Contradiction claim
How many men did David’s chief warrior kill at one time?
2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles both introduce the first-named member of David’s mighty men and both report a number of men killed with a spear on a single occasion. The figures differ: eight hundred in Samuel, three hundred in Chronicles. The passages also differ in the name and epithet given to the warrior.
2 source records · no review date recorded
How to read this record
Passages side by side
TextThe primary text, as seeded. Nothing here is summarised or paraphrased.
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 lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.
Why they appear to conflict
AnalysisEach side states a proposition attributable to its passages. A claim is not assumed to have exactly two sides.
Samuel
The chief of David’s captains killed eight hundred men with his spear on one occasion.
Eight hundred
2 Samuel 23:8
The warrior is named as "The Tachmonite that sat in the seat", also called Adino the Eznite.
Chronicles
The chief of David’s captains killed three hundred men with his spear on one occasion.
Three hundred
1 Chronicles 11:11
The warrior is named Jashobeam, a Hachmonite.
Formal analysis
AnalysisA contradiction requires a proposition and its incompatible counterpart under materially equivalent conditions. Every dimension below must hold for the formal test to succeed.
Proposition A
killed(chief, 800, occasion E)Proposition B
killed(chief, 300, occasion E)| Dimension | Question | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Same subject | Do both propositions predicate of the same subject? | Uncertain |
| Same referent | Do the referring expressions pick out the same individual? | Uncertain |
| Same event | Do both describe the same event token, not merely the same event type? | Uncertain |
| Same time | Do both describe the same time or time-window? | Uncertain |
| Same sense | Are the key terms used in the same sense? | Yes |
| Same scope | Are quantifiers, counting criteria and boundaries the same? | Uncertain |
| Same textual tradition | Are both readings secure in the same textual tradition? | Uncertain |
If subject, referent, event and counting criterion are held fixed, 800 and 300 conflict directly. Four dimensions are unresolved on curated evidence, so the record is classified as a numerical discrepancy rather than a formal logical contradiction. See unresolved question R-02.
Analytical questions
AnalysisWhat a researcher must answer to classify this record. Open questions are recorded, not resolved by preference.
- Do the two passages refer to the same individual, given the differing names and epithets?
- Do they refer to the same occasion, or to two occasions in the same career?
- Is the counting criterion the same in both accounts (killed by his own hand, killed in an engagement he led)?
- Is either numeral secure in the Hebrew textual tradition?
Hebrew / Greek relevance
LanguageThe Hebrew of 2 Samuel 23:8 is difficult and the epithets differ between the two accounts. A reader evaluating this claim should compare the consonantal text of both passages rather than the English alone.
Textual variants
ManuscriptA variant is a transmission phenomenon, never in itself a logical contradiction.
No textual variant record is linked to this claim.
Manuscript evidence
ManuscriptManuscript evidence has not yet been curated for this record.
Narrator and speaker analysis
AnalysisWhat the narration establishes, distinguished from what would additionally establish that the reported event occurred.
No narrator or speaker analysis has been recorded for these passages yet.
Proposed harmonisations
InterpretationEach proposal records the premises it must supply that the text does not state. Premises are never injected silently.
The accounts describe two different engagements
Each passage records a separate feat from the same career, and neither claims to be exhaustive.
Premises this proposal must supply
- historicalThe warrior performed at least two comparable feats, on separate occasions.
- contextualEach account selects a different one of those occasions without signalling that it is doing so.
Editorial Harmonisation Cost Heuristic
3 / 5 — One substantial unstated premise
The reconciliation is coherent but neither text signals a second occasion; both introduce their figure with the same "at one time" framing. That is one substantial unstated premise.
Reviewed by CodexTrace Editorial Board on 2026-09-07. This is an editorial heuristic, not an objective measurement.
One numeral changed in transmission
The difference arose during copying rather than in the original composition of either book.
Premises this proposal must supply
- textualAt least one of the two numerals differs from what its author wrote.
Editorial Harmonisation Cost Heuristic
3 / 5 — One substantial unstated premise
A transmission hypothesis is live for numerals in Samuel–Chronicles parallels generally, but CodexTrace has not curated the critical apparatus that would support or refute it here. Recorded as a hypothesis, not a finding.
Reviewed by CodexTrace Editorial Board on 2026-09-07. This is an editorial heuristic, not an objective measurement.
Critical responses
InterpretationArguments that the proposed reconciliations do not succeed, treated structurally the same way as the harmonisations.
No critical response has been recorded for this claim yet.
Analytical classification
Analysis- Classification
- Numerical discrepancy
- What it means
- Parallel passages report different quantities for what appears to be the same measured thing.
- Requires formal analysis
- Yes
- Review status
- reviewed
- Source collections
- codextrace_research
Sources
SourceEvery externally-sourced claim on this page resolves to one of these records.
- [1]
CodexTrace. "CodexTrace editorial research". licence: CC-BY-4.0
Critical / scholarlyotherCC-BY-4.0 - [2]
King James Version (Authorised Version)
"King James Version (Authorised Version)". licence: public-domain-us
Primarytranslationpublic-domain-usLink unverified
Related records
TextCommunity
CommunityCommunity discussion requires a configured Supabase project on this deployment. Research pages are unaffected.