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Jonah and the Whale

But how well do we know it ? Well enough to know that he wasn’t eaten by a whale ? It was no mammal that ate Jonah – it was a huge fish – though its type is not mentioned. Of course, I am presuming that everyone reading this knows that a whale is not a fish.

Samson and Delilah

is a famous story from the Old Testament which ends rather badly, as Samson’s long hair is cut short to destroy his strength. The common misconception is that Delilah was the one to give him the chop – But in fact, it was Delilah’s servant who did it.

The Three Wise Men

There weren’t three and they didn’t visit Jesus in a manger. The Bible gives neither the number of men ( but does the number of gifts as three, which is probably where this misconception comes from ).

Additionally, Herod demanded the death of all boys under two, making it probable that Christ had been born up to two years prior. Also, the wise men visited Jesus when he lived in a house according to the Biblical account in Matthew 2:11.

Alcohol

The Bible does not condemn drinking alcohol ( remember that Jesus’ first public miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding party ), or gambling and betting. The closest it comes to the latter is to recommend against get rich quick schemes ( Ecclesiastes 5:10 ) and loving money excessively. that misconception is a holdover from Calvinistic and Purtanical Protestantism – which worked its way into Methodism.

What the Bible DOES say is “ Be not DRUNK of the fruit of the vine ” – at the same time many claim that the water was turned into grape juice – but the original Gospels clearly use a word which translates from the original Greek as WINE a “ fermented grape beverage ”. Traditionally drunk means “ falling down drunk ” – in other words, the loss of the will to control oneself.

Noah’s  Ark

We all know that the “ animals went in two by two ”… right? Wrong! In fact, all clean animals went in in groups of seven, and unclean animals in groups of two. According to Jewish dietary law, there are far more clean animals than unclean, so the majority of creatures entering the ark went in as a group of 7. Genesis 7:2-3

Genesis 7:2-3

2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.

Adam and Eve’s Fruit

Contrary to popular belief, Adam and Eve did not eat an Apple in the book of Genesis. The fruit is not actually named at all – it is referred to only as the fruit of “ the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil ”.

The reason this misconception has come about is most likely due to the fact that in Middle English, the word “apple” was used to refer to all fruit and nuts (except berries). Over the centuries, this word has stuck in reference to the Genesis fruit.   Genesis 2:17

Mary  Magdalene’s

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. In fact, she is barely mentioned at all. Aside from her presence at the ressurection, the only other thing that the Bible does say is that she was possessed by seven demons. [Luke 8:2]
 

" and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities — Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,"