1 Chronicles 12:23

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DAVID AS KING OF ALL ISRAEL

"And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah. The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, armed for war. Of the childen of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the war, seven thousand and one hundred. Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred. And Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron; and with him were three thousand and seven hundred, and Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains. And of the children of Benjamin, the brethren of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greater part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous in their fathers' houses. And of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand who were mentioned by name, to come and make David king. And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, with all manner of instruments of war, and that could order the battle array, and were not of double heart. And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. And of the Danites that could set the battle in array, twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. And of Asher, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, forty thousand. And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, a hundred and twenty thousand.

"All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brethren had made preparations for them. Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victuals of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel."

Critical writers, lacking any real reason to press their denials regarding the authenticity of Chronicles, seize upon the numbers of the armed men coming to Hebron to make David king, declaring them to be unreaonable, exaggerated, "magnified,"[6] unhistorical, inaccurate, etc. To all such allegations, there is one single word: NONSENSE! The conclusion announced by Curtis (Madsen) that, "Our chapter (this one) has no real historical worth,"[7] betrays the bias and essential ignorance of all such allegations. Curtis pointed out that the numbers given here in 1 Chronicles 12:23-40 come to a sum total of 339,600 men. There is nothing whatever suspicious, unreasonable, or difficult in the coming of such a crowd to Hebron for the coronation of King David.

There are a number of historical references to the Jewish Passover, held every year in Jerusalem, indicating that in excess of 60,000 lambs were often slain at each celebration of the Passover; and there is one citation in which over 250,000 lambs were killed at the Passover.[8] Counting ten persons for each lamb, as prescribed in Exodus, indicates that crowds in Jerusalem were frequently in excess of half a million in number; and that in some instances, crowds of over a million came to the Holy City. In this light, there is every reason to hold the numbers given here as absolutely accurate, nor should any Christian allow some unbelieving enemy of God's Word to cast any doubt whatever upon them.