Contradiction No. 1

Any serious reader making a comparison between chapters 45 and 46 of the book of Ezekiel, and chapters 28 and 29 of the book of Numbers will notice great contradiction in the doctrines mentioned therein.

Contradiction No. 2

A comparison between chapter 13 of the Book of Joshua and chapter 2 of Deuteronomy concerning the inheritance of the children of Gad discloses a plain contradiction. One of the two statements has to be wrong.

Contradiction No. 3

I Chronicles chapters 7 and 8 concerning the descendants of Benjamin makes a statement which contradicts chapter 46 of Genesis. The Judaeo-Christian scholars have had to admit that the statement made by Chronicles is erroneous. This will be discussed later.

Contradiction No. 4

There is great discrepancy in the description of genealogical names in I Chronicles 8:29-35 and 9:35-44. This contradiction was noticed by Adam Clarke who says in volume 2 of his commentary: “The Jewish scholars claim that Ezra had found two books which contained these sentences with the contradicting names and since he could not prefer one to the other, he included both of them.”

Contradiction No. 5

In 2 Samuel 24:9, it says:

And Joab gave up the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

On the other hand, we find in I Chronicles 21:5:

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred and three score and ten thousand men that drew sword.

The discrepancy in these statements amounts to a great contradiction in the number of people. There is a difference of three hundred thousand in the number of the Israelites while the difference in the number of the People of Judah is thirty thousand.

Contradiction No. 6

We read in 2 Samuel 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?

However we read in 1 Chr. 21:12:

“Either three years famine or.... “

The contradiction is quite obvious, since the former statement speaks of seven years of famine while the latter statement mentions only three years of famine referring to the same occasion. The commentators of the Bible have admitted that the former statement is erroneous.

Contradiction No. 7

In 2 Kings 8:26 we find this statement:

“Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. “

In contrast with the above statement we read in 2 Chr. 22:2:

“Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign... “

This contradiction speaks for itself. The latter statement is obviously wrong and the commentators on the Bible have admitted this to be the case. It has to be wrong because the age of Ahaziah’s father, Jehoram, at the time of his death was 40 years and Ahaziah began reigning just after the death of his father as is known from the previous chapter. In this case if we did not negate the latter statement it would mean that the son was two years older than his father.

Contradiction No. 8

In 2 Kings 24:8 it is stated that:

“Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign... “

This statement is contradicted by 2 Chr. 36:9 which says:

“Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign... “

The contradiction is more than obvious. The second statement is erroneous as will be shown later in this book. This has been admitted by Bible commentators.

Contradiction No. 9

There is an obvious contradiction between the statements of 2 Samuel 23:8 which state:

“These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachomonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite; he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.”

and 1 Chronicle 11:11 which state:

“And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Hashobeam, and Hachmonite, the chief of the captains; he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.”

Both are talking of the mighty men of David. Adam Clarke, making comments on the former statements of 2 Samuel, has quoted Dr Kennicot as saying that the verse in question contains three great distortions. This requires no further comment.

Contradiction No. 10

It is stated in 2 Samuel 5 and 6 that David brought the Ark to Jerusalem after defeating the Philistines, while chapters 13 and 14 of 1 Chronicles, describing the same event, make David bring the Ark before the defeat of Philistine. One of the two statements must be wrong.

Contradiction No. 11

In Genesis 6:19,20 and 7:8,9 we read:

“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the Ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.”

“Of fowls after their kind and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee. “

But as we proceed a little further to the next chapter of this book we suddenly come to this statement.

“Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and the female.”

When we proceed to the next verse it says: ”Of fowls also of the air by sevens...”

The contradiction speaks for itself.

Contradiction No. 12

It is understood from the Book of Numbers 31:7 that the Israelites killed all the men of Midian during the lifetime of Moses, and only their young girls were allowed to live in servitude.

”And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.”

This statement contradicts the description given in Judges 6 from which it is understood that in the time of Judges the Midianites were so strong and powerful that they dominated the Israelites while historically the time difference between the two periods is not more than one hundred years. Having been totally wiped out, how could the Midianites have been sufficiently strong and powerful to keep the Israelites under their domination for seven years within the short period of only one hundred years?

”And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel.” [Judges 6: 2]

”And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites.” [Judges 6:6]

Contradiction No. 13

Exodus 9:6 states:

“And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.”

This implies that all the cattle of Egypt had died but it is contradicted by another statement of the same chapter of the same book which says:

“He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses”

“And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.”

The discrepancy in the above statements needs no comment.

Contradiction No. 14

Genesis 8:4,5 contains this statement:

“And the Ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.”

“And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.”

This statement contains a serious contradiction of facts, since the Ark could have not rested on the mountain in the seventh month as described in the first verse if the tops of the mountains could not be seen until the first day of the tenth month as described by the next verse

Contradictions No. 15 - 26

A comparison between 2 Samuel 8 and 1 Chronicles 18, discloses a great number of discrepancies and contradictions in the original version in the Hebrew language, although the translators have tried to rectify some of them.

We reproduce some of them in parallel columns below, using the commentary of Adam Clarke on Samuel. As can be seen there are numerous contradictions in these two chapters.

Verse No. 1

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

”David smote the Philistines and subdued them and took the tax out of the hand of Philistines.”

Verse No. 1

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“David smote the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and her towns out of the hands of Philistines.”

Verse No. 3

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

“Hadadezer”

Verse No. 3

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“Hadarezer”

Verse No. 4

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

“A thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen”

Verse No. 4

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“A thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen”

Verse No. 8

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

“And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer King David took exceeding much brass”

Verse No. 8

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“From Tibbath, and from Chun, Cities of Hadarezer brought David very much brass”

Verse No. 10

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

“Joram, his son unto King David”

Verse No. 10

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“Hadoram, his son to the King David”

Verse No. 17

The Words of 2 Samuel (8)

“… and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar were the priests, and Seraiah was the scribe”

Verse No. 17

The Words of I Chronicles (18)

“… and Abimelech, the son of Abiathar were the priests, and Shavsha was scribe”

Contradictions No. 27 - 32

Some other similar contradictions are found in the text of 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19. These contradictions are also mentioned by the commentators of the Bible. We reproduce below the contradicting words and phrases in two adjacent columns:

Verse No. 16

The Words of 2 Samuel (10)

“… Sobach, the captain of the host of Hadarezer…”

Verse No. 16

The Words of I Chronicles (19)

“… Shophach, the Captain of the host of Hadarezer…”

Verse No. 17

The Words of 2 Samuel (10)

“came to Helam.”

Verse No. 17

The Words of I Chronicles (19)

“came upon them.”

Verse No. 18

The Words of 2 Samuel (10)

“… slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen.”

Verse No. 18

The Words of I Chronicles (19)

“… slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen.”