2 Samuel 8:4, 700 or 7,000 horsemen?

Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen.

//Seven hundred horsemen, it says. Here’s the same battle, described in the Chronicles:

And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen.

Oops! First 700 horsemen, then 7,000? Did the Bible slip a digit?

Early Bible translators preferred the second story. When the Hebrew text of 700 horsemen was rewritten into the Greek Septuagint, it somehow became 7,000. The Dead Sea scrolls agree: 7,000. Today’s various translations can’t decide what to do; some say 700, some say 7,000. Oddly, the Masoretic text claims 1,700. Can any of the numbers in the Bible be trusted? Or do its numbers just grow over time, like a good fish story?

I get the feeling that the only really important digit is the 7; that’s God’s favorite number, that’s the digit that proves God’s hand is in the matter. The rest don’t matter, and scripture writers felt free to exaggerate as they pleased. Here’s another example of how an original story (in Samuel) grew when rewritten hundreds of years later (in Chronicles):

And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. (2 Samuel 10:18). Now, here’s the same battle in Chronicles, where 700 charioteers again turn into 7,000. But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. (1 Chronicles 19:18)