“THE
BIBLE WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL”
PART I – BIBLE KINGS
Clifford A. Wilson
Over the years the Bible has been attacked by critics more than any other work of literature. But the Bible has an uncanny way of vindicating itself. Its superiority to attack, its capacity to withstand criticism, its amazing facility to be proved right after all, are all staggering by any standard of scholarship. Seemingly confirmed results that “disprove” the Bible have a habit of backfiring as over and over again the Bible has been shown to be right after all. In this series of articles we shall be looking at examples of how archaeology has answered some of these criticisms.
“There Is No Such King”
Perhaps one of my favorite stories of archaeology and the Bible would be a suitable starting point – the record relating to the Assyrian King Sargon in Isaiah 20. “There is no such king” the critics declared. “The Bible has confused this man with Shalmaneser who initiated the seige of Samaria.” Actually, there was no Sargon in known Assyrian king lists.
Then, in the 1840’s, Sargon’s palace was uncovered at the village of Khorsabad, just a few miles from ancient Nineveh in Iraq. Not only was his palace uncovered, but found among the many battle descriptions was the record of the very campaign against Ashdod mentioned in Isaiah 20:1. The Bible was right after all! There was a King Sargon, he did campaign against the Philistine city of Ashdod, he did have a “Tartan” as Isaiah 20:1 declares. Tartan is an Assyrian army title that means “commander-in-chief”. While a number of these titles are correctly used
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in the Bible records (rabmag, rabshakeh, and tipsarru, to name a few), their meanings were unknown until the excavation of Assyrian palaces in the 19th Century. This reflects concise and accurate reporting that demonstrates the factual eyewitness account of Biblical writings. The Assyrians as a people disappeared from history after the Battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., and yet Bible writers even knew official rank and protocol of the enemy Assyrian army.
Nebuchadnezzar The Great Builder
Other kings are mentioned in the Bible whose existence has been challenged. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was virtually unknown outside the Bible until modern excavations uncovered much new information. The late W.F. Albright summarized some of this knowledge in his interesting survey, The Bible After Twenty Years, issued soon after the end of World War II.
One point of interest about Nebuchadnezzar was his boast of rebuilding Babylon, something unknown outside the Bible until modern excavations endorsed it as fact. But the prophet Daniel knew of Nebuchadnezzar’s building activities and wrote that it was this great king who built Babylon (Daniel 4:30).
Daniel Third In The Kingdom
And how did Daniel know about Balshazzar? According to Daniel, he was the last king before the Medes and Persians overcame Babylon. Yet secular records pointed to Nabonidus as the last king of Babylon. However, when the Nabonidus Chronicle and other clay tablets were recovered, it became clear that Nabonidus stayed away from Babylon for several years, not even returning to worship the gods at the important annual new year’s festival. He appointed the Crown Prince Belshazzar as his co-regent to rule in Babylon. Therefore it was quite correct for Daniel to refer to Belshazzar as king. We read in Daniel 5:16, 29 of Belshazzar’s promise that if Daniel translated the strange writing he would become third in the kingdom. Why third? Because technically Nabonidus, the absent father – king, was first, Belshazzar was second and the highest remaining position was third. The Bible was right after all.
The Death of Israel’s King Saul
We have referred to an Assyrian king and to two Babylonian kings. Let us consider an incident involving a King of the Jews – their first king Saul.
Saul was killed by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. His body was brought to the city of Bethshan and hanged outside the gate of the city. According to I Samuel 31:10 the Philistines put Saul’s armor in the Temple of Ashtaroth (a Canaanite goddess), while I Chronicles 10:10 states that they put his head in the Temple of Dagon (a Philistine god). These were gods of opposing peoples. Did the Bible writer mix things up? Surely there would not be both a Canaanite temple and a Philistine temple at the same level of occupation in the days of King Saul!
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Two tablets from Yale Babylonian Collection recording administrative matters carried out by Belshazzar in Babylon during Nabonidus’ absence. These, plus other Babylonian records, indicate that Nabonidus was away from Babylon during the sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, and eleventh years of his reign.
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Then in the 1930s the site was excavated by archaeologist Alan Rowe and his associates. Once again the Bible record was substantiated. A Philistine and a Canaanite temple were found adjoining each other at the same level. The Philistines had apparently overcome the Canaanites and absorbed their gods into their own pantheon, thus ensuring that the new gods were not offended. This was a relatively common practice in Old Testament times.
And so, the Biblical records about Sargon, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Saul were right after all. The Bible writers were eyewitnesses to these events, faithfully recording the exact details and the rich local color. In the next issue of Bible and Spade we will continue this subject, and describe some of the other areas where the Bible record has stood the test of hammering critical blows. It has been said, “The impregnable rock of Holy Scripture continues to withstand all the strongest attacks of man and devil alike.” This is not surprising, for the Lord Jesus said, “Thy Word is Truth” (John 17:17).
The temples of Ashtareth and Dagon at Bethshan as they appear today.
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