Program / Course 17: Defending Scripture / Lesson 4.2
What you will learn
- Identify the common sources of apparent conflict in numbers, names and parallel accounts.
- Apply the five-step method to specific examples from Samuel and Chronicles, Kings and the New Testament.
- Explain the main proposals for numerical differences, including copying error and ancient number practice.
- Say honestly which cases have strong explanations and which remain open.
The big idea
Some of the most cited conflicts in the Bible involve numbers, names and the retelling of events in parallel books such as Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. Several kinds of explanation are available: scribal error in numbers, differing methods of counting, different names for the same person, different purposes in telling the story, and different sources. Some of these explanations are strong and some are only possible. Applying them one case at a time, and reporting the result, is better than offering one answer for all.
Key terms
- Parallel accounts
- Two or more passages that tell the same events, such as Samuel and Kings with Chronicles, or the Gospels with one another.
- Chronicler
- The name given to the author of 1 and 2 Chronicles, who retells Israel’s history from Adam to the return from exile, often using Samuel and Kings.
- Scribal error
- A mistake introduced in copying. Numbers are especially exposed because they are easily confused, particularly in ancient number systems.
- Hyperbole in numbers
- Ancient writers sometimes used large numbers for effect or to express size, not to give a count.
- Co-regency
- A period in which a father and son ruled together. It is often used to explain differences in the chronology of the kings.
- Source
- A document or tradition on which an author drew. The writers of Kings and Chronicles name some of their sources.
- Synoptic problem
- The study of the relationships among Matthew, Mark and Luke, which are similar in content and wording yet differ in order and detail.
Background
Ancient writers handled numbers and names differently from modern ones. They had no printed footnotes, and they often wrote for audiences who knew the story. Numbers in Hebrew were written with letters or with words, and in some periods with signs, so that copyists could easily confuse them. Names often had several forms, and the same person might be called by different names in different books.
When one book retells another, the author usually has a purpose. The writer of Chronicles, probably living after the exile, shapes the story of the kings to encourage the restored community, stressing the temple and the line of David. This does not mean the Chronicler invented events, but he selects and arranges. Readers who expect two accounts to match line for line will see conflicts that the authors did not intend.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Numbers in Samuel and Chronicles
Second Samuel 24:9 gives the result of David’s census as 800,000 fighting men in Israel and 500,000 in Judah. First Chronicles 21:5 gives 1,100,000 for Israel and 470,000 for Judah. The totals differ, and the text of Chronicles adds that Levi and Benjamin were not counted (1 Chronicles 21:6). Proposed explanations include different groups being counted (for example, the standing army in one account), differences in rounding, and scribal change in the numerals. None is certain.
Another case is the age of Ahaziah. Second Kings 8:26 says he was twenty-two when he began to reign, while 2 Chronicles 22:2 in the Hebrew says forty-two. Since his father died at forty, as 2 Kings 8:17 and 2 Chronicles 21:20 would suggest, forty-two is difficult. Many scholars see a copying error in Chronicles, and some ancient versions read twenty-two. This is a fairly strong case for a scribal explanation, and even strict defenders of inerrancy usually put it there, since they apply inerrancy to the original text.
Step 2: Different purposes and different verbs
Second Samuel 24:1 says that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David to number the people, while 1 Chronicles 21:1 says that Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David. A reader may ask whether God or Satan did it. Some interpreters note that the Old Testament sometimes speaks of God permitting or ordaining what a hostile agent carries out, as in the book of Job. Others say the Chronicler was working at a time when thought about Satan had developed and reworded the story, and that this is a theological retelling.
The case shows that the question is not only whether a conflict exists but what kind of difference it is. A difference that results from an author reinterpreting an earlier story is not a copying error, and defenders and critics diverge on whether it counts as a contradiction. The method suggests describing the difference without hiding it.
Step 3: Names and quotations in the New Testament
Mark 2:26 has Jesus referring to David eating the bread of the presence in the days of Abiathar the high priest, while 1 Samuel 21 names Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, as the priest. Explanations include that Abiathar was well known and the phrase means in the time of, that the Greek phrase can be read in a way that does not claim he was high priest then, and that a copying error occurred. Some manuscripts of Mark omit the name. The matter is discussed by scholars of all views.
Matthew 27:9-10 credits to Jeremiah a prophecy about thirty pieces of silver, which most readers connect with Zechariah 11:12-13, with allusions to Jeremiah 18 and 32. Suggested solutions include that Matthew combined texts and named the more prominent prophet, that Jeremiah stood for a scroll of the prophets, and that an early copyist’s slip occurred. There is no agreed answer. This is a good case of a tension that remains.
Step 4: Accounts of the same event
Matthew 27:5 says Judas hanged himself, and Acts 1:18 says he fell headlong and burst open in a field bought with the reward of iniquity. Matthew says the priests bought the field, and Acts says Judas bought it. Many interpreters propose that he hanged himself and that the body later fell, and that the priests bought the field with money that was in a sense his. These are plausible readings but go beyond the text. Others say the two traditions circulated separately, and Luke and Matthew are reporting different accounts of an event that both agree was shameful.
The method does not require choosing between these. It requires reading each account in its context, noting that both agree that Judas betrayed Jesus and died in connection with a field, and stating plainly that the details differ and that the explanation of the difference is uncertain.
Step 5: Using the cases well
A useful habit is to keep a list of cases in three columns: those with strong explanations, such as likely copying errors; those with plausible explanations, such as differing purposes; and those with no agreed solution. A defender who claims every case belongs in the first column is overreaching. A critic who puts every case in the third column ignores what is known about ancient writing.
- Why are numbers especially likely to change in copying?
- How does the purpose of Chronicles affect how it retells the story of Samuel and Kings?
- What is the difference between a copying error and a different theological telling of an event?
- Which of the cases in this lesson seems to you to have the strongest explanation, and which the weakest?
- How might someone who holds to inerrancy of the original text handle a likely copying error?
- How might someone who does not hold to inerrancy read the same case?
Examples
Solomon’s stalls
First Kings 4:26 speaks of forty thousand stalls of horses for Solomon’s chariots, and 2 Chronicles 9:25 speaks of four thousand. A copying error in one text is a common explanation. Others suggest that the Kings number includes stalls and teams as separate counts. The Hebrew words are not identical, so the case is not clear.
Two lists of the apostles
The lists of the twelve apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts have the same names with one exception: Thaddaeus in Matthew and Mark appears as Judas the brother of James in Luke and Acts. Many scholars think one person had two names, as many people did in the first century.
The temple cleansing
The Synoptic Gospels place the cleansing of the temple at the end of Jesus’ ministry, and John places it near the beginning (John 2:13-17). Some think there were two events, and others that John arranged the account by theme. The question of chronology is discussed in the next lesson.
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic interpreters note that the church has long recognized scribal error and different literary purposes among the sources of difference. The Pontifical Biblical Commission and Dei Verbum call on interpreters to attend to the intentions of the authors, which allows for the reworking of earlier accounts.
Orthodox
Orthodox tradition emphasizes the unity of the Scriptures in Christ and does not treat differences in detail as a threat. Fathers such as Chrysostom explain many differences by the purposes of the authors and by the diversity of witnesses.
Protestant (inerrantist)
Many evangelical scholars hold that numerical differences are best explained by copying errors or ancient counting methods, and that inerrancy applies to the autographs. Defenders such as Gleason Archer wrote systematic responses to such cases, and critics find some of them forced.
Protestant (critical)
Other Protestant scholars see Chronicles as a theological retelling that adjusts earlier material for the audience. For them the differences are part of the character of the Bible and do not threaten its authority.
Skeptical
Skeptical scholars argue that the differences are real and show that the authors were working with different traditions. They are often unpersuaded by harmonizations, and they argue that the pattern of differences is easier to explain by human composition. Believers reply that human composition is compatible with inspiration.
Why it matters
Numbers, names and parallel accounts are the most common source of lists of contradictions, so this is the place where the method is most often tested. These cases teach humility on both sides. They show that some differences are probably scribal, that some are the result of the authors’ aims, and that some are still not explained. A student who has worked through them will not be surprised by new examples.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Any numerical difference in the Bible proves an error in the original.
Correction: Numbers are exposed to copying error, which is a different thing from an error by the author. Some differences are also explained by different methods of counting.
Misunderstanding: Chronicles was written to correct Kings.
Correction: Chronicles retells and supplements earlier history with a different emphasis. Most scholars do not think it was meant as a correction. The difference lies in purpose.
Misunderstanding: Names in the Bible are always consistent.
Correction: People in the ancient world often had more than one name, and spelling varied. Different names may point to the same person, as with Thaddaeus and Judas.
Misunderstanding: Harmonizers always give weak answers.
Correction: Some harmonizations are weak and some are strong. Each should be judged on how well it fits the text.
Knowledge check
Why are numbers in ancient manuscripts prone to error?
Numbers were written in letters, words or signs that looked alike, and a single stroke could change a value. A copyist had no context to check a number the way he could check a sentence. For this reason, scholars often propose copying error for large differences between parallel numbers, such as the census figures or the age of Ahaziah.
What are two possible explanations for the difference between 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 about who incited David?
One explanation is that Scripture can speak of God permitting or ordaining what a hostile agent carries out, as in Job, so both statements can be true. Another is that the Chronicler, writing later, retold the story with a developed idea of Satan, making a theological adjustment. The two explanations differ in whether the difference is called a contradiction.
How do scholars deal with Matthew 27:9 naming Jeremiah?
Suggestions include that Matthew combined passages from Zechariah and Jeremiah and named the better known prophet, that the name stood for a scroll of the prophets that began with Jeremiah, and that a copyist’s error occurred. There is no agreed solution, and the case is generally listed among the tensions that remain.
What are the three columns of cases suggested in Step 5?
The first holds cases with strong explanations, such as probable copying errors. The second holds cases with plausible explanations, such as differences of purpose or counting. The third holds cases with no agreed solution. The practice keeps the reader honest, because it prevents putting every case in the column that suits a prior conviction.
Think it through
- Which of the cases in this lesson would most trouble someone who expects the Bible to match perfectly in detail?
- How does knowing the author’s purpose change your sense of whether a difference matters?
- Where in your own reading have you glossed over a difference without testing it?
Independent assignment
Parallel passages side by side
In your own notebook, read 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 in full. Write the differences in two columns, then write 350 to 450 words classifying each as copying, counting, purpose or open. State which classification you find most convincing and why. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Read selectively for Augustine’s approach to difficulties in the historical books.
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Read the chapter on historical narratives.
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Read the discussion of scribal errors, including numbers.
- Origen, On First Principles (De Principiis) Read selectively on difficulties in the text.
- 2 Samuel 24 The census of David.
- 1 Chronicles 21 The parallel account.
- Acts 1:18 The death of Judas in Acts.