But one may ask, “How is God’s Word infallible?” We need to identify how God’s Word matches up to this determination. First, we must state the fact that there are some typographical errors, particularly in the case of some names and numbers.[1] This is because copies of the Old and New Testaments were made over the centuries by the human hand. Keep in mind that there were no Microsoft Word spellcheckers or other word-based tools to help guide the copyists. We are dependent on the acuity of their attention and alertness to ensure as much as possible that every letter was copied exactly. Because of human imperfection, therefore, there are some instances where names and numbers do not match. For example, 2 Kings 24:8 says that Jehoiachin succeeded his father as the nineteenth king of Judah at the age of eighteen, whereas 2 Chronicles 36:9 informs us that he was “eight years old when he became king” (according to most Hebrew manuscripts – that is, not recent translations). In another example, King Saul was fatally wounded during a battle with the Philistines and decided to fall on his own sword or kill himself (1 Samuel 31:4) but in 2 Samuel 1:10, Saul was mortally wounded and asked an Amalekite nearby to kill him so that he would not be tortured by the Amalekites. It is possible the Amalekite declined the king’s request to kill him whereby Saul decided to kill himself.
Secondly, there are changes in the meaning of words across translations.[2] In particular, there are some changes in the translation from the King James Version (KJV) to the American Standard Version (ASV) to the Revised Standard Version (RSV). For example, in 1 Samuel 2:17 the word “abhor” in the KJV becomes “despise” in the ASV and “treat with contempt” in the RSV. In another example, in Deuteronomy 24:11 the word “abroad” in the KJV becomes “without” in the ASV and “outside” in the RSV. These changes were made in the English translations to account for changes in meaning to words over the centuries. This, however, does not detract from the fact that the Bible or God’s Word is infallible. The content itself is still divine and perfect in nature, even though it was transcribed or copied over centuries. The message itself is pristine and accurately reflects God’s Word. Arthur Pink subscribes to this: “Grant that the Bible is (in its original manuscripts) inerrant and infallible and you reach the place where study of its contents is both practicable and profitable.”[3]
[1] C.E. Stowe, Origin and History of the Books of the Bible (Harford, CT: Hartford Publishing Company, 1868), 12-13.
[2] Geddes MacGregor, The Bible in the Making (Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1959), 391.
[3] Arthur W. Pink, The Divine Inspiration of the Bible, (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1917), 5.