2 Samuel 8:4; 10:18
Horsemen and chariots: Samuel, the Greek and Chronicles
In 8:4 the Hebrew has 1,700 horsemen; the library's Greek and 1 Chronicles 18:4 have 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen. 4QSam-a is reported to agree with the Greek. In 10:18, Samuel has 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen; Chronicles has 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot.
Read 2 Samuel 8:4; 10:18 in every edition
Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Every witness, in order
Unknown (debated)
Original Samuel
No original survives.
Composed c. 4th century BC
1 Chronicles (parallel account)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex, quoted here in English.
a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen (1 Chr 18:4); seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen (1 Chr 19:18)
A parallel account, not a manuscript of Samuel.
Translated c. 2nd century BC; revised (kaige) from 11:2
Septuagint, 2 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
David lui prit mille chars, sept mille cavaliers et vingt mille piétons (8:4)
David took from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot
One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical edition.
Mid-1st century BC
4QSam-a (4Q51)
How the site knows this: Reported in scholarship; not checked by the site.
Reported (DJD XVII) to read 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen in 8:4. Not checked here.
Source: F. M. Cross et al., Qumran Cave 4.XII: 1–2 Samuel (DJD XVII, 2005)
c. AD 400
Jerome's Vulgate
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
mille septingentis equitibus, et viginti millibus peditum (8:4)
1,700 horsemen.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
אֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע־מֵאוֹת פָּרָשִׁים וְעֶשְׂרִים אֶלֶף אִישׁ רַגְלִי (8:4)
1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers
No chariots counted, though 8:4 goes on to hamstring the chariot horses.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen (8:4)
Inserts "chariots" from Chronicles while keeping "seven hundred."
What changed, and why
The Hebrew of 8:4 likely lost the word "chariots" and changed a number; the Greek and Chronicles agree. In 10:18 the two books differ in both number and type of troops. The site reports the readings without forcing agreement.
What the evidence shows
- The library's Greek has 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen in 8:4. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical edition.
- 4QSam-a agrees with the Greek in 8:4. Reported.
Source: F. M. Cross et al., Qumran Cave 4.XII: 1–2 Samuel (DJD XVII, 2005); 2 Samuel 8:4 and 1 Chronicles 18:4 compared (Bible Gateway) ↗
Sources
- 2 Samuel 8:4 and 1 Chronicles 18:4 compared (Bible Gateway) ↗
- F. M. Cross et al., Qumran Cave 4.XII: 1–2 Samuel (DJD XVII, 2005)
- E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)
Related lessons
- David's Wars and Officials →A summary of victories: the Philistines, Moab (two-thirds of whose captives are executed), Hadadezer of Zobah, the Arameans of Damascus, and Edom; tribute from Hamath; garrisons in Aram and Edom. Then a list of officials: Joab over the army, Jehoshaphat the recorder, Zadok and Ahimelech priests, Seraiah scribe, Benaiah over the Cherethites and Pelethites, and David's sons as priests.
- Ammon, Aram and the Shaved Envoys →When the Ammonite king Nahash dies, David sends envoys to comfort his son Hanun. Hanun's advisers call them spies; he shaves off half their beards and cuts their garments to the buttocks. Ammon hires Aramean armies. Joab and Abishai defeat them; when Hadadezer brings more Arameans from beyond the river, David defeats them at Helam.
- Investigation: Samuel and Chronicles, When Two Histories Differ →1 Chronicles retells much of 2 Samuel, centuries later, with its own emphases. It leaves out Bathsheba, Amnon and Absalom; it names Satan where Samuel names the LORD; its numbers and names differ. These are differences between two biblical books, not copying errors in one.
- David's Wars and Administration →David defeats the Philistines, Moab, Hadarezer of Zobah and the Arameans of Damascus, and Edom. He dedicates the plunder to the LORD; the bronze he takes from Hadarezer's cities is later used for Solomon's Sea and pillars. A list of his officials follows.
- The Ammonite Insult and the Aramean War →David sends condolences to Hanun of Ammon; Hanun's advisers call the envoys spies, and he shaves them and cuts their garments. Ammon hires Arameans with chariots for a thousand talents of silver. Joab and Abishai defeat them; Hadarezer brings Arameans from beyond the Euphrates; David crosses the Jordan and wins, killing 7,000 charioteers and the commander Shophach.