough decimal places. For me pi = 3 is close enough.