ContradictionsReading order 180Bible context 1 min read
How many of Arah's offspring returned from Babylon?
The Arah family entry differs by 123 people between the two lists.
- Textual conflict
- Direct contradiction
- The quoted passages make incompatible claims about the same subject under the same conditions. Little additional inference is needed.
- Importance
- Minor
- A local detail in a story, chronology, or inventory.
Parallel return entries count the same Arah family as exactly 775 versus 652 people.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Ezra counts seven hundred seventy-five descendants of Arah
The children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five.
Ezra 2:5
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Ezra 2
Nehemiah counts six hundred fifty-two descendants of Arah
The children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two.
Nehemiah 7:10
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Nehemiah 7
Understanding the contradiction
Ezra 2:5 gives the children of Arah as 775. Nehemiah 7:10 gives the identically named family as 652. In these list entries, 'children' identifies the counted descendant group; it need not mean hundreds of immediate sons and daughters of one parent.