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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:40:49 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:40:58 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:41:07 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:41:42 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:41:50 GMT -5
D
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:41:57 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:42:33 GMT -5
D
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:42:41 GMT -5
D
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:49:12 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:49:26 GMT -5
E
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:49:36 GMT -5
Firstly, the word "exactly" is not in the text, there is no statement that the number has NOT been rounded* so in the absence of such an explicit statement, any presumption that the number had not been rounded is, given the contextual circumstances (see extract below), quesionable.
● QUESTION/ At 1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2 we are told that the circular molten sea in the courtyard of Solomon’s temple was ten cubits from brim to brim and that “it took a line of thirty cubits to circle all around it.” Is this not incorrect, since it is impossible to have a circle with these two values?—H.S., U.S.A.
Today, in mathematical calculations, it is customary to use pi, which denotes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. According to general practice, it is a quantity equivalent to 3.1416. However, in ancient times persons did not give decimals down to the last fraction. For that matter, pi itself is not just 3.1416. Persons who insist on scrupulous accuracy and consider the Bible to be in error in giving the measurements of the molten sea would do well to realize that, to be more accurate themselves, it would be appropriate to carry pi to at least eight decimal places, which would be 3.14159265, though even a figure in excess of 3.1415926535 could be used.
Bible commentator Christopher Wordsworth quotes a certain Rennie, who made this interesting observation regarding the measurements of the molten sea: “Up to the time of Archimedes [third century B.C.E.], the circumference of a circle was always measured in straight lines by the radius; and Hiram would naturally describe the sea as thirty cubits round, measuring it, as was then invariably the practice, by its radius, or semidiameter, of five cubits, which being applied six times round the perimeter, or ‘brim,’ would give the thirty cubits stated. There was evidently no intention in the passage but to give the dimensions of the Sea, in the usual language that every one would understand, measuring the circumference in the way in which all skilled workers, like Hiram, did measure circles at that time. He, of course, must however have known perfectly well, that as the polygonal hexagon thus inscribed by the radius was thirty cubits, the actual curved circumference would be somewhat more.”
According to 1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2, the molten sea was ten cubits, or fifteen feet, in diameter and it took a line of thirty cubits, or forty-five feet, to encompass it. That is a ratio of one to three, which, for practical purposes, was quite adequate for the sake of a record. Jeremiah and Ezra, therefore, gave approximate figures.
Adapted from Watchtower, QR May 15th 1966
FOOTNOT: An approximation is a perfectly viable mathematical and/or linguistic vehicle, it is not an "inaccuracy". To say that A lives approximately 2 kilometers from B if that is true, is not an error, of course it is entirely subjective as to whether one believes the approximation is reasonable or not. Had the bible writer implied "pi" were approximately 19 we might have something to talk about but as it stands the number is more than reasonable given the context and purpose of the passage. Even if he had, we would still be in the grey area of defining what he meant by "approximately".
In short, given how open such things are to personal values and interprétations, to present "approximations" as proof positive of "errors" is unconvincing.
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:50:13 GMT -5
R
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5
- [17, 500 gallons (66, 000 liters)
- weight: 30 tons
- List item 3
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 12:01:06 GMT -5
Y
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Post by Admin on Mar 13, 2023 12:01:23 GMT -5
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