Selected story
The People of the Cave
Read the cited context and compare 8 documented textual points.
Comparison 30 of 34
The People of the Cave
The two accounts at a glance
Bible
World English BibleNo direct Bible account
No biblical passage narrates this cave-sleep episode.
Qur'an
Sahih InternationalYoung believers take refuge in a cave, sleep for years, and become a sign; the passage reports disputed counts of their number.
These are concise account summaries with exact references. Open the complete texts at these passages →
8 documented comparison points
The People of the Cave is a Qur'an-only narrative with no direct Bible account. The Bible side records that absence and compares only broad resurrection and faithfulness motifs, not a claimed parallel story. Labels use one standard: agreement means both texts state the point; additional detail means one adds a non-conflicting detail; omission means one is silent; ambiguity means an identity or meaning is not explicit; contradiction means both texts state mutually exclusive claims. Stylistic wording alone is not counted.
A direct biblical account
No biblical book narrates faithful youths sleeping in a cave for centuries and awakening as a sign.
Young believers flee to a cave, God seals their hearing for many years, and they are later awakened.
The persecution and escape
The Bible contains other persecution deliverances, such as Daniel's companions in Babylon, but not this cave flight or unnamed city.
The youths reject their people's gods and withdraw to the cave, trusting God for mercy and guidance; ruler and city are unnamed.
Protection during the long sleep
No biblical narrative describes the sun veering from a cave, sleepers being turned side to side, or a dog stretched at the entrance.
Sunlight avoids them, God turns them right and left, their dog stretches its forelegs at the entrance, and observers would flee in terror.
How long they remain
The Bible supplies no duration for this nonexistent episode.
The youths estimate a day or part of a day; the narrative later states three hundred years plus nine.
The city errand after awakening
No biblical sleeper is sent with old silver coins to buy pure food while hiding the group's identity.
One youth is sent with silver money to find wholesome food quietly and avoid discovery.
The awakening as a sign
The Bible teaches a future bodily resurrection grounded in God's power and, in the New Testament, Jesus' resurrection, without using cave sleepers as proof.
Their discovery demonstrates that God's promise and the Hour are true.
Uncertainty over their number
Because the Bible has no account, it gives no competing totals for the youths.
People dispute whether there were three, five, or seven plus their dog; the text says God knows best and only a few know.
A building over the site
No debate about building a structure or place of worship over cave sleepers occurs.
After discovery, people debate building over them, and the prevailing group proposes a place of worship.
What do both texts share?
No direct Bible account is identified for this topic. It is included so readers can distinguish a Qur'an-only narrative from a shared story.