Tag: Contradictions

Who tempted David to count the people? 2 Samuel 24:1 says the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel and he incited David. 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan stood against Israel and incited David. The two accounts name different agents for the same act.

Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

2 Samuel 24:1

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

After the same battle 2 Samuel 10:18 says David killed the men of 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen, while 1 Chronicles 19:18 says 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers. The numbers and the kind of troops both differ.

And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there.

2 Samuel 10:18

And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army.

1 Chronicles 19:18

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

The bronze sea in Solomon’s temple holds two thousand baths in 1 Kings 7:26 but three thousand in 2 Chronicles 4:5.

Its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.

1 Kings 7:26

Its thickness was a handbreadth. And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.

2 Chronicles 4:5

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

Solomon’s stalls for horses number 4,000 in 2 Chronicles 9:25 but 40,000 in 1 Kings 4:26, a tenfold gap between two accounts of the same king.

And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 9:25

Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.

1 Kings 4:26

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

Did Saul ask the LORD for guidance? 1 Samuel 28:6 says he inquired of the LORD and was not answered, so he went to a medium. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 says he did not seek guidance from the LORD, and that this is why he died. The two accounts of the same episode seem to say he did and he did not.

And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

1 Samuel 28:6

He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

1 Chronicles 10:14

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

John 3:13 says that no one has gone up into heaven except the one who came down. Against this the Old Testament tells of Elijah, who in 2 Kings 2:11 went up by a whirlwind into heaven, and of Enoch, who in Genesis 5:24 walked with God and was not, for God took him. The argument is that the Gospel statement is contradicted by these earlier ascents.

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Kings 2:11

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 5:24

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

In John 18:9 Jesus is made to say that he lost none of those given to him. In John 17:12 he says he guarded them and that none was lost except the son of destruction, which is one. The argument sets the two sayings side by side as a contradiction in the same Gospel. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).

2 Chronicles 6:36 says there is no one who does not sin. 1 John 3:9 says that no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. The argument holds that the two cannot both be taken as stated, for one makes every person a sinner and the other makes the born-again sinless.

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near,

2 Chronicles 6:36

Source: see Credits and references (no. 8, p. 7).