Alleged Contradictions in Scripture – Part 5
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Alleged Contradictions In Scripture – Part 5
Who Tempted King David? How Much Was Paid For Ornan’s Threshing Floor?
God inspired those who wrote the original manuscripts (2Ti 3:16), but He did not inspire the transcribers and scribes who copied and preserved the scriptures to the extent they would copy the originals perfectly, and there are copy errors which are easily detected by simply using the principle of ‘a multitude of counselors’, or in this case it is ‘the multitude of manuscripts’. Having said that, I am in no way negating scriptures which plainly tell us God is in charge of everything – including causing errors to creep into the scriptures (1Jn 3:20, 1Co 11:12, Eph 1:11, Rom 11:36) just so God can blind mankind according to His plan (Joh 9:39, Exo 4:11, Joh 12:40).
We must also be very careful to remember that the scriptures themselves tell us that no prophecy of scripture is of “its own interpretation” (2Pe 1:20).
The errors of the translators are easily detected by simply taking the time to seek a multitude of counselors. When we apply that principle of ‘a multitude of counselors’ and we discover what the majority of the manuscripts say, we will generally find out that when one verse appears to contradict another verse, in almost every case all we need do is to recognize that one writer is telling us one angle of the story while the other is telling us a completely different part of the same story.
The story of King David numbering the people has four apparent contradictions in it when we compare what is written in 2 Samuel 24 with 1 Chronicles 21.
1) Was it the Lord or was it Satan who moved David to number Israel?
2) Was King David given the choice of three years of famine, or was it seven years of Famine?
3) Did King David buy the threshing floor for 50 shekels of silver or 600 shekels of gold?
4) Did King David buy the threshing floor from Araunah or Ornan?
First alleged contradiction
The first apparent contradiction is that in 2 Samuel we are told:
2Sa 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
Here in 2 Samuel 24 we are told “the Lord…moved David… to say, Go, number Israel and Judah”, while this same story in 1 Chronicles 21 relates to us:
1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
Is this really a contradiction, or doesn’t this story simply confirm the revelation we are given in the book of Job that a sovereign God used the being whom He created to be an adversary to Himself to “provoke David to number Israel”?
It is in the book of Job that it is most clearly demonstrated that Satan cannot so much as scratch his head without the direction from God to do so. In the book of Job, Satan did exactly what God commissioned him to do. He did not go one inch beyond that commission, neither could he do one iota less than what evil He was sent by Christ, to accomplish:
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
First Christ sent Satan to destroy “all that [Job] had”, but He was not permitted to put for [his] hand upon [Job] himself”. Then in the next chapter Satan is permitted to put forth his hand and touch Job’s body. The entire event is carried out “after the counsel of [Christ’s] own will”, which was: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.”
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Job 2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Satan here refers to his own actions as “thine [Christ’s] hand”, and Christ confirms for us all that Satan is indeed Christ’s hand.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
So 1 Chronicles 21 is simply complementing the story of 2 Samuel 24. 2 Samuel gives us the story from the absolute point of view dwelling on God’s sovereignty, while 1 Chronicles 21 gives us the details of how God made King David to sin.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
The Truth is always to be found in “the sum of [God’s] Word”, and that ‘sum of God’s Word’ tells us that the way God made King David to sin was by sending the adversary to suggest to King David that David number the people, just as He had previously sent an evil spirit to have Joseph’s brothers to sell him into Egypt (Gen 45:4-8), and just as He would later send a lying spirit to lie through all of King Ahab’s prophets (1Kg 22: 22-23).
Second alleged contradiction
The second alleged contradiction in this story concerns the number of years King David was asked to chose as one of the three punishments. Here is this part of the story from 2 Samuel 24:
2Sa 24:10 And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
2Sa 24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
2Sa 24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
2Sa 24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
1 Chronicles gives us a different number of years King David was to suffer famine in his land:
1Ch 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
1Ch 21:12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
When we apply the principle of a multitude of counselors to this situation, we learn that the vast majority of the manuscripts retain “seven years”, even if many of the translations have taken it upon themselves to change 2 Samuel to three years to make it agree with 1Chronicles 21. Here is a cut and paste from a web site called Another King James Bible Believer at this link:
http://brandplucked.webs.com/
This short article actually applies the principle of ‘the sum of thy word’ to show us that the account in 2 Samuel includes four previous years of famine.
Quoting from this link:
“Bible commentator Matthew Poole (1624-1679 English Annotations on the Holy Bible) rightly says: “Seven years of famine. Objection. In 1 Chron. xxi 12, it is only three years of famine. Some conceive that here was an error in the transcriber, and that the true reading is three years, as the LXX. read it in this place, being supposed to have found it so in their copies, and that otherwise they durst never have presumed to make so great a change in the text. In Chron. he speaks exactly of those years of famine only which came for David’s sin; but here he speaks more comprehensively, including those three years of famine sent for Saul’s sin, chap. xxi.
2Sa 21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
“And this sin of David’s was committed in the year next after them, which was in a manner a year of famine; either because it was the sabbatical year, wherein they might not sow nor reap; or rather, because not being able to sow in the third year, because of the excessive drought, they were not capable of reaping this fourth year. And three years more being added to these four, make up the seven here mentioned. So the meaning of the words is this, As thou hast already had four years of famine, shall three years more come? And that it is said of these seven years, that they shall come, it is a synecdochical expression frequent in Scripture, because part of the years were yet to come; even as it is said of the Israelites, that they should wander in the wilderness forty years, Numb. xiv. 33, when part of that time was already spent.”
“In 2 Samuel 24: 13 the prophet Gad comes to David and says: “Shall SEVEN years of famine come unto thee in thy land?”
“SEVEN years is the reading of the Hebrew text here as the NIV, RSV, NRSV, ESV and the Catholic New Jerusalem bible footnotes tell us. The reading of THREE YEARS comes from the Greek Septuagint version, but not the Hebrew.
“The false reading in 2 Samuel 24:13 of THREE years is found in the NIV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NEB, Bible in Basic English, the New Living Translation, the Holman Standard 2003, Common English Bible 2011 and the Message of 2002.
“The Catholic Versions are continually changing and are in disagreement with each other. The older Douay-Rheims and the Douay of 1950 both follow the Hebrew reading in 2 Samuel 24:13 and say “SEVEN years”, but then the Jerusalem bible 1969, St. Joseph NAB of 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 went with “THREE years”, and then tell us in a footnote that the Hebrew reads “seven years”. But they are not done yet. Now in 2009 the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Sacred Bible has come out and it goes BACK to the Hebrew reading of “SEVEN years” saying: “Either SEVEN years of famine will come to you in your land; or you will flee for three months from your adversaries”.
So the principles of ‘the sum of thy word’ working with the principle of ‘the multitude of counselors’ once again helps us to understand that what appears to the casual reader to be a contradiction, is proven to be easily understood by anyone willing to give scripture the same credit they would readily allow for secular writings. 2 Samuel is simply far more comprehensive than 1 Chronicles in telling us how long Israel suffered famine in the land.
Third alleged contradiction
The third alleged contradiction in this story is the name of the man who sold the threshing floor to King David. In 2 Samuel 24 we are told his name was “Araunah the Jebusite”.
2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2Sa 24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
2Sa 24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
2Sa 24:21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
But in 1 Chronicles the name of this man is Ornan:
1Ch 21:18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
1Ch 21:20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
The simple solution to this alleged contradiction is to acknowledge the most obvious fact that many people in the Old Testament and in the New Testament were given, and were known by, more than one name. A few examples will make this point:
1) Abraham, for most of his life was called Abram:
Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
2) Joseph was also named and known as Zaphnathpaaneah to the Egyptians, and this man, Ornan/Araunah, while an Israelite, was also a Jebusite.
Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
3) Gideon was also called Jerubbaal:
Jdg 7:1 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
4) Christ changed the name of “Simon, the son of Jonas” to Peter, and the names are used interchangeably:
Mat 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Joh 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Attempting to turn these two names into a contradiction is to accuse Christ of contradicting Himself every time He refers to “Simon Barjona”, as Peter, or vice-versa. Only an atheist, with a secular humanist agenda, would fail to see that in this story King David bought the threshing floor, to paraphrase Matthew 10:2, from “[Araunah], who is called [Ornan]”.
Fourth alleged contradiction
The fourth alleged contradiction concerns the price paid for the threshing floor. Here is what 2 Samuel tells us:
2Sa 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.
2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2Sa 24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
2Sa 24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
2Sa 24:21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
2Sa 24:22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
2Sa 24:23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Here is this same story in 1 Chronicles 21:
1Ch 21:18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
1Ch 21:20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
1Ch 21:23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
1Ch 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
1Ch 21:25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
Fifty shekels of silver versus six hundred shekels of gold is one huge difference. But in this case 1 Chronicles is the more comprehensive of the two accounts, because in 2 Samuel we are told King David at first simply bought the threshing floor and the oxen. That is not the narrow focus of 1 Chronicles where we are told that King David bought “the place… for… six hundred shekels of gold by weight”.
Here is how ‘maqom‘, pronounced ‘maw-kome’, the Hebrew word for “the place”, is used in the Old Testament:
Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place [maqom], and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.Gen 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place [maqom] of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Mic 1:3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place [maqom], and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
When the scriptures use the word ‘maqom‘, it can obviously include much more than a mere threshing floor. 1 Chronicles is a far more comprehensive account of the acquisition of the entire temple mount. This account is telling us that King David later came back and purchased the entire area of the temple mount from “[Araunah], who is called [Ornan]”.
The atheists and the secular humanists are giddy with delight in attempting to show these two stories with their differences in focus as obvious contradictions in scripture. They will no doubt have great success with those who have been given little or no interest in seeking the Truth. Our heavenly Father, right before our eyes, is giving our rulers over to an anti-Christian atmosphere. Both the hypocrisy of, and the false doctrines of, the great whore are being used against her at this time. The ten horns of the beast are having great success in bringing the entire Word of God into great disrepute with the powers that be.
This is what is taking place this very moment:
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
You and I must know beyond any doubt that the Word of God is the Word of God, and we must not be tossed to and fro by the foolish arguments that are now becoming louder and louder against the only revelation of The Truth which is the scriptures.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
God’s Word will sanctify no one who has any doubts as to what constitutes that Truth, as Pilate’s words so graphically demonstrate:
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Joh 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
The claim that the scriptures are full of contradictions is a very powerful part of the all-out attack on the Word of God we are just beginning to witness. We all must be confronted with whether we will obey God or men, and our resolve must be that of Christ and His apostles:
Act 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council [Greek: Sanhedrin, church counsel]: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
That is is one circumstance under which we are not to “be subject unto the powers that be”.
Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
That confrontation is called “the trial of your faith”, and if we have any doubt about whether scripture is the Word of God, the adversary will leverage that doubt and take us right out of the body of Christ. It has already happened over and over again, so I am compelled to share with you what I have seen as the beginning of that process of doubting and falling away from the Word of God which was once considered to be the foundation of all Truth by those very brothers and sisters who have been taken out of our midst. This is spiritual warfare, and it is a life and death struggle. Christ has given us this solemn warning:
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
But if we are given to know our Lord, we will also given His mind, and this is that mind:
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Other related posts
- We Live By Every Word Of God? (September 18, 2011)
- To Resist Or Not To Resist (June 13, 2010)
- The Will Of God Versus The Will Of Man (July 6, 2006)
- The Teachings Of Christ (April 24, 2009)
- The Physical Shadows, and Genesis One and Two (June 2, 2008)
- The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit - Part 14 (February 24, 2024)
- Living By Every Word Of God (September 8, 2011)
- Gods Sovereignty (July 6, 2006)
- Galatians 4:10, Romans 14 and Colossians 2 (June 2, 2008)
- Does Everyone Have Faith? (September 6, 2012)
- Do The Elect Perish? (November 18, 2009)
- Crying and Mark of Eze 9_5_7 (October 5, 2011)
- Can We Live By Every Word Of God? (September 5, 2011)
- Alleged Contradictions in The Bible - Part 8 (August 8, 2015)
- Alleged Contradictions in Scripture - Part 5 (July 18, 2015)
- Alleged Contradictions in Scripture - Part 3 (July 4, 2015)
- Alleged Contradictions in Scripture - Part 2 (June 26, 2015)
- Alleged Contradictions in Scripture - Part 1 (June 20, 2015)