BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS: DAVID'S LIFE

David's wife Michal had no child. (II Samuel 6:23)

Michal had five children. (II Samuel 21:8)

II Samuel 21:8 only reads “Michal” in the King James Version, which follows the majority of the ancient Hebrew texts. Almost all modern translations, however, say “Merab” instead, for several good reasons. The most obvious reason is that “Michal” would yield a blatant contradiction with 6:23, as the critic states. In addition, the woman in 21:8 is said to be the wife of Adriel, and we know from II Samuel 18:19 that Merab was his wife, not Michal. Lastly, some Hebrew manuscripts as well as the Greek Septuagint and the ancient Syriac version all have Merab. Tsumura explains that it is highly likely that an early Hebrew scribe either accidentally or purposefully substituted the well-known name of Michal in place of her more obscure sister Merab in this verse.

David sinned in numbering the people. (II Samuel 24:10)

David only sinned in the matter of Uriah. (I Kings 15:5)

There are a couple of approaches to this interesting contradiction. One is to remember that when David took the census, it was under the direct influence of God's Spirit. When David came to his senses, he suddenly realized what he had done. Another approach, taken by several scholars, is that since the phrase “except in the matter of Uriah” is not found in the Greek Septuagint, it was probably a later addition by an editor and should be deleted from the text. Then that would leave the simple statement that David obeyed all the commands that God gave him personally (especially in his role as the king, and in contrast to most of the other kings described in I Kings) and says nothing regarding David's private life. It would also not apply to the taking of a census since even that was done at God's prompting.

One of the penalties for David's sin was 7 years of famine. (II Samuel 24:13)

It was only three years, not seven. (I Chronicles 21:11-12)

II Samuel 24:13 presents another textual issue. The Hebrew text reads “seven” while the Greek Septuagint, which is sometimes based on a different Hebrew tradition, reads “three.” Therefore, most modern translations correct the II Samuel wording to agree with the I Chronicles text and also the Septuagint. There are three additional reasons mentioned by Tsumura for adopting “three” in II Samuel: (a) seven years of famine would have brought extreme disaster for the nation, (b) “three” fits much better the series of three other threes in verses 12-13, and (c) “seven” in the Bible often figuratively means “complete(ly)” and thus in II Samuel could be the author's way of saying that the people would suffer completely, wheras I Chronicles gives the literal time period instead.

David took 700 horsemen. (II Samuel 8:4)

David took 700,000 horsemen. (I Chronicles 18:4)

There is a very similar situation concerning the number of charioteers that David killed, as given in II Samuel 10:18 (700) versus I Chronicles 19:18 (7,000). In commenting on this particular contradiction, Walter Kaiser offers two possible solutions, either of which may also apply to the question of David's horsemen. A liberal approach is to say that the Chronicler purposely inflated the numbers in order to glorify David's exploits. Another approach treats this as a simple textual issue in which one of the numbers is correct and the other comes from a textual tradition which has suffered from mistakes in transmission over the years. Kaiser notes, “The present Hebrew manuscripts for the books of I and 2 Samuel have more transcriptional errors in them than any other book or combination of books in the Old Testament. From the preliminary checks seen in the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts of Samuel, the Greek translation of the Septuagint appears to reflect a much better Hebrew manuscript. And the Septuagint in these cases agrees with I Chronicles. Finally, the lower numbers in each pair of contradictions appear to be much more realistic than the higher ones.

David bought a threshing floor for fifty shekels of silver. (II Samuel 24:24)

He bought it for 600 shekels of gold. (I Chronicles 21:25)

Assuming that the two events being described are the same, this may again be an example of different textual traditions behind the two accounts. However, an older explanation offered by Kirkpatrick is that these were two separate transactions. The first one, recorded in II Samuel, only involved the threshing floor itself while the I Chronicles narrative describes a later transaction between the same parties for the whole site on which the threshing floor was located, namely Mount Moriah. Notice the pointed reference to “site” in verses 22 and 25, but absent in the II Samuel story. And finally, an ancient rabbinical explanation is noted by Williamson: David paid 50 shekels per tribe = 600 shekels. Of course that particular explanation still doesn't resolve the difference between gold and silver.

David's throne was to endure forever. (Psalm 89:35-37)

David's throne was cast down. (Psalm 89:44)

Psalm 89:39, as verse 44, states that God has sworn an everlasting covenant with David (note that “throne” is parallel to “line” in verses 29 and 36). But that does not prevent some of the subsequent kings in that line from being chastised is they reject God (verses 31-32). However, in verses 38-52, the Psalmist bemoans the fact that God has apparently rejected the king and the people have suffered the consequences. Anderson states that v. 39, which expresses the same idea as in v. 44, “is not a contradiction of the previous promises of Yahweh; rather it is of the punishment threatened in verses 30ff. The Covenant may be broken or repudiated by a particular King, but the promises of Yahweh are still valid for the Davidic house; otherwise there would be little point in appealing to the oath given to David (verse 49).”

There was an answer to the Psalmist's cry of “How long?” in v. 46, but it would not come for some time later. Derek Kidner says, “Like an unresolved discord it therefore impels us toward the New Testament, where we find that the fulfillment will altogether outstrip the expectation.” “In terms of the empty throne of David (49ff), it invited fresh thinking about the Lord's anointed and His reign.”