Stephen’s Mistake?
Recently, I spent a number of posts exploring one supposed contradiction in Scripture. In a much briefer manner, I thought I might illustrate how another supposed “contradiction” of Scripture might be understood. This one involves the sermon of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. Today, I will set up the problem.
Acts chapter 7 records the speech of Stephen to the Sanhedrin. Stephen, in this speech, provides a brief history of Israel, in verse 16 referring to the sons of Jacob…
… and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
It appears that Stephen made a historical gaffe in stating that Abraham had purchased this tomb from the sons of Hamor. Joshua 24:32 records the Old Testament version of the story:
As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
Critics of scriptural inerrancy point to Stephen’s supposed blunder as proof that the Bible is riddled with errors and contradictions. At first glance, one might agree with the critics that there is an obvious contradiction here. Who did buy the plot of land at Shechem? Is there any way to reconcile Stephen’s report with the clear declaration of the Old Testament account?
In my next post, I will answer this question.