Problem: How many charioteers were killed, 700 or 7,000? 2 Samuel 10:18 and 1 Chronicles 19:18
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2 Samuel 8:4 – How many horsemen did David capture, 1,700 or 7,000?
Problem: How many Horsemen did David Capture, 1,700 or 7,000? This is most probably a copyist error or a copy of a manuscript where the number was altered through decay. 1 Chron. 18:4 is probably the correct number, 7000, since it is a better-preserved manuscript.
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2 Samuel 8:4 – How many horsemen did David capture?
Problem: 2 Samuel 8:4 states, “David captured from him 1,700 horsemen.” However, 1 Chronicles 18:4 explains, “David took from him… 7,000 horsemen.” Which is true?
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2 Samuel 7:11-16 – Is the Davidic Covenant still operative today? –or Did the Jews forfeit these blessings because of their rejection of Christ?
Problem: Amillennial interpreters believe that the Jews forfeited these promises of the Davidic covenant, because they rejected Jesus—their Messiah. Is this the case?
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2 Samuel 7:14 – If this passage is prophetic of Jesus, why does it say that he sins?
Problem: God tells David, “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men” (2 Sam. 7:14). The NT informs us that Jesus did not sin (Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:22; Jn. 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21). How can this passage predict Jesus, if it says that he would commit sin?
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2 Samuel 6:7 – Why does God kill Uzzah for trying to protect the Ark of God?
Problem: 2 Samuel states “Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled” (2 Sam. 6:6). However, as a result, God “struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God” (v.7). Why was God so severe in this passage?
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2 Samuel 1:18 – Why don’t we have this book?
Problem: When critics see other books mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, they usually raise questions about the Hebrew canon: Were there many other holy books that never made it into the Bible? The Book of Jasher is mentioned here and in 1 Samuel 1:18. Is this an example of a “holy book” that never made it into the canon of Scripture?
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1 Samuel 31:4 – Who killed Saul, Saul or the Amalekite?
Problem: The Amalekite killed Saul thinking he was helping David. But David who loves Saul and considered him anointed by God was displeased with this and had the Amalekite killed.
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1 Samuel 31 – How did Saul die?
Problem: 1 Samuel 31 says that Saul died by suicide, but 2 Samuel 1 says an Amalekite killed him. Which account is true?
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1 Samuel 28:7 – How could the spirit of Samuel appear to Saul?
Problem: Saul is about to fight the Philistines, and he is afraid. He tries to get wisdom from God, but God won’t speak to him (28:6). He disguises himself to go to a spiritist—a witch of Endor. She calls Samuel—the prophet—back from the dead as a spirit. It doesn’t seem that Saul can see the spirit of Samuel. He is talking to him through the woman (28:13-14). This raises a legion of questions (no pun intended). How could the dead Samuel be conjured through an occult witch? Why would God speak a message through an occult practice like this?
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1 Samuel 21:1 – Was Abiathar or Ahimelech the high priest?
Problem: Jesus claims that Abiathar was a high priest when citing a story where 1 Samuel lists Ahimelech as a priest. Is this a contradiction?
1 Samuel 18:10 – Does God create evil?
Problem: Isaiah writes that God is the one who “[causes] well-being and creating calamity” (Isa. 45:7). Older translations render this Hebrew ra’ as “evil” (ASV). Is God the author of evil?
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1 Sam. 18:3-4 – Were David and Jonathan gay?
Problem: David states that Jonathan’s love was “more wonderful than the love of women” (2 Sam. 1:26). Jonathan also “loved” David (1 Sam. 18:3), stripped in front of him (1 Sam. 18:4), and “kissed” him (1 Sam. 20:41). The text even tells us that “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David” (1 Sam. 18:1). Were these two a couple?
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1 Samuel 17:50 – Who killed Goliath, David or Elhanan?
Problem: Was it David or Elhanan who killed Goliath? Goliath had brothers and Elhanan killed one of them.
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1 Sam. 17:50 – Who killed Goliath—David or Elhanan?
Problem: In one account, David is said to kill Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50-51). However, in another account, Elhanan kills Goliath (2 Sam. 21:19). Which is true?
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