I was going thru 1-10 on my own but noticed that this site apparently addressed this. So I will be referring to that site
11. When David defeated the King of Zobah, how many horsemen did he capture?
(a) One thousand and seven hundred (2 Samuel 8:4)
(b) Seven thousand (I Chronicles 18:4)
The number had been reduced to 700 as it refers to 700 rows, each consisting of 10 horse men, making a total of 7,000.
Blessed Quietness JournalThis is one of the last alleged major contradictions which version junkies feel sure we cannot answer. Many of them will stake their soul on this being proof that God cannot preserve His Word in the English language, and they could lose their soul for their arrogance. If you are one of these reprobates, you now have at least four very rational discussions if you really WANT to believe God's Word is pure.
NUMBER ONE
First the written objection and then the "answer". This particular Christian group is following the NASB reading. All the Christian sites I visited which are new version proponents agree there is a scribal error.
Objection
2 Samuel 8:4 and 1 Chronicles 18:4: Samuel says that David captured 1,700 horsemen and Chronicles says he captured 7,000 in the exact same battle. 1,700 does not equal 7,000 no matter what you do so one or the other must be in error. Again, you can claim copyist error but it is yet another error in our current version of scripture.
The "Christian" answer:
"Yes, it is an 'error' in ONE of the MSS families--the Masoretic Text...Other families such as 2 Samuel in the LXX and (most probably) in the Dead Sea Scroll version of this reflect identical wording in the two passages...it is simply a text-critical decision that someone made that created a conflict (in this case). Again, we have mss. data that resolves the issue plausibly."
This, my friends, is the typical "Christian" answer. "The Hebrew text is wrong, but it is all straightened out in the LXX." Well, not even the NASB got it right, did they? This 'Think Tank' merely tanked; not much thinking involved.
The King James Bible reads in 2 Samuel 8:4 "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and 700 horsemen, and 20,000 footmen." Other Bible versions that agree with the KJB are the NKJV, Webster's 1833 translation, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century Version.
I Chronicles 18:4 says: "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 footmen."
The NIV and NASB don't even agree with each other and both disagree with the KJB. In I Samuel 8:4 the KJB says 1,000 chariots and 700 horsemen and 20,000 footmen; the NASB says David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 footmen, while the NIV says David took 1,000 of his chariots, 7,000 charioteers and 20,000 foot soldiers.
The NASB, while omitting any reference to the chariots here, is in conflict with itself when the parallel passage of 1 Chronicles 18:4 is compared. There the NASB also reads as does the KJB with 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 footmen.
The NIV reading in 2 Samuel 8:4 of 1,000 chariots, 7,000 (not 700) horsemen comes from the Greek Septuagint. They tell you this in the NIV footnote.
Here are some different explanations given by men who did not try to change the KJB reading.
NUMBER TWO
Matthew Henry - "The horsemen are here said to be 700, but 1 Chr. 18:4 they are said to be 7000. If they divided their horses by ten in a company, as it is probable they did, the captains and companies were 700, but the horsemen were 7000."
John Wesley commentary - "Seven hundred - Or, seven hundred companies of horsemen, that is, in all seven thousand; as it is there being ten in each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain."
NUMBER THREE
Dr. Peter Ruckman says on page 178 of his book Problem Texts that most of today's "scholars" say the number of 700 in I Samuel 8:4 is a scribal error. Then he asks if it never occurred to these men that professional soldiers might not be as stupid as Bible scholars.
He continues: "Why wouldn't a war chariot have spare horses? What if both of them (or four to six in a harness) were killed? What do you do, silly, leave the chariot lying there in the mud? Obviously, the Syrians have ten horsemen per chariot. Observe exactly the same thing comparing 2 Samuel 10:18 and 1 Chron. 19:18; ten men per chariot.
2 Samuel 10:18 says "the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the MEN OF 700 chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen." Then in I Chronicles 19:18 we read: "But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians 7000 men WHICH FOUGHT IN chariots, and forty thousand footmen."
NUMBER FOUR
An explanation offered by Gerardus D. Bouw in The Book of Bible Problems. He says on page 84: "Apparently the 6,300 were captured as a group while the remaining 700 were captured at a different time. In support of this theory he notes the differences in the language used in the two sections.
In II Samuel 8:3 it says David smote Hadadezer as he went TO RECOVER his border at the river Euphrates, while in I Chronicles 18:3 it says David smote Hadarezer as he went TO STABLISH his dominion by the river Euphrates.
So, in effect he is suggesting that Hadarezar initially went to stabilize his control over the Euphrates and David took his troops of 700 horsemen. Then Hadarezar sent another 6300 to recover his previous dominion and then these too were taken by David, thus making a total of 7,000.
NUMBER FIVE
Here is another possible explanation for the apparent contradiction. It seems more likely there was only one battle that took place between king David and Hadadezer the king of Zobah. In one account we are told David took 700 horsemen while in the other the number is 7000 horsemen.
I believe an important part of the equation is that some footmen were also horsemen; they could either fight on horse or on foot since they were specifically trained for both methods of combat. Those footmen who were also horsemen could then replace the number of fallen horsemen in the midst of battle. We see this double role in another passage. In 2 Samuel 10:18 we are told of 40,000 HORSEMEN of the Syrian army who were slain by king David and his men; but in 1 Chronicles 19:18 this same number is listed as 40,000 FOOTMEN. These particular soldiers could fight either on foot or on horseback.
When we compare 2 Samuel 8:4 - the 700 horsemen taken with the number of 7000 horsemen taken in battle in I Chronicles 18:4, the difference can be attributed to how each writer is considering the men in question. The additional 6, 300 men were trained as both horsemen and footsoldiers. As "horsemen" reserves they could be included with the 700 and so would be combined as a total of 7000, but as footsoldiers they would be counted among the 20,000.
So how many "horsemen" were slain? Seven hundred - but also an additional 6,300 who were trained both as horsemen and footmen. The two different writers are giving two different views of the same events.
Any one of the last four explanations could be the correct one or perhaps there is another God has not yet been pleased to reveal to us. But there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the King James Bible. We can have all confidence that it is indeed the true and perfect word of the living God.12. How many stalls for horses did Solomon have?
(a) Forty thousand (I Kings 4:26)
(b) Four thousand (2 chronicles 9:25)
Solomon had four thousand stalls for his horses AND chariots. There were ten horses assigned to each chariot.
There were forty thousand stalls for horses. Each of the four thousand chariot stalls had ten smaller stalls to house the chariot horses.
Each chariot was assigned ten men and ten horses so when something happened to the men and horses in battle they could be exchanged for fresh men and horses; “the ones who were sitting on the bench.”
So, for example, Let’s say we have a chariot with four horses and two men in battle. When a man or horse gets too tired, injured or killed, they are swapped out for any of the other six horses and eight men waiting on the side lines.
This strategy would keep the chariots continuously in battle.
See my video on 2 Samuel 10:18 to learn more about ten men being assigned to each chariot and the supposed contradiction.13. In what year of King Asa's reign did Baasha, King of Israel die?
(a) Twenty-sixth year (I Kings 15:33 - 16:8)
(b) Still alive in the thirty-sixth year (2 Chronicles 16:1)
Baasha came to power in the third year of the reign of king Asa and died in the twenty sixth year of Asa’s reign just as 1 Kings states. His son, Elah, reigned after him as verse 6 in 1 Kings 16 states.
1 Kings 16:6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead, this we already know from verse 8 was in the 26th year of Asa.
Yet obviously this does not coincide with the thirty sixth year as stated in 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles, however, unlike 1 Kings, it is not referring to the literal year of Asa’s reign. The thirty sixth year is actually the 36th year since the division of the kingdom from the unified Israel into the Northern tribes of the house of Israel and the southern tribes, the house of Judah. While the author of 1 Kings records the year according to the literal reign of Asa, the author of 2 Chronicles records the year according to the division of the kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms.
When we look at the Hebrew in 1 Kings 15:33 there are two important things to note. Firstly, we will see that the word translated as reign is מָלַךְ Malak which means to reign as king, to become king (or queen). This is a literal reference as to when Baasha became king. He became literal king in the third year of Asa. Here is the second point, it states clearly, “the third year of Asa”. This is a reference to the literal third year of Asa’s reign as king.
Now let’s look at 2 Chronicles 16:1. The Hebrew word translated as reign here is מַלְכוּת malkuth and means reign or kingdom. This is not referring to the literal reign of Asa as king but the reign of the kingdom of which Asa was a member. The kingdom that had started thirty six years earlier with his grandfather Rehoboam14.How many overseers did Solomon appoint for the work of building the temple?
(a) Three thousand six hundred (2 Chronicles 2:2)
(b) Three thousand three hundred (I Kings 5:16)
This is not too great a problem. The most likely solution is that the author of 2 Chronicles included the 300 men who were selected as reservists to take the place of any supervisors who would become ill or who had died, while the author of the 1 Kings 5:16 passage includes only the supervisory force. With the group as large as the 3,300, sickness and death certainly did occur, requiring reserves who would be called up as the need arose.15.Solomon built a facility containing how many baths?
(a) Two thousand (1 Kings 7:26)
(b) Over three thousand (2 Chronicles 4:5)
The two verses do not contradict. What we have here are two descriptions that are not mutually exclusive. If the container held 3000 baths at a certain point in time, then surely there was a point during its filling when it held 2000 baths. Neither 1 Kings 7:26 nor 2 Chronicles 4:5 purport to provide the upper limit of the capacity. When the historian of 1 Kings 7:26 observed the container, it held 2000 baths. When the historian of 2 Chronicles 4:5 observed the container, it held 3000 baths.16. Of the Israelites who were freed from the Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab?
(a) Two thousand eight hundred and twelve (Ezra 2:6)
(b) Two thousand eight hundred and eighteen (Nehemiah 7:11)
17. How many were the children of Zattu?
(a) Nine hundred and forty-five (Ezra 2:8)
(b) Eight hundred and forty-five (Nehemiah 7:13)
18. How many were the children of Azgad? (
a) One thousand two hundred and twenty-two (Ezra 2:12)
(b) Two thousand three hundred and twenty-two (Nehemiah 7:17)
19.How many were the children of Adin?
(a) Four hundred and fifty-four (Ezra 2:15)
(b) Six hundred and fifty-five (Nehemiah 7:20)
20.How many were the children of Hashum?
(a) Two hundred and twenty-three (Ezra 2:19)
(b) Three hundred and twenty-eight (Nehemiah 7:22)
21.How many were the children of Bethel and Ai?
(a) Two hundred and twenty-three (Ezra 2:28)
(b) One hundred and twenty-three (Nehemiah 7:32)
22 answered after 23
23.How many singers accompanied the assembly? (a) Two hundred (Ezra 2:65) (b) Two hundred and forty-five (Nehemiah 7:67)
It is obvious from the above table, that there were many statistical differences between Ezra and Nehemiah. Though most of them are identical, some do not match. Why? The answer is simple.
Ezra was written no later than 450 B.C.1 Nehemiah should be dated during the reign of Artexerxes 1 (464-423 B.C.).2 According to the book, “Talk Thru the Bible,” Ezra was written about 538-516 B.C.3 where Nehemiah was written around 444-425 B.C.4 Therefore, the dates of writing are different and the statistical differences can easily be accounted for by considering that during the difference of years, people died, families grew, etc.
I must note that there is a small percentage of copyist errors in numbers throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. It is certainly possible that some of the numbers differ due to copyist mistakes. Nevertheless, the difference in dates of writing can certainly account for the difference in numbers.
22.Ezra 2:64 and Nehemiah 7:66 agree that the total number of the whole assembly was 42,360. Yet the numbers do not add up to anything close. The totals obtained from each book is as follows:
(a) 29,818 (Ezra)
(b) 31,089 (Nehemiah)
Key highlites from the article
Not only do many of the numbers not agree in each list, but there is a further problem. Both Ezra and Nehemiah give the same total of the whole congregation as being 42,360.
But as one Bible scoffer named Dennis McKinsey writes: "We have a listing of the subclans that returned from the Captivity and the number of people in each. In the KJV, out of approximately thirty-five subclans listed over half of the numbers are in disagreement. Furthermore, someone doesn't know how to add very well because the totals are in error.
Ezra 2:64 says `The whole congregation together was 42,360,' when one can see by easily adding the figures together that the total is 29,818.
Nehemiah 7:66 also says, `The whole congregation together was 42,360' when one need only add those figures to see that it's actually 31,089. Ezra erred by 12,542, and Nehemiah erred by 11,271."
First of all, when we look at the names, we find that certain names are mentioned in alternate forms. Among the Jews of that time a person had a name, title, and surname. Thus, the children of Hariph (Nehemiah 7:24) are the children of Jorah (Ezra 2:18) both of whom number 112. The children of Sia (Nehemiah 7:47) are also the children of Siaha (Ezra 2:44).
The most important thing in how I think this apparent contradiction can be explained is to notice who exactly is being counted in these two different lists. It is the MEN and not the women who are being counted, unless the women are specifically mentioned as they are in only one verse in both Ezra 2:65 and Nehemiah 7:67.
Only in this one verse in both accounts do we read: "The whole congregation together was 42,360, Beside their servants AND THEIR MAIDS, of whom there were 7,337..."
For God to give only the number of MEN in a group is very common both in the Old and New Testaments. "And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramases to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot that were MEN, BESIDE children." Exodus 12:37
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