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Contradictions Debunked Immoral Evidence Silly Debate

Contradictions Debunked Immoral Evidence Silly Debate

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ContradictionsReading order 524Bible context 7 min read

Does the Bible condemn gambling?

Warnings about greed are contrasted with approved uses of lots, but selecting by lot is not automatically wagering for profit. The supplied passages contain no explicit universal ban on gambling.

Textual conflict: Weak contradiction; The supplied passages do not establish incompatible claims. Different events, meanings, or conditions may account for the difference.
Importance: Major; A major event or claim with wider implications.

Warnings against greed neither prohibit every use of lots nor equate allocation by lot with wagering for profit.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.

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The texts warn against greed and describe soldiers casting lots

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Proverbs 23:4

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Proverbs 23

He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Proverbs 28:22

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Proverbs 28

PreviousWho killed Goliath? NextIs money good or bad?

An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

Proverbs 20:21

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Proverbs 20

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Proverbs 10:4

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Proverbs 10

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

Proverbs 13:11

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Proverbs 13

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Hebrews 13:5

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Hebrews 13

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:10

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:1 Timothy 6

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Ecclesiastes 5

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:2 Thessalonians 3

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

John 19:23-24

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:John 19

Lots are authorized for land, ritual duties, and leadership choices

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.

Numbers 26:52-56

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Numbers 26

And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

Numbers 33:54

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Numbers 33

And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:

Numbers 34:13

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Numbers 34

By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.

Joshua 14:2

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Joshua 14

Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.

Joshua 18:6

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Joshua 18

These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country.

Joshua 19:51

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Joshua 19

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

Joshua 21:8

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Joshua 21

And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

Leviticus 16:2-8

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Leviticus 16

And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands. And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

1 Samuel 10:19-21

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:1 Samuel 10

Therefore Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

1 Samuel 14:41-42

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:1 Samuel 14

And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according to the house of their fathers, for every gate. And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.

1 Chronicles 26:13-14

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:1 Chronicles 26

And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law:

Nehemiah 10:34

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Nehemiah 10

And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:23-26

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Acts 1

Understanding the contradiction

Proverbs 28:22 warns against haste to become rich, Proverbs 13:11 favors accumulation through labor, and Hebrews 13:5 urges contentment rather than covetousness. These concerns can apply to gambling, but do not name it or define every use of chance as wrong. John 19:23-24 reports soldiers casting lots for Jesus' clothing; narration and scriptural fulfillment do not themselves constitute an explicit moral judgment on the selection procedure.

Numbers 26:52-56 commands distribution of land by lot, with shares also related to population. Leviticus 16:2-8 uses lots to assign the goats' ritual roles. Other selections allocate service duties or identify a person, and Acts 1:23-26 uses lots to choose Matthias after prayer. These actions distribute property, duties, or office without describing participants staking money for a chance at profit.

The common element is a selection method, not necessarily the economic activity ordinarily called gambling. A contradiction would require a prohibition broad enough to cover these authorized procedures. The supplied warnings condemn greed, idleness, or unstable wealth, while the other passages approve particular ways of choosing. They do not establish opposite rules for one clearly defined practice.

Topics

contradictionProverbsHebrews1 TimothyEcclesiastes2 ThessaloniansJohnNumbersJoshuaLeviticus1 Samuel1 ChroniclesNehemiahActs

Sources

Does the Bible condemn gambling? · Apolog