6. Do We Have All the Pieces
Sometimes, apparent contradictions in the Bible are the result of failing to bring together all the separate pieces of information that the Scriptures give us. Just as a jigsaw puzzle can only be completed when we have all its individual pieces, we must be sure that we bring all other relevant verses to bear on seemingly problem verses in order to clarify them. In this chapter we will look at an example from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament to illustrate this principle. How Many Years of Famine? In 2 Samuel and in 1 Chronicles we find a story telling how King David angered God by his pride in counting the fighting men of Israel, and how as a result of his action, God sent the prophet Gad to tell David to choose a punishment. In 2 Samuel 24:13 – in the New King James Version – we read: "So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, "Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land?"
Most modern translations actually change this verse to read "three years of famine" to avoid an apparent contradiction with 1 Chronicles 21:11-12 which reads: "So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Take your choice: three years of famine …"
There is really no reason for modern translations to depart from the clear reading of "seven years" found in in the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel. If we read both accounts carefully, we see that it is actually a different person's words being recorded in the two books. In 1 Chronicles 21:11-12 we are told "Thus says the LORD…" and we have a direct quote from God offering three years of famine as one of the choices David could make. But in 2 Samuel 24:13 (NKJV) it is the Prophet Gad who speaks after giving God's words: "…and told him [the choices], and said unto him…"
If we continue to put all the verses together that are relevant to this situation, we find that 2 Samuel 21:1 says there had been a famine in the days of David for three years, and from the time of 2 Samuel 21:1 to 2 Samuel 24:13 there was apparently about a year in which the land was recovering. So Gad was obviously aware of the fact that there had already recently been a famine in Israel for three years, the effects of which were probably still being felt.
Thus, after delivering God's message regarding a possible further three years of famine, the prophet Gad asks David if he wants to choose what would essentially be, for Israel, a total of seven years of famine – the three years that had already occurred, the year of slow recovery and then a further three years. This seems to be Gad's way of stressing the problematic nature of that choice, as the land was already weakened by famine. So there is no need to presume any contradiction between 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles on this point.
You may also notice another detail of 2 Samuel 24:13. In some modern translations such as the NIV the words "... and told him …" are removed from the phrase "and told him, and said unto him," as the translators apparently thought these words were extraneous. But, as we saw, this is because Gad was telling David what God had said and also telling him what he, Gad, had to say. In removing these words the translators of the NIV actually remove part of the answer to the apparent contradiction with 1 Chronicles 21:12 that they are trying to correct! How Many Women Anointed Christ? Turning to the New Testament, we find all four Gospels record an event in which a woman came to Jesus during a meal and anointed his feet and dried them with her hair (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 7, John 12). This story is the subject of much confusion regarding many of its details, which are often said to be contradictory.
Many feel that while Luke's account seems to refer to an event in Galilee early in Jesus' ministry, the stories told by Matthew, Mark, and John refer to a separate event occurring in Bethany near the end of Jesus' life. Some even divide these latter three stories into separate events because John apparently says the event he described occurred "six days before the Passover" (John 12:1), while Matthew and Mark say the event occurred two days before Passover (Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1).
But this confusion fails to put the various accounts together properly. For example, John does not say the woman anointed Jesus six days before Passover. What he says is: "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany … Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor" (John 12:1-2). John simply says that at some point after Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover, a dinner was given in his honor. So there is no contradiction between the accounts of Matthew, Mark and John in this regard.
As for the account in Luke, although it is placed with other material from the early part of Jesus' ministry, that story does not say where the event took place – or when. Many presume that Luke's "orderly" (Luke 1:3) account is strictly chronological; however, it does often stray from a chronological sequence. For example, in Luke 3 we read that King Herod shut John the Baptist up in prison (Luke 3:19-20), but then we read in the following verses that Jesus was baptized by John (Luke 3:21-22). In reality, of course, John baptized Jesus before being placed in prison (Matthew 3:1-17; 4:12; John 1:29-34).
An even more striking example of this kind of "achronological" recording is seen at the end of Luke's Gospel where he appears to compress the five weeks between the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into a single day – if we treat what is said chronologically (compare Luke 24 with Matthew 28 and John 21).
Luke's account also says the anointing event occurred in the home of a Pharisee named Simon; the others say it was in the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany. But Simon the Leper and Simon the Pharisee were probably one and the same. A leper could never have hosted a dinner nor have partaken in one with other people so Simon the Leper must have been healed and could thus have been the same as Simon the Pharisee. Simon may well have been referred to as "the Pharisee" in Luke because Luke stresses Jesus' reply to Simon's pharisaical attitude (Luke 7:39), while the other Gospels remember him as Simon the Leper.
So when we bring all the verses together, there is no real reason why all the Gospel accounts could not be referring to the same event. In fact, it would be a strange coincidence if two different women (or even more!) had gone to the house of a man called Simon, had anointed Jesus with exactly the same amount (300 denarii worth) of exactly the same kind of expensive perfume, and had wiped his feet with their hair. If they were different women, why did the Gospel writers not differentiate them in some way? On the other hand, that Mary sister of Martha was the one woman who anointed Christ may be seen earlier in John's account where he tells us: "(This Mary… was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)" (John 11:2). And note that John says "the same one who" rather than "one of the women who."
It would also be strange if not one of the four Gospel writers recorded both (or more) of these stories, if multiple similar events had occurred. This is especially true considering Jesus' words in Mark 14:9: "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." Would Christ have put so much emphasis on this event if it was the second instance of two virtually identical cases? If this had been done by two different women, surely both would be clearly recorded.
Beyond these facts, we should remember that in John (12:4-5) we are told Judas complained that the perfume used to anoint Jesus was worth 300 denarii and the money could have been given to the poor, but is rebuked by Jesus who tells him to leave the woman alone as she has done a good work. In Matthew (26:8-9) and Mark (14:4-5) we are told that some of the disciples made the same complaint ("300 denarii") and were rebuked in the same way by Christ (Matthew 26:10-13; Mark 14:6-9). It is hard to believe that given identical circumstances, the disciples made exactly the same mistake after Jesus had already rebuked them for it on a separate occasion. It is more reasonable to put the Gospel accounts together and to see that they do not contradict each other – but refer, with differing details, to one dinner, one woman, and one anointing of Jesus.
Did the Woman Anoint the Head or Feet of Jesus? A final detail of this story of the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume shortly before his death, symbolically preparing him for burial, confuses some people and has been claimed to be a contradiction. Two of the Gospels – Matthew and Mark – seem to say the woman poured the perfume on Jesus' head, while the other two – Luke and John – say the perfume was poured on his feet. This seeming contradiction is also solved very simply by putting all the accounts together. First, look at them individually:
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table (Matthew 26:6-7, emphasis added here and below).
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head (Mark 14:3).
A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them (Luke 7:37-38).
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:1-3). Putting all this information together, it is clear that the woman must have anointed both Jesus' head and feet. We see an indication of this in what Matthew records, that Jesus said of the woman "When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial" (Matthew 26:12), using "body" as a term that encompassed both his head and feet rather than saying just one of these.
Finally, Jewish burial practice was to put ointment or perfume on much of the body, and at least the head and feet of the deceased, so we see that while two of the Gospels mention part of that symbolic anointing, two mention the other part. Putting the verses together shows not contradiction, but simply parts of the story that we need to bring together for full understanding.
Utilizing this basic principle – of making sure we have all the information the Bible records about a given event – can solve a great number of apparent discrepancies in the Scriptures. Sometimes, however, we may not have all the needed information in the Bible itself and may have to try to reconstruct the information in other ways. We will look at that situation next.