Concerning the variant readings of Samuel-Kings-Chronicles:
One analogy I might give to the person in my parish would be like watching a baseball game (yes, baseball season is right around the corner) and having two or three umpires report on what they saw during any number of controversial plays. Lets say, there was a controversial ruling based on a play where something happened on the field. You had three umpires watching the same play, but they all saw it happen from a different viewing angle. If they all went home and wrote about what happened and how it affected the outcome of the game, they would not probably record exactly the same thing, based on their viewpoint. What they do record about what they saw would be explained from their own biased perspective, i.e. they were behind home plate or behind second base when they witnessed the event. Also, if their recordings were being written to their supervisors it would be different than what they might write for publishing in a newspaper. This is not unlike what is recorded in parallel historical recordings in Samuel-Kings-Chronicles, or in the New Testament in the parallel viewpoints of the synoptic Gospels. They all are telling nearly similar events at times, but have different viewpoints and what they want readers to know in the context of the time. A good case in point is in John 20:30-31, where John basically said, Jesus did a lot more things which I haven’t recorded here, but I have written what I have written so you might believe.
Blessings!
George
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