Comments on: For how much did David buy the land for the altar?

By: WisdomLover

WisdomLover — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 12:37:39 +0000

One other possibility occurs to me on this one. If you look at the Hebrew in an Interlinear, you'll see that Samuel says that David bought the field for 50 silver shekels. Chronicles says that he gave Ornan 600 gold shekels for the field. It could bee that David and Ornan engaged in a bit of reverse haggling (recall that Ornan originally wanted to simply give the property to David). David initially gave Ornan 600 gold, but the price they finally settled on was 50 silver. It could also be that David paid 50 silver, but then gave Ornan 600 gold because of Ornan's generosity in initially offering to simply give the field to David.

By: WisdomLover

WisdomLover — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:19:05 +0000

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Chronicler is adjusting for inflation. He is simply providing a comparable value for the property. The Chronicler was aware that precious metals were worth different amounts at different times as 2 Chronicles 9 demonstrates.

By: Amtiskaw

Amtiskaw — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:49:19 +0000

Chronicles is giving an inflation-adjusted figure? I think that’s too advanced thinking for the time…

By: WisdomLover

WisdomLover — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:19:40 +0000

Depending on how you attribute authorship to these books, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles are separated by as much as 600 years (with 2 Samuel being the older work). During that time, it is entirely possible that the value of money changed considerably. 2 Chronicles 9:20 and 27 record that silver, in particular, was greatly diminished in its value during the time of Solomon (The text contains the hyperbole that silver was of no value and as common as stones).

In any case, a piece of property purchased for 50 silver-shekels at the time of the writing of 2 Samuel might well cost 600 gold-shekels at the time of the writing of 1 Chronicles.

By: Amtiskaw

Amtiskaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:32:47 +0000

Also, apparently the Chronicles version is partly modelled on Genesis 23 – both contain the expression “full price”, which Samuel does not.

In Genesis 23 Abraham pays 400 silver for a place to bury his dead. The Chronicler may have wanted David’s act to be more impressive.

By: Amtiskaw

Amtiskaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:22:34 +0000

Says the Oxford Bible Commentary:

“Certain passages [in 1 Chr 21] resemble the Qumran [Dead Sea Scrolls] version of 2 Sam 24 … more closely than the canonized Hebrew text. Thus the Chronicler must have had a different source from the version of 2 Sam 24 printed in Hebrew Bibles today; one which would explain the numerous discrepancies between ch. 21 and 2 Sam 24.”

By: Amtiskaw

Amtiskaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:56:45 +0000

Silver vs gold.

Oops!

By: Errancy

Errancy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:23:08 +0000

It worth noting that this isn’t just a numerical discrepancy: it’s not just “50 shekels” vs “600 shekels”, it’s “50 shekels of silver” vs “600 shekels of gold”.

Absent an explanation of why these would look similar in Hebrew, this makes me think that there’s probably more going on here than just a smudged number being misread and miscopied.

By: Amtiskaw

Amtiskaw — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:55:11 +0000

Hmm. In the first case he pays 50 for the “threshing floor and the oxen”, in the second case he pays 600 for “the site”.

The ESV Study Bible suggests the site is a much larger area, and both are thus true.

I find it odd, though, that it would be reported as if there were two separate transactions.