Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Samuel Payne" <sam AT sampayne.worldonline.co.uk>]

>
The Samuel passage in 1 Samuel 24:24, which mentions only fifty shekels of
silver, refers to the threshing floor and the oxen, while the six hundred
gold shekels mentioned in 1 Chronicles 21:25 refers to the "site," which may
be a larger area. In other words, David made have made an immediate payment,
recorded in Samuel, and later a greater payment, preserved in Chronicles.
>

There is no need to try to accommodate the two accounts. It is quite obvious
what has happened. The writer of Samuel is thinking only of what the GROUND
would have been worth, and merely wants to make it clear that David paid a
generous price, amply more than it was worth. For the writer of Chronicles
this is not enough. He is thinking of what the TEMPLE was worth. Such a
paltry sum as a mere 50 shekels of silver as an initial outlay is unworthy
of the temple. The price should be a figure that sets a standard for the
opulence and slpendour of the temple. So he makes the figure 600 shekels of
gold.

This is the way religious history is written.

Samuel Payne