Errancy.com

Both Matthew and Acts contain accounts of what happened to the money paid to Judas for betraying Jesus, and both agree that the money was used to buy a field which became known as the Field of Blood. Who it was that used the money to buy the field, however, varies between the accounts.

According to Matthew, Judas repented of his betrayal and returned the money, and the chief priests used it to buy the potter’s field:

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. [Matthew 27:3-7 (NRSV)]

According to acts, Judas bought the field himself:

Now this man [Judas] acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. [Acts 1:18 (NRSV)]

So who bought the Field of Blood, the high priests or Judas?

In Acts, Paul tells the story of his conversion on three separate occasions. Each time the details are slightly different. One difference concerns where Jesus commissioned him to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

In the first Account of Paul’s conversion in Acts, Jesus tells Paul to go to Damascus and await instructions, and he is led away by his companions, still blind and still in the dark as to what his calling will be:

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. [Acts 9:3-7]

This is corroborated by Paul’s account to the tribune in Acts 22:

‘While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” Then he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, “What am I to do, Lord?” The Lord said to me, “Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.” Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.’ [Acts 22:6-11]

Again, then, Paul has to go to Damascus for his instructions.

When Paul recounts the story of his conversion to King Agrippa, however, he says that he received his commission then and there on the road to Damascus:

‘… I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles – to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”‘ [Acts 26:12b-18]

So was Paul appointed Apostle to the Gentiles on the road to Damascus, or later, in Damascus itself?

Both Mark and Matthew record an incident where a Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed came to Jesus, begging him for help. In both accounts, Jesus is initially unresponsive, saying that he is here to serve Israel, that it wouldn’t be fair to “take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs”. The woman has a ready reply, however, and persuades Jesus to help her; the woman’s daughter is instantly healed.

All of the above is in both accounts of the incident. Where Mark and Matthew disagree is on the matter of the woman’s race:

According to Mark, the woman was Syrophoenician:

… but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go – the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. [Mark 7:25-30 (NRSV)]

Matthew, however, says that the woman was Canaanite:

Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly. [Matthew 15:22-28 (NRSV)]

To say that the woman was Syrophoenician would indicate that she was from a region north of Galilee. To say that the woman was Canaanite would indicate that she was from a region in Judaea, well to the south of Galilee. These are two distinct areas some distant apart, so she cannot have been from both of them.

So was the Gentile woman who persuaded Jesus to heal her daughter Syrophoenician or Canaanite?

Both 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles list the six sons of David born to him in Hebron. The two lists are in perfect agreement, except concerning the name of the second son, who was born to Abigail.

In 2 Samuel, the name of the second son is given as Chileab:

Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom son of Maacah, daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron. [2 Samuel 3:2-5]

According to 1 Chronicles, though, the second son’s name was Daniel:

These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite; the third Absalom, son of Maacah, daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth Ithream, by his wife Eglah; six were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. [1 Chronicles 3:1-4a]

So what was the name of David’s second son, Chileab or Daniel?

The building of the temple under Solomon was a huge project, with many workers involved in it. Both 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles state the size of the work-force, but they disagree as to how many supervisors there were.

According to 1 Kings, there were 3,300 to oversee the project:

Solomon also had seventy thousand labourers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work, having charge of the people who did the work. [1 Kings 5:15-16]

According to 2 Chronicles, the number was 3,600:

Solomon conscripted seventy thousand labourers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, with three thousand six hundred to oversee them. [2 Chronicles 2:2]

So how many oversaw the building of the temple?