Fighting men in Judah (2 Samuel 24:9)

2 Samuel 24:9— (Question #2) “This passage gives the round figure of 500,000 fighting men in Judah, which was 30,000 more than the corresponding item in 1 Chronicles 21:5.”

1 Chronicles 21:6 clearly states that Joab did not complete the numbering, as he had not yet taken a census of the tribe of Benjamin, nor that of Levi’s either, due to the fact that David came under conviction about completing the census at all.…

2 Samuel 23:8 – 800 or 300 men?

2 Samuel 23:8— “Did the chief of the mighty men of David lift up his spear and killed 800 men (2 Samuel 23:8) or only 300 men (1 Chronicles 11:11)?”

It is quite possible that either the passages described two separate incidents of the same man, or one passage may have only mentioned in part what the other passage mentions in full.…

Five sons or no sons?

2 Samuel 21:8—”Did Michal have five sons or no sons (2 Samuel 6:23)?”

Two ancient Hebrew manuscripts and some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac read “Merab”; other manuscripts read “Michal.” It is quite clear that originally the text said “Merab” as in the former manuscripts and there was a copyist mistake in the others, since Merab was the one of the sisters remarried to Adriel (1 Samuel 18:19).…

1,700 or 7,000 horsemen?

2 Samuel 8:4—”Did David capture 1,700 of King Zobah’s horsemen (2 Samuel 8:4), or was it 7,000 (1 Chronicles 18:4)?”

It is sufficiently clear that the original text for 2 Samuel 8:4 is seven thousand; (“one thousand chariots seven thousand horsemen”), like in Chronicles.…