Obededom, Gittite or Levite – ATA

ataINQUIRY:
Was Obededom a Gittite (2 Samuel 6:10) or a Levite (1 Chronicles 15:17-18)? Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
The questioner would like us to think that 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles are contradictory. They are not. The parallel text for 2 Samuel 6:10 is found in 1 Chronicles 13:13-14, and it also calls Obededom a Gittite.

So, what are we to make of two chapters later, when he is identified as a Levite? Surely if a man is a Gittite, he cannot also be a Levite, can he? It would be helpful to know what these terms refer to.

Most are aware, a Levite is one who is of the Hebrew tribe of Levi—the priestly tribe. Obededom is identified as a Levite in 1 Chronicles 17. I imagine that is why the ark was housed by him and not someone else. But what does it mean that he was a Gittite? The American Tract Society Dictionary identifies a Gittite as an inhabitant of the city of Gath. It has nothing to do with Obededom’s nationality or tribal affiliation.

I am Scottish by ethnicity, a Canadian by citizenship, and a Kingstonian by residence.  I can be all of these without there being a contradiction. The same is true for Obed-edom.

There is no contradiction.


A response to 1001 Bible Contradictions.

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