2Sam 24:13 vs 1Chr 21:12; Famine: 7 or 3 years?

LET us explain another claim of contradiction put forward by MUSLIM DEFENDER BEN LANCUYAN.

Lancuyan posited this question to me:

God sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine?
Seven (2 Samuel 24:13)
Three (I Chronicles 21:12)

We have already proved in our previous posts that there are NO CONTRADICTIONS in the Bible. People like Lancuyan are either confused or have been misled by detractors of the Holy Book.

I praise and thank God for this new opportunity to further prove the inerrancy of the Sacred Scriptures.



To see the root of Lancuyan's confusion, let us read the two texts that he cited.

2Samuel 24:13

So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me."

 
1Chronicles 21:11-12

So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, `Take for yourself either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me."

So, in 2Samuel 24:13the prophet Gad told David of "seven years of famine," while in 1Chronicles 21:12, he was quoted as saying "three years of famine."

In Lancuyan's mind, "seven" and "three" are contradictory. He needs to be enlightened.



As I have said before, everyone should see differences in accounts as mere differences in POINTS OF VIEW or in the EXPRESSIONS used by the various authors. They usually MEAN THE SAME.

Between 2Sam 24:13 and 1Chr 21:12, there is really no difference in the BIBLICAL MEANING of "seven" and "three."

In the Bible, "seven" and "three" are synonymous. They have similar meanings. And that similar meaning is DIVINE or SPIRITUAL PERFECTION.

THREE is associated with the PERFECTION of GOD. While SEVEN is related with the PERFECTION of the SPIRIT.



When the author of 2Sam 24:13 wrote about what the prophet Gad told David, he merely quoted what the prophet actually said. So, 2Sam 24:13 says, "seven years."

Now, we already said in our other posts that the author of 1Chronicles is a priest or a religious person.

When he wrote 1Chr 21:12, he stressed that fact that the punishment being meted out to David was FROM GOD. It was an expression of GOD'S PERFECT WILL.

So, instead of simply quoting what the prophet said, the author of 1Chr 21:12 put God directly into the quotation by using "three."



And again, NO CONTRADICTIONS in the Bible.

What Bible detractors like Lancuyan and Muslim defenders call "contradictions" are only signs of their own lack of knowledge and understanding of what they are attacking.