Ezra/Nehemiah Number Discrepancies

Ezra 2—”Are the numbers of Israelite clans freed from Babylonian captivity correct in Ezra or in Nehemiah 7?”

This reveals not a contradiction in scripture but the ignorance of the critic.

Firstly, whereas Ezra explicitly claims accuracy (“…Now these are the people…” – Ezra 2:1), Nehemiah is merely recording what he found written on a genealogical register (“…I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return.…

Jehoiachin 8 or 18?

2 Chronicles 36:9— “Why does this verse says Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he became king of Jerusalem, but 2 Kings 24:8 says he was 18 years old when he became king?”

Many of the early manuscripts for this verse (such as the Septuagint, Syriac and one Hebrew MSS) actually read “18,” which is consistent with 2 Kings 24:8, while other manuscripts read “8.”…

Was Ahaziah 42 or 22?

2 Chronicles 22:2—”Was Ahaziah 42 years old or 22 years old (2 Kings 8:26) when he began to reign over Jerusalem?”

Some ancient manuscripts (Septuagint and Syriac) read “22,” which is consistent with 2 Kings 8:26, while other manuscripts read “42.”…

3,600 or 3,300 overseers?

2 Chronicles 2:2— “Here it says that Solomon appoint 3,600 overseers for the work of building the temple, but 1 Kings 5:16 says it was only 3,300.”

This is not too great a problem. The most likely solution is that 2 Chronicles included the 300 men who were selected as reservists to take the place of any supervisors who would become ill or who had died, while 1 Kings 5:16 passage includes only the supervisory force.…

1 Kings 15:33 – Baasha died when?

1 Kings 15:33—”Here it says Baasha died in the 26th year of king Asa’s reign, but 2 Chronicles 16:1 says he was still alive in the 36th year.”

The word translated as “reign” in Hebrew is מלכות (malkut) , which is often used to simply mean “realm” or “kingdom” rather than “reign”1.…

Seven or three years?

2 Samuel 24:13—”This passage mentions that there will be seven years of famine, whereas 1 Chronicles 21:12 mentions only three.”

We may assume that the author of 1 Chronicles emphasized the three-year period in which the famine was to be most intense, whereas the author of 2 Samuel includes the two years prior to and after this period, during which the famine worsened and lessened respectively.…

Fighting men in Judah (2 Samuel 24:9)

2 Samuel 24:9— (Question #2) “This passage gives the round figure of 500,000 fighting men in Judah, which was 30,000 more than the corresponding item in 1 Chronicles 21:5.”

1 Chronicles 21:6 clearly states that Joab did not complete the numbering, as he had not yet taken a census of the tribe of Benjamin, nor that of Levi’s either, due to the fact that David came under conviction about completing the census at all.…

2 Samuel 23:8 – 800 or 300 men?

2 Samuel 23:8— “Did the chief of the mighty men of David lift up his spear and killed 800 men (2 Samuel 23:8) or only 300 men (1 Chronicles 11:11)?”

It is quite possible that either the passages described two separate incidents of the same man, or one passage may have only mentioned in part what the other passage mentions in full.…