The Problem with a Perfect Bible
So no surprise here, but I am a bit of a Bible nerd. I like to get into the weeds sometimes—digging beneath our English translations to understand how scripture has made its way to us, and how we’ve come to interpret it in the language we use today.
But as a pastor, I’m always holding the tension between the study that undergirds scripture and the way we actually live these texts out. Because, yes, the technicalities are fascinating—but what matters is how we make meaning from them.
Greek, Hebrew, and the Trouble with Translations
Let me take you into a bit of background. The Hebrew Bible—what we often call the Old Testament—is primarily translated from what are called the Masoretic texts. These are Hebrew manuscripts that date to the 11th century CE. For a long time, these were the oldest Hebrew texts we had.
But we also have older Greek manuscripts of these same scriptures. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was in wide circulation during the time of Jesus. So translators of English Bibles have long faced a tricky question: should we use the older Greek manuscripts, which are already a translation? Or the newer Hebrew ones that are nearly a thousand years younger?
Much of that debate shifted after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 20th century—ancient Hebrew manuscripts that aligned closely with the Masoretic texts. Fascinating stuff, especially if you're a Bible nerd. And yes, they were discovered by a shepherd boy throwing rocks into a cave. (A good reminder to my kids: maybe don’t throw rocks—but also, you never know what you might find.)
Saul and a Missing Verse
Now, let me show you why any of this matters. Take 1 Samuel 13:1.
Your English Bible probably says something like: "Saul was 30 years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for 42 years."
Except, those numbers? They don’t exist in the original Hebrew. What the Hebrew actually says is that Saul was a year old when he became king and that he reigned for two years. Clearly, something went wrong.
Interestingly, this verse doesn’t even appear in the Septuagint. It’s likely the translators just saw the nonsense and decided to skip it. Our English Bibles, though? They take a different approach, filling in what seems reasonable.
The NIV says 30 years old, reigned 42. The NASB says 40 and 32. The ESV says he lived for one year and reigned for two. And the NRSVue? It just leaves a big old X for Saul’s age, with an asterisk explaining the problem. Honestly, I kind of love that.
Why It Matters (Even Though It Doesn’t)
So does this detail matter for today’s story? No, not really. But that’s precisely why I wanted to talk about it.
Because what this shows us is how nuanced our relationship with scripture really is. The Jewish translators who skipped over that faulty verse didn’t see a need to correct or hide it. They knew—maybe intuitively—that the power of scripture was never in the precision.
It was never about perfect data or flawless historicity. The power has always been in the story.
It’s in understanding the lesson. Metabolizing the point. Letting the narrative do its work on us.
Reading Scripture as a Lamp
That’s what we’re meant to take with us.
When people get caught up arguing over the minutiae—missing the forest for the trees—I wonder if we’ve forgotten that. And if we scale that up beyond just scripture, into all of life?
If your theology is making you less kind, less generous—if it’s building walls instead of bridges—then it might be worth asking if you’ve lost the path by staring too hard at your feet.
The psalmist says scripture is a lamp to our feet—not so we can obsess over the ground, but so we can keep walking.
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