2,000 or 3,000 baths?

1 Kings 7:26—”Did Solomon’s facility contain 2,000 baths or over 3,000 baths as in 2 Chronicles 4:5?”

1 Kings records that sea-tank ordinarily held כּוּל)) 2,000 baths, whereas 2 Chronicles informs us that it could hold חזק)) 3,000 if filled to the maximum.…

Bath Circumference

1 Kings 7:23—”If the bath had a diameter of 10 cubits the circumference should be 31.416.”

Verse 26 says that the bath rim was about 8cm thick and was shaped like a lily:

Therefore it depends on where you measure from.…

4,000 or 40,000 stalls?

1 Kings 4:26—”Did Solomon have 40,000 stalls for his horses (1 Kings 4:26), or 4,000 stalls (2 Chronicles 9:25)?”

This is clearly a copyist mistake; the original text of both is 4,000. In Hebrew, forty (ארבעים) and four (ארבעת) look almost identical.…

Seven or three years?

2 Samuel 24:13—”This passage mentions that there will be seven years of famine, whereas 1 Chronicles 21:12 mentions only three.”

We may assume that the author of 1 Chronicles emphasized the three-year period in which the famine was to be most intense, whereas the author of 2 Samuel includes the two years prior to and after this period, during which the famine worsened and lessened respectively.…

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.…

Army totals for 2 Samuel 24:9

2 Samuel 24:9— (Question #1) “This passage gives the total population for Israel’s army as 800,000 and Judah’s as 500,000, whereas 1 Chronicles 21:5,6 says it was 1,100,000 and 470,000.”

In 2 Samuel, the number of “mighty men” (אישׁ־חיל , ‘îysh khah’-yil) , who drew the sword was 800,000, but it did not include the standing army of 288,000 described in 1 Chronicles 27:1-15 or the 12,000 specifically attached to Jerusalem described in 2 Chronicles 1:14.…

God or Satan incited David?

2 Samuel 24:1— “Does God incite David to conduct the census of his people (2 Samuel 24:1), or does Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1)?”

One might as well ask in the incident of a shooting whether a shooter kills a victim or the gun killed the victim.…

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).…

2 Samuel 13:27 – Michaiah or Maachah?

2 Samuel 13:27—”Was King Abijah’s mother’s name Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah (2 Chronicles 13:2) or Maachah, daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20 & 2 Samuel 13:27)?”

The family tree is given below:

In Hebrew, the word ‘daughter’ (בּת) is used for granddaughter as well (see for example 2 Samuel 1:24 and Genesis 46:15).…