Taineyah
Who incited David to count the fighting men of Israel?
(a) God did (2 Samuel 24: 1)
(b) Satan did (I Chronicles 2 1:1)
While you ponder that question, let me ask, Who is guilty for the murder of King Duncan of Scotland in the story,
The Tragedy of Macbeth? Is it William Shakespeare, or Macbeth? This question, I say, is an important one, if we should understand the providence of God. These verses are complementary. Your attempt here is to say that the former says that God incited King David, while the latter says it was Satan. It is curious as to why you think that the name "Satan" in this verse is referring to an actual, spiritual being, and simply not a person or nation against King David. Did the Jews have this concept at the time? We may consider Numbers 22:22, which says,
"But God was very angry when [Balaam] went, and the angel of
YHVH stood in the road to oppose [שטן,
satan] him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him."
But, what about 1 Chronicles 21:1?
"Satan [שטן,
satan] rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel."
Other renderings: "Satan" (NIV); "Satan" (NASB); "SATAN [an adversary]" (Amplified Bible); "Satan" (KJV); "Satan" (ESV); "Satan" (NKJV); "adversary" (YLT)
The actual rendering is the Amplified Bible and the Young's Literal Translation, because there is no definite article
ha connected to
satan. The Hebrew is simply
satan, and thus, the rendering would read, "A satan," or, in accurate translations, "An adversary." Now, returning to my question I asked above, if we understand that God is in control of all things, that is, He is sovereign, and that nothing occurs without His deliberation, then there is no reason to think that God is not acting on both parts. Furthermore, the word
satan does not necessarily have to refer to a personal entity. For example, Jesus calls Peter, "Satan" (Matt. 16:23; cf. Mark 8:3). Peter is a personal entity, but the title given to him is not. It would simply mean that Peter was acting in opposition to God's decree. Of course, in the NT era, Satan was actually a personal, spiritual being (see Matt. 4:10).
Taineyah
In that count how many fighting men were found in Israel?
(a) Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9)
(b) One million, one hundred thousand (IChronicles 21:5)
How many fighting men were found in Judah?
(a) Five hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9)
(b) Four hundred and seventy thousand (I Chronicles 21:5)
Since the two verses in the first supposed contradiction and the second are simply the same thing, but only being asked on certain areas of the verses, I will deal with both here.
"Joab reported to the king the number of of the people that had been recorded: in Israel there were 800,000 soldiers ready to draw the sword, and the men of Judah numbered 500,000" (2 Sam. 24:9; JPS).
"Joab reported to David the number of the people that had been recorded. All Israel comprised 1,100,000 ready to draw to the sword, while in Judah there were 470,000 men ready to draw the sword" (1 Chron. 21:5; JPS).
Are these two accounts actually contradictions? I'd have to say hardly. Take note that in 2 Samuel 24:9, that it says, "in Israel," whereas in 1 Chronicles 21:5, it says, "All Israel." There is a difference. While the verses appear to be contradictory and difficult to make complementary, it is actually quite the opposite. Moreover, the Septuagint (LXX; Greek version of the Old Testament) writes, πας Ισραηλ (
pas Israēl; "All Israel"
wink . As for Judah, 2 Samuel records "500,000," while 1 Chronicles records "470,000." How do we resolve this issue? Consider verse six, which says, "He did not record among them Levi and Benjamin, because the king's command had become repugnant to Joab."
Taineyah
God sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine?
(a) Seven (2 Samuel 24:13)
(b) Three (I Chronicles 21:12)
The natural choice would be three years, not seven, since the months and days follow as "three," not "seven." I would have to say that this was probably a copyist error, as the Septuagint does not render the word "seven," which would be επτα (
hepta). Instead, the Septuagint uses the word τρια (
tria; "three"
wink .
I suppose I'll write more later. This is taking too long, and I have other things to read and respond to.
