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Is the Bible fraught with errors?
Archaeologists once boasted that the Bible was full of errors because there was no outside evidence that validated the Bible’s claims. This is no longer the case.
Let’s look at one of the major “supposed” errors, that there is no evidence for a real King David.
In 1986, Kyle McCarter wrote, “The Bible is our only source of information about David. No ancient inscription mentions him. No archaeological discovery can be securely linked to him.”
More recently in 2002, in an article titled “False Testament,” the author Lazare explains how archaeology has dismantled the Bible’s claim to history. Specifically, he references that there is no archaeological evidence for David and Solomon. It is true, for most of modern history, that there was no extra-biblical evidence that King David existed. But as always, given enough time, the Bible eventually proves true.
One of the evidences for King David, found in 1993, is called the Tel Dan Inscription1 in which the Aramean King (Hazel of Aram-Damascus) boasts of victories over the King of Israel and his ally, the king of the “House of David.”
The second evidence comes from British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen when he translated a text carved on the temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt2. The text references Pharaoh Shoshenq’s (1 Kings 14:25-27) raid into Palestine in 925 BCE including lands he captured, in which the “heights of David” is referenced.
The third evidence is the Mesha “inscribed monument”, or stele, which was commissioned by the king of Moab2. One line in this inscription again references the “House of David.”
So, we have three different inscriptions, from three different civilizations, in three different languages, which is an incredible confirmation that King David was a real person, just as the Bible declares!
- Biblical Archaeology Society Staff, “The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible,” Bibicalarcheaeology.org, Bible History Daily, 11 June, 2021, https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/the-tel-dan-inscription-the-first-historical-evidence-of-the-king-david-bible-story/. Accessed Feb 22, 2022.
- Eames, C. “The Three ‘David’ Inscriptions”, watchjerusalem.co, watch Jerusalem: Analysing the Past, Present and Future, https://watchjerusalem.co.il/1019-the-three-david-inscriptions. Accessed Feb 22, 2022.
