How many men did David kill?

Response

II Samuel 10:18 says that David slew “the men of seven hundred chariots,” whereas I Chronicles 19:18 says “seven thousand men which fought in chariots.”  This means there were ten men to one chariot.  After all, chariots were like the “tanks” of ancient warfare.  Today, each man does not get his own tank!  Likewise, ten soldiers had to share one chariot.

Regarding the 40,000 horsemen vs. footmen, it is possible that David killed 40,000 horsemen and 40,000 more footmen.  It does not make sense that every warrior had a horse, or that none of them did.  Some had horses, some did not.  David killed 80,000 of these men total—40,000 that had horses, and 40,000 that didn’t.