ContradictionsReading order 275Bible context 1 min read

How many of Zattu's offspring returned from Babylon?

Zattu's family count is one hundred lower in Nehemiah than in Ezra.

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.

Corresponding Zattu family entries give exact totals separated by one hundred without naming different subgroups or occasions.

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

Zattu's descendants number nine hundred forty-five in Ezra

The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty and five.

Ezra 2:8

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Ezra 2

Zattu's descendants number eight hundred forty-five in Nehemiah

The children of Zattu, eight hundred forty and five.

Nehemiah 7:13

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Nehemiah 7

Understanding the contradiction

Ezra 2:8 gives Zattu's children as 945, while Nehemiah 7:13 assigns the same family name 845. The last two digits agree, but the hundreds figure changes. Both verses are brief numerical entries rather than descriptions of a growing or shrinking population over time.

That distinction matters because a population can change, but neither supplied statement reports such a change. Treating the verses as parallel records of the returning Zattu group yields incompatible exact totals separated by one hundred people. No different subgroup or counting unit is named. The comparison establishes an inconsistency in the recorded family number without providing evidence for why one list is smaller.

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contradictionEzraNehemiah

Zattu's descendants number nine hundred forty-five in Ezra

Zattu's descendants number eight hundred forty-five in Nehemiah

Understanding the contradiction

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