Bible Question:
I'm involved in a discussion with a person who believes there are contradictions in the Bible. He gave me about 20 examples which I answered most all except thhe following.... 15. Solomon built a facility containing how many baths? Two thousand (1 Kings 7:26) Over three thousand (2 Chronicles 4:5) -------------------------------------------------------------- 16. Of the Israelites who were freed from the Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab? Two thousand eight hundred and twelve (Ezra 2:6) Two thousand eight hundred and eighteen (Nehemiah 7:11) -------------------------------------------------------------- 17. How many were the children of Zattu? Nine hundred and forty-five (Ezra 2:8) Eight hundred and forty-five (Nehemiah 7:13) -------------------------------------------------------------- 18. How many were the children of Azgad? One thousand two hundred and twenty-two (Ezra 2:12) Two thousand three hundred and twenty-two (Nehemiah 7:17) -------------------------------------------------------------- 19. How many were the children of Adin? Four hundred and fifty-four (Ezra 2:15) Six hundred and fifty-five (Nehemiah 7:20) -------------------------------------------------------------- 20. How many were the children of Hashum? Two hundred and twenty-three (Ezra 2:19) Three hundred and twenty-eight (Nehemiah 7:22) -------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that there is some explanation. Can anyone help me explain why the difference in the numbers? Thankyou. |
Bible Answer: Hi Seedling, I took a look at number 15 of your contradictions, the difference of 2 thousand and 3 thousand. The difference in numbers could be due to a copyist error. The Hebrew characters used for the numbers 2,000 and 3,000 are very similar. A tired copyist could easily mistake one for another. However, I think the New World Translation of the Bible offers a better explanation: 1 Kings 7:26 – “Two thousand bath measures were what it WOULD contain” 2 Chronicles 4:5 – “Three thousand bath measures were what it COULD contain” The explanation for numbers 16-20 of the supposed contradictions: Ezra 2 records the numbers of the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. Ezra then lists 11 leaders these men came with. Nehemiah 7 records the following: God put it into Nehemiah’s heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then Nehemiah found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first. Nehemiah reports what was found in the book. This book of genealogy listed the 11 leaders, but often with a different spelling. The book also listed an additional leader, Nahamani. This book of genealogy is different from the census in Ezra. These are two different records, likely completed at different times. It should not then be expected that they would match in every detail. The Bible contains many apparent contradictions. Every one I have researched has, in the end, been found in harmony when I allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves and look at the Bible in context. Those who think the Bible actually contradicts itself would do well to remember 1 Corinthians 3:19 (New International Version) “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness” Hope this helps, Jim |