How many of Bigvai's offspring returned from Babylon?

The Bigvai family count increases by eleven between the two records.

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.

The same named return group receives incompatible exact totals of 2,056 and 2,067, with no stated change in membership.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.

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Ezra records two thousand fifty-six descendants of Bigvai

The children of Bigvai, two thousand fifty and six.

Ezra 2:14

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Ezra 2

Nehemiah records two thousand sixty-seven descendants of Bigvai

The children of Bigvai, two thousand threescore and seven.

Nehemiah 7:19

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Nehemiah 7

Understanding the contradiction

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Ezra 2:14 gives Bigvai's children as 2,056. Nehemiah 7:19 gives 2,067, using 'threescore and seven' for sixty-seven. Both statements attach their number to the same named descendant group.

The arithmetic difference is eleven people. Neither entry describes eleven newcomers, a different branch of Bigvai's family, or an altered rule for who belongs in the count. Those explanations would require additional evidence. The narrow conclusion is that the corresponding numerical records differ. If both are read as exact totals for the same return group, they cannot both be accurate in that respect. The verses supply competing figures without a narrative of how the population changed.

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contradictionEzraNehemiah

Ezra records two thousand fifty-six descendants of Bigvai

Nehemiah records two thousand sixty-seven descendants of Bigvai

Understanding the contradiction

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