INQUIRY:
In David’s time, who served as priest, Ahimelech or Abiathar? And who was his scribe, Seraiah or Sheva? And who were his chief rulers, his sons or his sons and Ira? Do 2 Samuel 8:16-19 and 2 Samuel 20:23-26 contradict?
RESPONSE:
Surely the questioner realizes that people will come and go in an administration over time. Once every 5 years (or less), there is the potential for the entire Canadian Parliament to change. I don’t know that it has ever happened that every Member of Parliament was replaced in a single election, but there certainly have been times when many incumbents have been unseated.
Exactly how much time falls between 2 Samuel 8 & 2 Samuel 22, I do not know. One timeline estimates it to be as low as 13 years, while another says it is as many as 26 years. Is it possible that in a period of 13-26 years, some new people might be added to David’s administration, and some others may have been replaced, moved on or died? If so, then there is no reason to believe the two texts under consideration contradict one another. If there is a plausible reason why some who served under David might not have changed over the course of 13-26 years, I’d be delighted to hear the case. Until such a time, it seems that there is no contradiction here.
REFERENCES:
biblehub.com/timeline
livingstonesclass.org/Archive/DavidChronologyGross.pdf
A response to 1001 Bible Contradictions.
