The tension: Deuteronomy 31:9 and 1:1 attribute the Mosaic law to Moses, and the historical Christian and Jewish position has been Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuc…
The tension: Numbers 20:7-12 says YHWH barred Moses and Aaron from the promised land because Moses struck the rock at Meribah twice instead of speaking to it as commanded —…
The tension: Numbers 23-24 tells the story straight: Balaam was hired to curse Israel, but each time he opened his mouth God forced blessings out instead.
The tension: Numbers 16:27-33 describes the earth opening and swallowing Korah, Dathan, Abiram, their wives, sons, and little children, with the families perishing alive.
The tension: Numbers 31:7 reports the Israelites killed all the males of Midian, and verses 17-18 instruct them to kill every remaining male child plus every non-virgin wom…
The tension: Numbers 12:3 famously calls Moses 'very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.' Numbers 31:14-18 has Moses raging at his officers for s…
The tension: Deuteronomy 5:2-4 says Yahweh spoke to the Israelites at Horeb 'face to face out of the midst of the fire.' Deuteronomy 4:12, two chapters earlier in the same…
The tension: Deuteronomy 23:3 and Nehemiah 13:1 explicitly forbid Moabites from ever entering the assembly of YHWH, but the book of Ruth makes a Moabite woman the great-gra…
The tension: Deuteronomy 34:7 says Moses' eye was not dim and his natural force was not abated when he died at 120, but Deuteronomy 31:2 — three chapters earlier — has Mose…
The tension: Joshua 4:20 says the twelve stones taken out of the Jordan were set up at Gilgal, but Joshua 4:9 — fifteen verses earlier — says the twelve stones were set up…
The tension: Joshua 8:28 says Joshua burned Ai and made it "an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day," but Nehemiah 7:32 lists 123 men of Bethel and Ai among those…
The tension: Joshua 10:12-13 narrates the sun and moon standing still for about a full day so Joshua could finish slaughtering the Amorites, while Genesis 8:22 has YHWH pro…
The tension: Joshua 10:33 says Joshua smote Horam king of Gezer and his people "until he had left him none remaining," but Judges 1:29 says Ephraim did not drive out the Ca…
The tension: Joshua 11:21 says Joshua himself cut off the Anakim from Hebron, Debir, and the surrounding mountains and "destroyed them utterly with their cities," but Joshu…
The tension: Joshua 15:20, 33 lists Eshtaol and Zoreah among the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, but Joshua 19:40-41 — four chapters later, in the same book — assigns th…
The tension: Joshua 21:23-24 lists Aijalon as a Levitical city given out of the tribe of Dan, while 1 Chronicles 6:66, 69 lists Aijalon as a Levitical city given out of the…
The tension: Joshua 24:9 says Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, "arose and warred against Israel," but Judges 11:25 has Jephthah ask rhetorically — with implied answer "no…
The tension: Gabriel tells Mary in Luke 1:28 that she is 'blessed among women.' The Song of Deborah (Judg 5:24) calls Jael 'blessed above women' for driving a tent peg thro…
The tension: Judges 4:21 has Jael driving the tent peg through the temple of a Sisera who is 'fast asleep and weary,' nailing him to the ground without him standing or stru…
