The sum of your word is truth. —Psalm 119:160a (NASB)
Question: Is the Bible literally true?
Answer. The Bible is literally true whenever it intends to be literally true.
The problem with this question is that it demands a Yes or No answer, either of which is misleading. The fact is, the Bible contains several different type of writing: history, poetry, parable, narrative; in addition, the writers use several non-literal rhetorical devices. In all, the Bible contains truth—is the truth—and yet this truth is expressed through a variety of modes and styles.
Refinement 1. This fact applies to the original manuscripts. Translation errors, though very rare, have occurred. For example, during the third century BC, scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. In several places, they came across a word they did not quite understand: re-em. Their only clue was Psalm 92:10a, “But you have exalted my horn like that of the [re-em]. “Horn?” they asked. But they didn’t know. So, when the Septuagint translators rendered the Hebrew text of the Old Testament into Greek, they translated the Hebrew re-em into monokeros (one horn).
Many years later, the translators of the King James English version rendered the verse, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn.” Eventually, additional scholarship and research came to identify the re-em with the aurochs, a huge but extinct wild ox. Thus, wild ox is the current rendering.
Refinement 2. Euphemisms and Squeamish Translators. When referring to sexual matters, the Bible writers often used euphemisms in place of literal descriptions, and in other places, where the Bible is blunt and direct, translators have adopted euphemisms to shield the reader. An example of a euphemism used by the Old Testament writers is “Place your hand under my thigh” (Genesis24:2, 9, 47:29 et al,). When a solemn oath was sworn between two men, the one who swore to keep the oath would grasp the male part of the other person to show sincerity and seriousness. Genesis 24:9 says, “So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.” In his commentary on Genesis 24:9, Adam Clarke says, “He put his hand on the part that bore the mark of circumcision, the sign of God’s covenant.”
An example of squeamish translators can be found in Ezekiel 23:10, “They ripped off her clothes,” (CEV), which in the original says, “They exposed her female parts.” (In both these examples, I have also euphemized. Many of the newer study Bibles will have notes for euphemized passages, saying something like, “Literally, X,” where X reflects the literal translation.)
Refinement 3. Printing errors also have occurred. In 1631 printer Robert Barker produced a Bible that rendered Exodus 20:11, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” This edition has come to be known as the Wicked Bible.
Refinement 4. A statement can be literally true without implying moral approval. Not every description of behavior in the Bible is intended as a rule to be followed. The description of behaviors in the Bible does not necessarily imply God’s approval of the behavior. The Bible contains many historical accounts that reflect poor or even evil human actions. For example, in Judges 11:30-39 Jephthah quite stupidly vows to the Lord to sacrifice as a burnt offering “whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me” when he gets back from battle. What does he expect? His goats coming out of the door to meet him? Of course, to his moronic surprise, his only daughter is the first thing out, so he kills her. Is this model behavior? Of course not.
Refinement 5. A statement can be a true description of events without implying a cause and effect relationship. A classic example is Jacob’s underhanded treatment of Laban in Genesis 30:31-43. Jacob puts rods of poplar in the watering troughs of the sheep and goats he is tending for Laban, and the animals produce striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. The Bible is not implying here that the animals were influenced to produce their offspring by simply seeing the poplar rods. Most likely this phenomenon occurred by chance. The only other possible causes would be an epigenetic mechanism where some chemical in poplar activated a gene in the animals, which seems unlikely, or by God’s direction (but since Jacob was cheating Laban, that seems unlikely, also).
Refinement 6. A statement of general truth, made as a generalization, should not be understood in absolutist terms. General truths allow for exceptions. For example, Proverbs 22:6 presents a well-known general truth, “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” But the book of Proverbs is exactly that—general wisdom formed from long human experience and divine inspiration. Proverbs is not a book of God’s promises. Your child might become a rebel in spite of Proverbs 22:6. He or she would be the exception to the general truth, not a broken promise by God.
Refinement 7. A given account might be true but incomplete. For example, Matthew 28 records that an angel rolled the stone away at Jesus’ tomb. But Luke 24 and John 20 tell us there were two angels at the tomb. Here, Matthew is not in conflict with Luke and John, but is presenting a different focus. Think how various news media today present the same event differently by selecting different facts—all of which might be literally true.
Interestingly, it is the variations in the accounts that argue most forcefully for their truth. When multiple witnesses give an account of an event, it the accounts are exactly the same, their authenticity becomes a bit doubtful because collusion is suspected—people got together and agreed on the story and its details. When there are small differences, caused by the education, interest, training, or experience of the observer, their accounts combine into a credible whole. Paul says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (1 Timothy 3:16). Notice that he doesn’t say, “dictated.”
Refinement 8. The Bible often expresses literal truth through figurative language. Figurative language aids in understanding and remembering God’s truth by making it more visual and comparing the unfamiliar to the familiar.
Refinement 8.1 Analogy. The most common kind of figurative language that clarifies the unfamiliar by comparing it to the familiar is the analogy. Analogies state plainly that something is like something else in some specific ways.
It is often said that analogies are one of the fundamental ways we learn things. This fact helps us understand why Jesus uses analogies, in the form of parables, so often.
Sidebar: Do the parables of Jesus describe actual events? In other words, are they true? Perhaps the best answer is that the parables convey truth through the mode of fiction. In the past, some people have argued that because fictional stories (novels, short stories, plays) aren’t actually true, then they must be—lies. The same logic was sometimes applied to the parables of Jesus. Some people would say, “Of course Jesus must have recounted actual events in the parables. Our savior would never tell lies!” Actually, the parables are teaching stories, a popular means of conveying truth in many cultures—because they are so effective. And they are so effective because fictional stories can be shaped and arranged for maximum impact.
Refinement 8.2 Personification. This figure gives human attributes to something not human. For example, “O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him” (Psalm 98:1, NASB). Here, God is described in human terms as using his “holy arm” to win over his enemies. This does not mean that God has literal arms. He is a spiritual being. But the use of personification helps us visualize the situation.
Refinement 8.3 Metaphor. This figure creates a comparison between two things, one familiar and one unfamiliar, in order to use the familiar to clarify or make vivid the unfamiliar one. Metaphors make the comparison by expressing one thing as the other. For example,
I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand From those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 17:6-8, NASB).
As noted above, God does not really have ears or hands, nor does he have wings. “Hide me in the shadow of Your wings” is a metaphor comparing God to a mother hen or other bird that nestles its young under its wings.
Similarly, when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35, NASB), he is not claiming to be a literal loaf of bread, but that he is someone who provides spiritual nourishment of such a character that those who partake of it will no longer hunger after righteousness, for they will obtain it. And when he says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9, NASB), he is not claiming to be a literal door, but a figurative passageway connecting those on earth with God in heaven.
Refinement 8.4 Hyperbole. This figure emphasizes a point by exaggerating it. For example, in Judges we read that Delilah pestered Samson to reveal the source of his strength: “It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death”(Judges 16:16, NASB). Being “annoyed to death” is clearly an exaggeration because Samson is still alive later on in the book.
People are often prone to exaggerate to make a point. The Pharisees do this to emphasize their disgusted helplessness as they watch Jesus’ teachings catch on among the people: “So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him’” (John 12:19, NASB). Of course, the whole world has not yet even heard of the Christ, much less begun to follow him.
Again, when we read, “The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore”(1 Samuel 13:5, NASB), the “numerous as the sand” is a hyperbole.
A final example of hyperbole comes from Jesus himself, when he says, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26, NASB).
Refinement 8.5 Metonymy. This rhetorical figure substitutes something associated with a thing to be discussed. “The pen is mightier than the sword” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton) contains two metonymies, the pen referring to writing and hence to ideas, and the sword referring to war. In each case, the image (pen, sword) is associated with the subject (writing, war).
Here is an example of a metonymy used in the Bible: “Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country” (Genesis 14:10, NASB). Here, “the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah” function as a metonymy for “the armies of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The two kings themselves did not fall into the tar pits; many of their soldiers did. Thus, we are not surprised to read in Genesis 14:17 that “the king of Sodom went out to meet him [Abram] at the valley of Shaveh.” Once again, the king is a metonymy for both the king and his army.
Refinement 8.6 Synecdoche. In this literary figure, a part of something is used to stand for the whole, or the whole to stand for a part. A well-known part for whole is Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread” (NKJV), where “daily bread” stands for “all our physical needs for sustenance, all the food we need each day.” An example of whole for part comes from Exodus 9:6, “So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died.” This statement must be either a hyperbole (see above) or a synecdoche, because in verse 19 of the same chapter, Moses tells Pharaoh to “bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety,” because a plague of hail will be arriving soon. Thus, some livestock survived the previous plague of pestilence. What the synecdoche likely refers to are the livestock in 9:3, making 9:6 mean, “So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and every kind of livestock in the field—horses and donkeys and camels and herds and flocks—died.”
Refinement 8.7 Irony. In this figure, a statement expresses an alternative meaning different from the apparent, surface meaning. The alternative meaning is often the opposite of the surface meaning. For example, in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!” (12:13 NASB). Paul is not literally asking for forgiveness; rather, he is being ironic to make the point that he has benefitted the Corinthian church substantially.
Many schools—even secular ones—offer courses in the Bible as literature, because the Book can provide an excellent resource for understanding literary figures. For the purposes of this document, however, studying literary figures helps us understand how the Bible contains and teaches truth without needing to be “literally true” in every sentence or phrase.
Conclusion. The better question, then, is not, “Is the Bible literally true?” but, “Is the Bible completely true?” And the answer is, “Yes, all of it.”