The Bible and the Value of "PI"

 

Does the Bible contain a mathematical error?

I Kings 7:23 .26 and II Chronicles 4:2 .5 describe a huge brass bowl built by King Solomon.  If the diameter of this bowl was 10 cubits, then the circumference should have been 31.415926...cubits, not just 30 cubits!  Any math student will tell you that the circumference of a circle is found by taking the diameter times Pi (3..141592653589793...).   This apparent mathematical error caused me, as a new Christian, to doubt the accuracy of the Bible.

The answer is so simple!

The diameter of 10 cubits is from outer rim to outer rim, the way anyone would measure a circular object.  The circumference of 30 cubits, however, was of the inner circle, after subtracting the thickness of the brass (two handbreadths .one for each side) from which the bowl was made.  This would be the number needed to calculate the volume of water.

Check for yourself.

Substitute the length of your cubit (elbow to longest fingertip) for the letter C in the following formula, and solve for H.

30C / p + 2H = 10C

The width of your handbreadth will be the result.  For example, my cubit is 20 inches long. If I had built the brass bowl, the outer diameter would have a circumference of 600 inches (30 x 20 inches) and a diameter of 190.986 inches (600 inches / 3.14159).   The difference between the two diameters is 9.014 inches (two of my handbreadths).

Rest assured God makes no mistakes, mathematical or otherwise. The Scriptures do not contain error.  By the way, Solomon built this sea in 1000 B.C., long before the Greeks rediscovered Pi (p).  We may not understand some things at first glance, but the problem is with us, not with the Bible.  Please be sure you are on the solid foundation of God's Word, saved by the blood of Christ.

This article, written by Dr. Kent Hovind,
have been posted on this website with Dr.Hovinds kindest permission.