2 Samuel 24:13. Seven years of famine, or three years of famine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bryan77
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bryan77

Guest
In some versions of 2 Samuel 24:13 say seven years of famine, while others say three years.

My Douay Rheims says seven years.
My New American Bible says three years
My Revised Standard version says three years

I looked online at various other bible translations, such as King James version, and some other Protestant bibles, and they mostly say seven years.

So my question is, how many years of famine is it? And why are our catholic translations inconsistent?
 
So from my quick research it seems that Greek Septuagint read three years, while the Hebrew says seven. Its my understanding that the Douay Rheims (which says seven) was translated off of the Latin Vulgate. Didn’t St. Jerome use the Septuagint to translate into Latin? Or did he look at some Hebrew manuscripts as well?

Does anyone know what the Vulgate says? Does it say 7 or 3?

Then the next question is, why do different Catholic translations have the different number of years? Shouldn’t we be consistent?
 
Haydock Bible Commentary says: “The contradiction, in fact, seems to have been occasioned by the mistake of a numeral letter, g (3) for z (7).”

So, we don’t know which number was meant. The important thing about the verse isn’t the number of years, but what punishment was imposed for David’s crime which he commited as King of Israel. One interpreter speculated that the actual pestilence lasted 3 years but the effects would have lasted longer, thus the 7 year translation in some versions.
 
Bryan77 said:
In some versions of 2 Samuel 24:13 say seven years of famine, while others say three years.

My Douay Rheims says seven years.
My New American Bible says three years
My Revised Standard version says three years

I looked online at various other bible translations, such as King James version, and some other Protestant bibles, and they mostly say seven years.

So my question is, how many years of famine is it? And why are our catholic translations inconsistent?
Click to expand...
The Masoretic text has seven, but the Septuagint has three. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21:12 has three years in both texts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top