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The Contradiction Desk
Claimed Bible contradictions, stated the way they circulate, each with one diagnosis and the evidence for it: the Hebrew, the Greek, the manuscripts.
Seventeen hundred horsemen, or seven thousand?
The Hebrew of 2 Samuel 8:4 says David took 1,700 horsemen. 1 Chronicles 18:4 says 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen. The Septuagint and a Dead Sea Scroll of Samuel read with Chronicles.
2 Samuel 8:4, in every translation this tool compares.
The real question: what did David capture, and why do the two lists differ? The receipt says 1,700 chairs, and the order form says 1,000 tables and 7,000 chairs. Did the store lose part of a line?
2 Samuel 8:4 says David took from Hadadezer 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers. 1 Chronicles 18:4 says 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers.
The ESV prints 1,700 horsemen at 2 Samuel 8:4, and the ESV Study Bible says the Septuagint agrees with Chronicles; one possible explanation is that someone miscopied Samuel and the Septuagint, with Chronicles, keeps the true reading. The CSB's textual note says the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls read 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen. MacArthur calls 1,700 a copyist's error. This is the number entry with the widest outside support: a Greek translation and a Hebrew scroll of Samuel side with Chronicles.
And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen:
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible asks "How many horsemen did David take?" and, quoting the King James, sets seven hundred horsemen against seven thousand. At full strength: even the translation that tried to bring the two verses together leaves them disagreeing.
The harmonizing case is the copying case: Samuel lost part of the line, and Chronicles, the Septuagint and the Qumran text preserve it. MacArthur says the 7,000 of Chronicles is the preferable reading.
The ESV Study Bible says there is not enough information to account for the difference, so even its preferred explanation is offered as possible, not shown. The CSB note gives the Dead Sea Scrolls without naming the scroll, and no scroll is named here.
Not a claim that David's victory is in doubt. Both books report the same campaign; the dispute is over one line of the tally.
- ESV Study Bible, note on 2 Samuel 8:4
- CSB Study Bible, textual note on 2 Samuel 8:4
- The MacArthur Study Bible (ESV), notes on 2 Samuel 8:4 and 1 Chronicles 18:4
- The Skeptic's Annotated Bible, How many horsemen did David take?, https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/horsemen.html
- King James Version, 2 Samuel 8:4 and 1 Chronicles 18:4
