Contradictions Considered.
“SUBSCRIBER,” of Boston, wishes an explanation of the seeming contradictions in the following texts: The first two of these texts speak of the number of Israel, one giving the whole number as eleven hundred thousand, the other as eight hundred thousand; one stating the number of Judah to be five hundred thousand, the other four hundred and seventy thousand. On this point Dr. Clarke remarks that there is more corruption in the numbers of the historical books of the Old Testament than in any other portion of the Bible; and such discrepancies as these must be attributed to the mistakes of transcribers. The second texts refer to the purchase which David made of Araunah, one saying that he gave fifty shekels of silver for the threshing-floor and oxen, and the other saying that he gave for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. It must be supposed, in this instance, that the “place” included more than simply the “threshing-floor,” and hence called for a larger sum. See on this point “A question,” page 72, present volume of REVIEW. The third pair of texts speak of the number of the horsemen taken by David from Hadadezer. One says seven hundred, the other seven thousand. Matthew Henry says it was customary to divide horsemen up into companies of ten; and he thinks these companies are referred to by the seven hundred, which would be seven thousand individuals, as stated in the other text. Otherwise, this discrepancy also must be placed to the charge of careless transcribers. The fourth texts speak of the age of Jehoiachin when he began to reign. One says he was eight years old, and the other eighteen. The reading in Kings which gives his age as eighteen, is doubtless the correct one, as, after a reign of three months, this king was carried to Babylon, and there had wives, which could hardly be supposed even of one of the royal family, at the age of eight years. Clarke. Bagster. Mr. Bagster further says that the Syriac and Arabic have eighteen in 2 Chron. 36: 9, the same as in 2 Kings 24: 8. This shows that the reading in Chron. in our version is a corruption of the original text. The last texts referred to speak of the age of Ahaziah when he began to reign. One says twenty-two, the other forty-two. This last is the reading in Chronicles, and is evidently incorrect, as it makes the son two years older than his father. See 2 Chron. 21: 20. According to Bagster, the Syriac, Arabic, one Hebrew Ms., and the Aldine copy of the LXX., read twenty-two in Chronicles, the same as in Kings. The copyist who first penned it forty-two, made a blunder which seems the least excusable of any that we find in these numerical records.