2 Samuel, viii., 7; 1 Chronicles, xviii., 7.
Hadarezer’s army is represented to have been furnished with shields of gold. We read occasionally of some rich prince, like Glaucus, having golden armour, but never of a whole army being equipped with golden shields. We are told also that Solomon made 300 shields of gold for the temple; but these were mere ornamental plates, “3 pounds of gold went to one shield,” the value of these was not above half-a-million of English money, they were mere playthings compared to those in Hadarezer’s army (1 Kings x. 17).
2 Chronicles, vii., 5.
At the dedication of the temple, we are informed that Solomon “offered in sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.” Compare this with the sacrifice of Hezekiah, “70 bullocks, 100 rams, and 200 lambs” (2 Chron. xxix., 32).
1 Chronicles, xxii., 14.
This profusion of wealth, unexampled as it may be, is wholly eclipsed by king David, who laid up for Jehovah about 7,000 millions sterling (!!); that is to say, a million talents of silver and 100,000 talents of gold; in English money 342 millions sterling in silver, and 5,500 millions sterling in gold. Truly the principality of Wales could never compete in wealth with this Pactolus of a kingdom! [31] Come we now to our last division.
Part III.
THE BIBLE IRRECONCILABLE WITH ITSELF.
We shall subdivide this head into two parts. Under the first we will bring forward biblical blunders or misstatements, and under the second positive contradictions.
The two former parts of this paper were concerned with the dogma of general inspiration; this part looks to the verbal inspiration of the Bible. There surely can be no safe mean between verbal inspiration and no inspiration at all. Give up the verbal inspiration and the wedge is introduced which must inevitably destroy the whole dogma; but if one single blunder can be pointed out, that one blunder will be fatal to the notion of verbal inspiration.
As the errors of Scripture are very numerous, nothing like an exhaustive list can be included in a small pamphlet like this, but every end will be served by the instances subjoined, which we have arranged in groups, for the purpose of preserving something like order.