[Bass Guy]

I found a really good website that deals with supposed "contradictions."
http://www.thebereans.net/contra-main.shtml

[Chrysostom]

(Previous) No. They provided the same information but used different categories. I've explained this repeatedly.

(JerryLove) Two writers give two conflicting accounts of what Joab said.

Option 1: At least one remembered wrong. If this were the case, we would not expect his number to match another number (800k matching the base army), so this is unlikely.

Option 2: At least one fabricated the number by looking it up in other portions of his writing (or creating it entirely). Option two means that portions of the Bible are fabricated myth

They cannot be differeing counting methods, because the authors did not do the counting, Joab did (unless the author's fabricated the quote).

There is reason to doubt that it's simply a mis-remembering of Joab's quote... but even if it is, how much of the rest of the Bibe is mis-remembered?

I say "I'm 31 years old"... how many differnt "categories" are there in which to write "Jerry said 'I'm 31 years old'"?

(Me) Option 3: They weren't trying to reproduce his words verbatim, only his meaning.

So, person one might report, "He said he didn't like it any more than I like root canals." Person two might report, "He said he hated it."