ContradictionsReading order 381Bible context 2 min read
When did Absalom rebel against David?
The forty-year interval before Absalom's conspiracy appears difficult to fit within David's forty-year reign, but its starting point is not stated in the excerpt.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Supporting
- A supporting event, teaching, or biographical claim.
Forty years before the rebellion threatens the fit with David's forty-year reign, but the interval's starting event is unstated.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Absalom begins his royal conspiracy after forty years
And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
2 Samuel 15:7-10
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:2 Samuel 15
David's entire reign lasts forty years
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
2 Samuel 5:4