ContradictionsReading order 170Bible context 1 min read

How many horsemen did David take?

The accounts agree on chariots and infantry but differ by a factor of ten in captured horsemen.

Textual conflict: Direct contradiction; The quoted passages make incompatible claims about the same subject under the same conditions. Little additional inference is needed.
Importance: Minor; A local detail in a story, chronology, or inventory.

The matching capture inventories give seven hundred versus seven thousand horsemen while agreeing on chariots and infantry.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.

David captures seven hundred horsemen

And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.

2 Samuel 8:4

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:2 Samuel 8

David captures seven thousand horsemen

And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.

1 Chronicles 18:4

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:1 Chronicles 18

Understanding the contradiction

2 Samuel 8:4 gives David one thousand chariots, seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand infantry. It then describes disabling the chariot horses while keeping enough for one hundred chariots. The horsemen count is a separate category from the vehicles and foot soldiers.

1 Chronicles 18:4 repeats the surrounding numbers and the treatment of the horses, but reports seven thousand horsemen. The difference is 6,300 men. Because the two statements count the same military category within closely corresponding accounts, the discrepancy cannot be removed by confusing horsemen with infantry or chariots. Neither verse qualifies its figure as a subtotal. As written, the capture has two incompatible cavalry totals.

Topics

contradiction2 Samuel1 Chronicles

David captures seven hundred horsemen

David captures seven thousand horsemen

Understanding the contradiction

Topics

Sources