ContradictionsReading order 276Bible context 1 min read
How many of Bebai's offspring returned from Babylon?
The Bebai entries disagree by five people while using the same family designation.
- Textual conflict
- Direct contradiction
- The quoted passages make incompatible claims about the same subject under the same conditions. Little additional inference is needed.
- Importance
- Incidental
- A small detail with little effect on the wider account.
The exact return-list totals for the identically named Bebai family differ by five people, 623 versus 628.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Bebai's family is counted as six hundred twenty-three
The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three.
Ezra 2:11
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Ezra 2
Bebai's family is counted as six hundred twenty-eight
The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and eight.
Nehemiah 7:16
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Nehemiah 7
Understanding the contradiction
Ezra 2:11 lists 623 children of Bebai. Nehemiah 7:16 lists 628 children of Bebai. The shared name fixes the group under comparison, and both sentences present a count rather than an approximate description such as several hundred.