Then very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at sunrise. (Mark 16:2)
Introduction
In the previous post I commented on inerrancy which is the belief that the Bible is without error in all it teaches. To state it another way, the Bible tells the truth about whatever it asserts.
I noted that the Bible tells the truth using all of the literary devices and mechanics of normal human language. So, in addition to regular speech, it tells the truth by using things like language of appearance, figures of speech, hyperbole, approximations, free quotations, paraphrasing, summarizing, different accounts of the same event that don’t contradict, and nonstandard grammar. In other words, the Bible tells the truth by speaking to us in the same way we as humans make truthful statements to one another.
In this post and the next post, I will give a number of examples to illustrate how the Bible tells the truth (is inerrant) when using the various devices and mechanics of language listed above. Inerrancy is not threatened or diminished by the use of such devices, as some critics claim.
Language of Appearance
(Phenomenological Language)
Phenomenological language describes how things appear from a person’s point of view. This is also referred to as language of appearance.
For example, as a person drives toward the Rocky Mountains, he might say to his traveling companion, “the mountains are moving closer”. Obviously the mountains are not moving, but that is what they appear to do from his point of view. He is using language of appearance to make a true statement that they are approaching the mountains.
The Bible writers used phenomenological language to make true statements. A simple example is in Mark 16:2 where Mark writes:
And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. (Mark 16:2 ESV)
Obviously, we know that the sun does not actually rise (or set), but rather the earth’s rotation causes different parts of the earth to pass into and out of the sun’s light. But from our earthbound perspective, the sun appears to rise and set, which is much easier to say.
This is phenomenological language – a way of describing things as they appear. It is a way we communicate true information.
Modern weather reports do this when they report the time for sunrise and sunset and we do not question this as a scientific error. We know exactly what truth is being communicated.
The Bible can make true statements that are inerrant using phenomenological language.
Figures of Speech
Figures of speech are words or phrases used in a non-literal way to create a more vivid, creative, or impactful effect. For example, during a rain storm, someone might say, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” to describe a severe storm with heavy rain. A listener understands what truth is being communicated.
Similarly, the Bible writers used figures of speech to make true statements. For example, in recording a prophetic vision, the Apostle John writes:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. (Revelation 7:1 ESV)
Skeptics of the Bible argue that this expression “four corners of the earth” demonstrates that the Bible depicts a flat or square earth, so the Bible errors in its scientific understanding. But the Bible’s use of this idiomatic phrase was never intended to mean that the earth has literal, squared-off corners. (In fact, the writers of the Bible knew that the earth was a sphere as did many ancient cultures.)
Depending on the context in the Bible, “the four corners of the earth” phrase refers to the four compass directions, or the most distant parts of the earth (the extreme parts of the earth).
We use this expression in modern speech with the same meaning. For example, in a speech that George W. Bush gave in 2008 while addressing the Knesset in Jerusalem, he said:
You have welcomed immigrants from the four corners of the Earth.
When George Bush said this, no one accused him of being scientifically inaccurate. Neither should the Bible be criticized when it uses similar phrases.
The Bible can make true statements that are inerrant using figures of speech.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is exaggeration used to create a stronger emphasis. For example, if someone is extremely hungry they might say, “I’m so hungry I can eat a horse”. While eating a horse is an exaggeration, the phrase does express the truth about the degree of their hunger.
Similarly, the Bible writers used hyperbole to make true statements. One of many examples is found in the Gospel of Mark where he describes the healing activity of Jesus when he was staying at a home:
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door. (Mark 1:32-33 NIV)
While it is possible that every single person in town was physically present at the door, this is most likely hyperbole that expresses the truth that there was great interest in what Jesus was doing and a huge crowd gathered.
We all use hyperbole like this in normal conversations as an intensifier and it is not considered error (except perhaps by our mothers!). This same expression is often used in modern news reporting and would not be considered “fake news”:
Headline: When cancer returned, the whole town showed up on this New Jersey woman’s doorstep.
(NJ.com, December 2019, https://www.nj.com)
Headline: Suffering Town Celebrates a Victory.
Newtown High School wins state football title 7 years to the day after Sandy Hook killings. “The whole town showed up on this special night,” one player said. “We knew we had to bring it home for our town.”
(Newser, December 2019, https://www.newser.com)
The Bible can make true statements that are inerrant using hyperbole.
Approximations / Rounding
Modern science and mathematics enable us to speak with great precision. However, truth in everyday language does not always demand the kind of precision that we find in modern science.
We often use approximations and rounding to communicate the truth. For example, a job application may ask how much you earned at your last job. You might write $35,000 even though you actually earned $35,355. Someone might ask how much you spent on a used car you just purchased. You might say $8,000, even though the exact amount was more or less than that. No one would regard these numbers as lies or errors, would they? In context, we know that these are approximations used to truthfully answer the questions.
The Bible writers also used approximations and rounding to make true statements.
A well known New Testament example relates to Jesus miraculously feeding large crowds with just a few loaves of bread and fish. In reviewing the events, Jesus asks his disciples who witnessed the events:
19 “When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said. (Mark 8:19-20 NLT)
The crowd sizes were not exactly 5000 or 4000 people. These are approximations that give a sense of the size of the crowds. Interestingly, we intuitively know when reading this that 5000 and 4000 are approximations, but twelve and seven are exact counts.
Using approximations is not an error. It is a way we express truth in normal language. This device is commonly used in news reporting to report numbers:
Headline: 80,000 people died of flu last winter in U.S., highest death toll in 40 years. (Associated Press, September 2018)
Both 80,000 and 40 are approximations, but we would not regard this as “fake news”.
The Bible can make true statements that are inerrant using approximations and rounding.
In the next post, I will give more examples to illustrate how the Bible tells the truth (is inerrant) when using the devices and mechanics of language. It does so in a manner that is consistent with inerrancy.
Word Focus Lexicon
Lexical Form: ἥλιος -ου, ὁ
Transliteration: hēlios
Gloss: sun
Part of Speech: Masculine Noun
New Testament Frequency: 32
Strong’s Number: G2246 (Link to Blue Letter Bible Lexicon)
ἥλιος / hēlios is the standard word that means “sun”. In some contexts it may refer to the direction east in a phrase like “from the rising of the sun” (see Revelation 7:2 and 16:12).
Ἥλιος / Helios was the name of the Greek sun god who drove a golden chariot across the sky each day, bringing light to the world.
A number of English words, mostly scientific, are derived from ἥλιος / hēlios including helium, heliocentric (an astronomical model of the solar system with the sun at its center) and heliotrope (a plant whose flowers turn toward the sun).
Bibliography
Beetham, Christopher A., Editor. The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Zondervan Academic, 2021.
Danker, Frederick William. The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. The University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Moody Press, 1989.
Gilbrant, Thoralf, International Editor. The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary. The Complete Biblical Library, 1990.
Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford University Press. 1940. With a Supplement, 1996.
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Moody Publishers, 1986, 1999.
Thiessen, Henry Clarence. Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949.
Unless otherwise noted as below, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the New International Version. Copyright © by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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