In five pages this research paper considers the David narratives in terms of their apparent contradictions with 2 Samuel the primary focus. Three sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_khdavcon.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
validity of the scriptures. An analysis of some of the apparent contradictions, however, shows that the fault lies not in scripture, but in human interpretation and error. The scriptures are,
in fact, remarkably consistent. However, because generations of copyists, translators and scholars are only human, the Bible has it has come down to us today contains seeming contradictions.
The following discussion focuses on three sample contradictions from the narratives concerning David, which appear for the most part in 2 Samuel.
First Samuel 16:19-23 tells how Saul sent messengers to Jesse who instructed him to send his son David to Saul with his flock. Jesse did as he was instructed and
loaded a donkey with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat and told his son David to take these things to Saul. David did so and
became a favorite of the king -- 1 Samuel 22: "And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David now stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight.
" However, in 1 Samuel 17:55-80, when David goes against the Philistine, Saul asks Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner whose son is this young man?" Later Saul
asks David directly whose son he is, when in the previous chapter, it appeared that David was Sauls favorite and the Saul was very well acquainted with the fact
that David was the son of Jesse (Did or did not Saul know who David was?). Experts offer several possible explanations for this seeming contradiction that range from it
being a textual error to the standard manner in which ancient writers were accustomed to addressing thematic material. One biblical scholar argues that there is no contradiction. This