I think the claim isn’t quite “it has a mistake, therefore it can’t be meant to be interpreted at face value” but “it has a really glaringly obvious mistake, therefore it can’t be meant to be interpreted at face value”.
The trouble with this is that the Bible contains a number of other really glaringly obvious mistakes that believers do have to explain away, but which they explain away in some manner other than “that’s a metaphor”.
The Bible also contains examples where believers say “well, it’s literally wrong, so it has to be a metaphor” even when the above reasoning doesn’t really apply (such as cases where the apparent mistake is glaringly obvious to us now, but would not have been glaringly obvious to the people who put the Bible together).
the Bible contains a number of other really glaringly obvious mistakes [...] which they explain away in some [other manner]
Few that are quite as glaring as this one, I think.
even when the above reasoning doesn’t really apply
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not attempting any general defence of the thinking and behaviour of religious believers in general or Christians in particular. (I’m an atheist myself—though I was a pretty serious Christian for many years, and have quite a good idea of how they think.)
The trouble with this is that the Bible contains a number of other really glaringly obvious mistakes that believers do have to explain away, but which they explain away in some manner other than “that’s a metaphor”.
The Bible also contains examples where believers say “well, it’s literally wrong, so it has to be a metaphor” even when the above reasoning doesn’t really apply (such as cases where the apparent mistake is glaringly obvious to us now, but would not have been glaringly obvious to the people who put the Bible together).
Few that are quite as glaring as this one, I think.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not attempting any general defence of the thinking and behaviour of religious believers in general or Christians in particular. (I’m an atheist myself—though I was a pretty serious Christian for many years, and have quite a good idea of how they think.)