Who is Hobab? (Is Scripture Inerrant?)

Numbers 10:29; Judges 4:11

“Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has promised good things to Israel (Numbers 10:29).’”

“Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh (Judges 4:11).”

In the book of Numbers, Hobab is introduced as the son of Moses’ father-in-law, i.e., his brother-in-law. In the book of Judges, Hobab is referred to as the father-in-law of Moses. This begs at least three questions:

1) Who is Hobab?
2) Why are these two texts different?
3) Is Scripture inerrant?

From a Christian perspective, one may question as to whether or not the third question is offensive to God. I say “no,” provided that the one questioning approaches the text in humility and faith. Take, for example, the admonition of the apostle Paul who wrote (1 Thessalonians 5:21):

“Test all things, hold fast what is good.”

So then:

Who is Hobab?

From a chronological perspective, Numbers was written prior to Judges. In addition, Numbers was written by Moses himself (it is one of the five Books of Moses). Therefore, it seems logical to infer that the firsthand reference to Hobab in Numbers is more accurate than that in Judges, which was likely written about four centuries later. In this case, Hobab was most likely Moses’ brother-in-law. This simple logic was possibly used by the translators of the NIV, who rendered Judges 4:11 as follows:

“Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.”

The problem with this rendering though is that the NIV translators have appeared to “cover-up” and thus avoid dealing with the discrepancy between these two texts, and this (from my perspective) isn’t entirely intellectually honest. Regardless, it begs another question:

Why are these Two Texts Different?

I ruminated over this one evening with my wife and sons, and we came up with the following suggestions:

1. Scribal Error – At some point during the copying and transmission of these texts through history, a scribe could have made an error (in either Numbers 10:29 or Judges 4:11, but more likely in Judges 4:11) that wasn’t noticed until it propagated widely, and earlier, correct manuscripts were no longer available to cross-check and enable revision;

2. Scribal Omission – Possibly the original Judges 4:11 text had an “of” that for some reason was dropped during the copying and transmission process:

“Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab (of) the father-in-law of Moses”

3. Interpretation – Possibly at the time Judges was written, the Hebrew was implicit, such that the hypothetical (of) in the prior suggestion was understood by contemporary readers, and said understanding of the text has been lost over time. Some support for this is found by comparison of Mark 2:26 (in which Jesus refers to the time of Abiathar the high priest) with 1 Samuel 21:1-6 (in which it is clear that Abiathar’s father Ahimelech was high priest at the time of the incident referred to by Jesus).

4. Moses’ Father-in-Law was Referred to by Multiple Names – He was referred to as Reuel (Exodus 2:18) and Jethro (Exodus 3:1) in the book of Exodus. Is it possible that he also went by the name of Hobab? This seems plausible, for at the time of writing this blog entry, I’m referred to as Michael, Mike, Bradford, Papai, Dad, Fofinho, or Skin, depending on who is talking with me at the time.

While it’s possible that one of these suggestions, or some other suggestion, accounts for the difference between the two texts, it begs the following question:

Is Scripture Inerrant?

The Bible self-declares that (Psalm 119:60; 2 Timothy 3:16-17):

“The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Consequently, many Christians (such as myself) posit that while the originally inspired manuscripts were directly inspired by God and thus free from all forms of error (such as apparent contradictions, including the two herein about Hobab), subsequent copies of said originally inerrant manuscripts may have become corrupted through the introduction of some minor errors (apparent or otherwise) to a minor extent that nevertheless have no impact on Christian doctrine or practice.

That said, skeptics use these minor differences between texts as evidence to support their claim that Scripture is errant and thus untrustworthy. For example, see: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html. In this regard, Christians must always be “ready to give a defense to everyone who asks (for) a reason for the hope that is in (them) (1 Peter 3:15).” Hence, four suggested reasons for the apparent discrepancy between Numbers 10:29 and Judges 4:11 have been provided herein.

However, if these four suggestions aren’t sufficient to allay your concerns about the plausible inerrancy of Scripture, then ask yourself:

Would you disregard the authenticity of the original Mona Lisa if a subsequent copy had a small blemish?

Would you refuse to fly in an airplane that had a spelling error in the free in-flight magazine?

Would you disregard the overwhelming evidence that supports the authenticity and authority of the Bible (including historical and prophetic writings, as well as the impact that Scripture has had and continues to have on transforming lives for the better), based on a minor apparent error that doesn’t impact any doctrine or practice?

I hope that you answered “no” to each of these questions. Regardless, for further discussion on the inerrancy and witness of Scripture, check out:

• Mark 11:11 : Is Scripture Inerrant?
• 1 Kings 7:23,26 : The Cubit, Bath, Handbreadth and Sea: Is Scripture Inerrant?
• 1 John 5:9 : The Witness of God and Men