Encyclopedia entry
Chance
(Luke 10:31). “It was not by chance that the priest came down by that road at that time, but by a specific arrangement and in exact fulfilment of a plan; not the plan of the priest, nor the plan of the wounded traveller, but the plan of God. By coincidence (Gr. sungkuria) the priest came down, that is, by the conjunction of two things, in fact, which were previously constituted a pair in the providence of God. In the result they fell together according to the omniscient Designer’s plan. This is the true theory of the divine government.” Compare the meeting of Philip with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26, 27). There is no “chance” in God’s empire. “Chance” is only another word for our want of knowledge as to the way in which one event falls in with another (1 Sam. 6:9; Eccl. 9:11).
In the Bible
6
Verses where Chance is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Corinthians 15:37
And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.
- 1 Samuel 6:9
but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”
- 2 Samuel 1:6
“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.
- Deuteronomy 22:6
If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11
I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- Luke 10:31
Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Scripture on Chance
7
See all 7 +−
Entries that reference Chance
1
Voices on Chance
24
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.