There seems to be a contradiction concerning the chief of David’s mighty men and how many enemies he slew at one time. A verse in Samuel says 800, while a verse in Chronicles says 300. Could this be a contradiction within the Bible?

Below are the verses in question:

(2 Samuel 23:8) These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The ‎Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the ‎Eznite: he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.‎

(1 Chronicles 11:11) And this is the number of the mighty men whom David ‎had; Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear ‎against three hundred slain by him at one time.‎

The passage in 2 Samuel says David’s chief captain slew 800 with a spear, at one time. The ‎passage in 1 Chronicles says that his chief captain slew 300 with a spear, at one time.‎

One view is that these are different people. In 2 Samuel, the chief captain is named Adino, ‎and in Chronicles, the chief captain is called Jashobeam.‎

There are also contextual indications that these chapters are set at different time periods in ‎David’s reign:‎

‎2 Samuel 23:1 says “Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the ‎man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist ‎of Israel,‎”  while 1 Chronicles 11:9 says “So David waxed greater and greater: for the Lord of hosts was with him.‎”

The chapter in 2 Samuel is set towards the end of David’s life, whereas the chapter in 1 ‎Chronicles is during the time when David is rising in power. Between those two points, ‎David’s chief captain changed. David reigned for forty years (2 Samuel 5:4), meaning this ‎could have happened a half dozen times or more as the captains aged out or died.‎

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