For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Who is the most blessed woman?
Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:
Mary
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was.” (Luke 1:26-29)
Jael
“Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent. 25 He asked for water, she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. 26 She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell dead.” (Judges 5:24-27)
Judith
“And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth. 24 Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. 25 Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.” (Judith 13:23-25; quoted from Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)
(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)
Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:
- When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is a contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time. To put it another way, a Bible contradiction exists when there are claims within the Bible that are mutually exclusive in the same sense and at the same time.
- One should be skeptical of whether this is a Bible contradiction given the Skeptic Annotated Bible’s track record of inaccurately handling the Bible. See the many examples of their error which we have responded to in this post: Collection of Posts Responding to Bible Contradictions. Of course that does not take away the need to respond to this claim of a contradiction, which is what the remainder of this post will do. But this observation should caution us to slow down and look more closely at the passages cited by the Skeptic Annotated Bible to see if they interpreted the passages properly to support their conclusion that it is a Bible contradiction.
- The skeptic tries to pit Luke 1:26-29 as affirming the claim “Mary is the most blessed woman” against Judges 5:24-27 as affirming “Jael is the most blessed woman” and also these two verses are then against Judith 13:23-25 as affirming “Judith is the most blessed woman.”
- Right away we must point out that Judith 13:23-25 is not a book that is part of the books of the Bible. The Jews did not include this as part of the Old Testament. So if Judith 13:23-25 contradicts Luke 1:26-29 and Judges 5:24-27 it is not a Bible contradiction since the book of Judith should not be part of the Bible. So the question is now whether or not there’s a contradiction between Luke 1:26-29 and Judges 5:24-27, and Judith 13:23-25 is treated as irrelevant for the specific issue at hand.
- When the question “Who is the most blessed woman?” is asked we must realize that this is an issue of comparison among women but then we must ask which group of women are being compared and if there are different referents of women being compared limited by a time period or location; and if the comparisons made are of women of different time and place then we don’t have a contradiction before us.
- Concerning point five if the skeptics wishes to assert one or more of the passages is a comparison of all women who ever lived throughout all time and all location, the burden of the skeptic is to prove that the passage is making a comparison of a women with all women, at all times and all places.
- It doesn’t seem that Judges 5:24-27 which the skeptic claim is affirming “Jael is the most blessed woman” should be understood as being a claim about Jael being greater than Mary or Judith. Note that while Judges 5:24 states “Most blessed of women is Jael” in the first half of the verse, the second half of verse 24 states “Most blessed is she of women in the tent.” In both instances in the verse when it says “Most blessed” in Hebrew it is מִנָּשִׁ֔ים which consists of a preposition used for comparison followed by a feminine plural noun meaning “women.” However in the second instance of מִנָּשִׁ֔ים it is followed by בָּאֹ֖הֶל that is translated as “in the tent,” in which there is a preposition בָּ to indicate location of where were the women are locatively in which they are being compared, which of course is indicated here as women among the tent. If the women being compared are limited to those who were living in tent during the time of Judges 5 in which a woman arose to do what men were unable to do, then we can’t take Judges 5:24-27 to be making some kind of absolute universal claim of Jael compared to all women who ever existed.
- It also doesn’t seem that Luke 1:26-29 which the skeptic claim is affirming the claim “Mary is the most blessed woman” should be understood as being a claim about Mary being greater in comparison to Mary or Judith. While the King James Version says “blessed art thou among women” at the end of verse 28 this does not appear in most English versions. For instance NASB the last sentence in the verse as uttered by the angel to Mary is “The Lord is with you.” Again other versions agree, see here. If the verse doesn’t say anything about Mary being the most blessed then obviously the verse is not asserting anything about Mary is better than all women including Jael and Judith.
- However Luke 1:42 does talk about Mary being blessed compared to other women: “And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” But remember this is not the narrator speaking from the “voice of God” perspective, but that of Elizabeth as she addresses Mary when Elizabeth saw her and knew Mary is pregnant with the Messiah. Yet the comparison with the wordings does not indicate it is a comparison of Mary with all women who have ever live. Still I think Mary is no doubt the most blessed in one sense of being the woman chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah! In that sense I see her the most blessed of women with that special honor. But I don’t think this contradict with Judges 5:24-27 which was talking more locally at a specific time in a specific way of taking out an evil foreign military leader.
- An analogy can be helpful here to help us see there’s not a contradiction. I have three daughters. I would often go up to them and say to one of them “You are the my favorite!” I drag out the sentence and it goes like this “You are my favorite…oldest daughter!” Then with the middle child I tell her “You are my favorite…middle child!” With the youngest I tell her “You are my favorite…youngest child!” There’s no contradiction since each comparison is limited to them in a certain set.
- Still another analogy: A child might be told “You are the smartest!” in the context of being ranked first in his or her math class. Let’s say that’s statement is true in reference to the specific context. But someone else is told “You are the smartest!” in the context of being the valedictorian for the person’s graduating class in an Ivy league school hundreds of years after the first person was alive. No one in their mind would say there’s a contradiction. Still among those in that Ivy league school graduate one can still say to another student from the same graduating class “You are the smartest!” and still be factually true; but this time its a parent saying it to their only child who is the first in their family history to graduate college. Or another is told he’s the smartest in the sense of not just good grades but the wisdom of applying his knowledge from his major with all that he is doing, and maybe even more better at application than the valedictorian. Its being “the smartest” in different ways, different time and context. Likewise we can say Mary is the valedictorian in some sense of prestigious honor of carrying the Messiah while others are described as the most blessed in a context of a comparison of those immediately nearer than a comparison of all women that have ever lived, etc.
- Thus there is no contradiction here. Seems like the skeptics need to learn from our post How to Handle Bible Contradictions.
- We shouldn’t miss that worldviews are at play even with the skeptic’s objection to Christianity. The worldview of the author of the Skeptic Annotated Bible actually doesn’t even allow for such a thing as the law of non-contradiction to be meaningful and intelligible. In other words for him to try to disprove the Bible by pointing out that there’s a Bible contradiction doesn’t even make sense within his own worldview. Check out our post “Skeptic Annotated Bible Author’s Self-Defeating Worldview.”
[…] Who is the most blessed woman? […]
Thanks for the insight and knowledge to help bring us some wisdom on this. This is an important issue: “if the skeptics wishes to assert one or more of the passages is a comparison of all women who ever lived throughout all time and all location, the burden of the skeptic is to prove that the passage is making a comparison of a women with all women, at all times and all places.”
Blessings!
[…] Bible Contradiction? Who is the most blessed woman? […]
I appreciate this thorough debunking of another one of Steve/Stephen Wells’ alleged contradictions including the word study and analysis of Luke 1:28. Once again, Wells draws from the either/or logical fallacy well.
If I get a quarter for every logical fallacies he’s committed on the Skeptic Annotated Bible I be rich. Crazy how irrational Steve Wells is, he definitely has an axe to grind with God, he’s not spiritually well. Are you able to still walk at the cemetery or weather prohibit it? Haven’t walked much with sermon prep and driving to drop off gifts this year.
Our dog is still recovering so I’m just taking her on short walks. I need to walk by myself because my steps are waaaaaaay down. My wife is in the middle of shopping frenzy so our routine is all discombobulated. Thanks for the motivation to get back to stepping!
Fantastic job! I love your analogies with your girls! The skeptic tried too hard here. I appreciate your Hebrew work with in the tent! I will admit, I do think Protestants diminish the role of Mary because of the Mary worship of the RCC. This is such a timely post, thank you!
Thanks! I was thinking last night wow I should do one related to Christmas and so I saw this was one I haven’t tackled yet! Love looking at passages related to Christ coming whether prophecies or the Luke and Matthew narrative or dealing with alleged Bible contradictions. Grateful you joined us last night sister for the study! Hope your sleep wasn’t affected by it, and I’m praying!
Hey, Jim! It was great to be a part of study! I am so thankful for you and your peeps! Praying for y’all as well!
No contradiction at all and it is all about stats for the skeptic. Good points and analogies, Jim! Your post reminded me that there is still a lot that I have to discover in the Old Testament. GOD bless you, Nancy, and your favorite kids!
There is a lot I hope to discover from the Old Testament myself! The Old Testament is soooo amazing! The more I grow in Christ the more I want to “mine” the Old Testament for gold including Messianic prophecies, end time Prophecies, the anticipation of the Gospel, etc. so much gold amen?
True, so much gold (precious infomation and stories) to know in our walk of faith. I used to read OT from Genesis to Numbers in 2015-2017. I got bored with the Book of Numbers and it was only when I look for verses on the Law in May 2020 that I appreciated Numbers. I read NASB (Charles Stanley’s Study Bible) for OT and ESV for NT. You are right, maybe I should start again with “In the beginning.”
Thanks much! Blessings!
The skeptic is really fishing for material in this instance. Superlatives always need to be read in their context and not lumped into one pudding. Thank you for handling all these perceived contradictions so well. Blessings to you and your family this Christmas. J.
For those who this Christmas will have a loved one who go online to use the Skeptic Annotated Bible and found this “contradiction,” I hope the Christian will be able to answer back like you did here. This is great for others to be equipped for free
Excellent refute.
Thanks! There is so many attacks on God’s Word today, trying to push back and refute them so others be equipped to disarming these objections. May the Lord use these efforts online to reach others, that is my prayer, and why I am writing these. Let God be glorified amen?
Amen and Amen.
I hope people read this all the way to the end as your last point is important: The Bible has no contradiction but the Skeptic Annotated Bible is full of the skeptic’s own contradiction, and the skeptic’s worldview is so confusing and self-refuting. Such a wonderful explanation you gave here for non believer.
[…] Who is the most blessed woman? […]
A late Merry Christmas! Thanks for answering this attack that spawned from the Skeptic Annotated Bible
I agree with you about the timeline of each woman, thank you very interesting
Thanks for reading this! How was your Christmas yesterday??
It was very good thank you. Saw my daughter and family online but it’s ok maybe we can visit next Christmas 💞☺️🎄
The truth of the Bible stands even under skeptic scrutiny. Praise God!
how was YOUR Christmas?
It went well, spent a short time with my in-laws and then we came home earlier. Trying not to put others at too much risk. God bless your Lord’s Day, thank you for asking! Be safe, whatever part of the country or world you are at =)
Thank you. We live in south florida and if u can, where do u live?
I live in Los Angeles, California! Wow neat to hear you live in South Florida, I imagine its not too cold right now though I can imagine sometime you guys have humid Christmas day?
Humidity is mostly in the Summer. I love the winter but I’m not happy in the summer that is when is truly humid.
Is very hard for me to read long posts but I try.
I have ADHD.
[…] 7.) Bible Contradiction? Who is the most blessed woman? […]
Next Saturday, I have an “Exhausted” quiz – the thirteen times exhausted is used in the OT, and one is where Sisera goes into the tent and Jael nails him, literally, with a tent peg. Of course, Sisera was exhausted and took a nap. Odd how one story pops up on the radar on consecutive days – just reading yours and writing the quiz yesterday.
Thanks for sharing that. Is this for your Bible study with your church you were telling me about before?
No, I just write a quiz for my blog each Saturday morning. With so much virtual Sunday school and totally canceled Sunday school, I thought it was a good idea.
This is easier than it looks.
The miracle in Matthew’s gospel occurred BEFORE he was accused of violating the Sabbath. Matthew 9:20-22; 12:1-21. The miracle in Mark’s and Luke’s gospels occured AFTER he was accused of violating the sabbath. Mark 2:23-3:6; 5:25-29 Luke 6:1-11; 8:43-45.
The miracle in Matthew’s gospel occurred BEFORE the Lord declares who his brethren are. Matthew 9:20-22; 12:46-50. The miracle in Mark’s and Luke’s gospels occured AFTER the Lord declares who his brethren are. Mark 3:31-35; 5:25-29 Luke 8:19-21, 43-45.
These are two separate miracles.
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