What I am looking for are a few examples from the Bible of narratives that don’t quite sound plausible.
For example, is the following quote at all plausible?
Exodus 1:15-19
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
Was pharaoh so dumb that he wouldn’t have asked “
why do they need midwives then?
Another example would be Samson.
Judges 16:17-22
So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"
He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
How dumb is this passage asking us to believe that the Philistine’s were?
If you read all of Chapter 16 you will see that it took a few attempts to find out the secret of Samson’s strength. So, after the secret is discovered the Philistines just sit back and watch Samson’s hair grow! Sounds just a little too silly for me.
So, does anyone have any similar examples? If I could get a few for Friday it would be appreciated. I am going to discuss this with a few students and I’ll let you know how things go.
I am open to the possibility that these narratives are completely plausible as I may be overlooking something, so I welcome any clarification of the cited passages, or any new passages donated by other members.
Bible study for this if accepted.
Brian.
™ Version 4.2