In I Sam. 16:6-12 it says in verse 10 that Jesse “made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.” Samuel wanted to know if these were all of Jesse’s sons, and Jesse indicated no, he had one more whose name was David. In I Chr. 2:13-15, Jesse’s sons are listed by name and birth order, and David is said to be the seventh. What am I missing? ~ Marilyn LaStrape
You are not missing anything, not anything that is specifically stated in the Bible. At the time represented by 1 Samuel 16:6-12, Jesse had eight living sons. At the time represented by 1 Chronicles 2:13-15, Jesse had seven living sons.
Jesse had eight sons, of whom David was the youngest (1 Sam 16:10-11; 17:12). Probably one of the sons shown to Samuel at Bethlehem did not grow up. (Barnes)
David the seventh. Since it appears (1 Sam 16:10; 17:12) that Jesse had eight sons, the presumption is, from David being mentioned here as the seventh son of his father, that one of them had died at an early age, without leaving issue. (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown)
This account, which agrees with that in 1 Sam 16:8-12, may be reconciled with the enumeration in our verse, on the supposition that one of the sons died without posterity. (Keil & Delitzsch)
No contradiction exists whenever one or more plausible explanations would remove a supposed contradiction. In this case, it is an easy deduction by which these two passages can be harmonized.
