Day 128, more insights

Answers to contradictions between 2Samuel 24 and 1Chronicles 21 Who incited David to take a census? 2Samuel 24:1 states that the LORD incited David against Israel because he was angry with them. Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." (NIV) Referring to the same incident 1Chronicles 21:1 (NIV) says, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” Which verse is right, 2Samuel 24:1 or 1Chronicles 21:1? Both are right. God authorizes or allows Satan to take action—he is subject to the LORD. We can see this in the book of Job when Satan appears before God, and he allows him to hurt Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). God does not tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13), but he can allow Satan to do it. How many troops reported to David? 2Samuel 24:9 (NIV) “Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.” The total number of troops reported to the king was 1,300,000. 1Chronicles 21:5-6 (NIV) says, Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. The total number of troops reported to David the king were 1,100,000 (depending upon which Bible version is consulted, this may or may not have included the tribe of Judah. The NIV interprets the verse to mean they were included in the number). Because the task was repulsive to Commander Joab, the tribes of Levi and Benjamin were not counted. Levi would not have been counted anyway because they were a non-militant tribe (Numbers 1:47-50). Perhaps Joab cut short his census because Benjamin was so small and would have been the last tribe to be counted. A possible reconciliation of the two Scripture passages is suggested by Eugene H. Merrill (TheBible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, edited by Walvoord and Zuck, © 1985, p. 482): The reconciliation of the data may lie in the possibility that 1,100,000 describes the grand total for Israel, including the standing army which consisted of 12 units of 24,000 each (288,000, 1Chron.27:1-15) plus 12,000 especially attached to Jerusalem and the chariot cities (2 Chron.1:14). These 300,000 subtracted from 1,100,000 would yield the 800,000 figure in 2 Samuel 24:9. Also the chronicler may not have included the 30,000- man standing army of Judah (6:1) whereas they were included in chapter 24 [of 2 Sam]. This would raise the 470,000 total of Chronicles to the 500,000 of Samuel. Conclusion Contradictions in Bible passages do not necessarily indicate errors. One author or group may have figured things one way and another writer or group may have figured things in a different way. Both are right in the way they figured the numbers.

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