Before we answer this question, these two chapters give the same account in the life of King David when he: 1) Numbered the people of Israel and Judah, and 2) Purchased a threshing floor to build an altar to the Lord so he could offer sacrifices to Him. Many have seen what they presume are “inconsistencies” in a few areas and this has given rise to enemies of the Bible calling them “contradictions.” I had just answered a question last week regarding one of these supposed contradictions, but now I will point out three of them. We shall see there is NO CONTRADICTION, for God “cannot lie” and He will “never contradict Himself.”

 *2 Samuel 24:1 says, “Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and HE MOVED DAVID against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’”

*1 Chronicles 21:1 reads, “Now SATAN stood up against Israel, and MOVED DAVID to number Israel.” The truth is both Satan and the Lord were involved in this act. Satan moved David by PUTTING THE THOUGHT into David’s heart (which was filled with PRIDE) and God ALLOWED Satan to do it. It is instructive to learn that David is the one held responsible for this “sin of pride” and he repented of it (see verses 10-15).

*2 Samuel 24:9 states, “Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND men.”

*1 Chronicles 21:5 reads, “Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND men who drew the sword, and Judah had FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THOUSAND men who drew the sword.” We see here that Samuel does call those in Israel “VALIANT men,” but the Chronicler does not call them valiant. That may account for the 300,000 difference. There are also other factors to be considered in “doing the math” which would help to resolve this SEEMING contradiction. If you read 1 Chronicles 27:1-15 and 2 Chronicles 1:14 there are 300,000 additional men referred to. Subtract that from the 1,100,000 men and you have the 800,000 men mentioned by Samuel.

*2 Samuel 24:24 says, “So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER.”

*1 Chronicles 21:25 reads, “So David gave Ornan SIX HUNDRED SHEKELS OF GOLD by weight for THE PLACE.” If you read the full passages (2 Samuel 24:18-25 and 1 Chronicles 21:18-26) you will see that David mentions paying “a price” and a “full price,” which means the “full price” was made in TWO PAYMENTS. Samuel mentions the price of 50 shekels of silver for the THRESHING FLOOR AND OXEN and the one who wrote the Chronicles mentions the price of 600 SHEKELS OF GOLD which paid for the whole parcel of ground around the threshing floor.

Those of us who believe the Bible is inspired of God know that it is “inerrant” (without error) and “infallible” (incapable of error). Sometimes it may take some patience and earnest study, comparing scripture with scripture, to see the beauty of what might appear to be an inconsistency or contradiction. We must also rely solely on the Holy Spirit (the AUTHOR of the Scriptures…see 2 Peter 1:21) to be our TEACHER (1 John 2:26-27) and He will surely REVEAL the truth to us (see 1st Corinthians 2:9-13).  (DO)  (710.3)