King David ordered a census to be done of the people in Israel and Judah. God’s anger burned against him and decided to punish him for it. Surprisingly, God gave David three scenarios to choose from to be carried out as his punishment. Here comes the issue—it seems as though the two verses that record this conversation between the prophet Gad and David contradict each other.
Let’s look at them:
So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” (2 Samuel 24:13)
“…either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord —the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” (1 Chronicles 21:12)
At a glance there does indeed seem to be a contradiction, however, there is an explanation that shows there is none. This clarification requires further reading in preceding verses.
2nd Samuel 21:1 says: ”Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.”
From this verse it’s clear that there had already been 3 years of famine in the land. And then, at least a month after that, which you can deduce by reading 2nd Samuel 21:9-10, the census began. 2nd Samuel 24:8 tells us it lasted 9 ½ months, and then again at least a month later, the prophet Gad came to David with God’s choices of punishment. In total, these months add up to about 12 months. If the famine continued on through this additional year, as the three-year famine mentioned in chapter 21 wasn’t said to have ended, then there had already been 4 years of famine in David’s kingdom by the time Gad went to David.
So, in the first verse found in 2nd Samuel, Gad asks if he should make the 4 years of famine turn into a total of 7, which would be accomplished by adding 3 more years. In the second verse in 1st Chronicles, Gad asks if he would like an additional 3 years of famine, which again would add up to a total of 7 years when added to the previous 4.
As you should be able to see for yourself, these verses do not contradict each other, they’re telling the same story in different words.
For more articles on the difficulties found in the Bible, click here.
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