How Many of Bebai's Offspring Returned From Babylon?

How Many of Bebai's Offspring Returned From Babylon?

In Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7, there seems to be a contradiction on how many sons returned from Babylon; however, there is no contradiction.

Ezra 2:11 states that 623 sons returned while Nehemiah 7:16 records 628 sons. Several potential solutions have been proposed to explain this discrepancy. The most likely explanation is a copyist error, where a scribe made a mistake while copying the text. In this case, one number (or in biblical Hebrew, a letter) may have been misread as another and thus mistakenly copied (Crossway 835; Keil). 

Another possibility is that Nehemiah and Ezra used different categorical systems. Ezra might have recorded 623 instead of 628 because five men had died shortly after their return, or perhaps the five men returned at a later time. Ezra could be documenting immediate returns, while Nehemiah includes all returns over time. To illustrate, imagine two generals compiling a list of war casualties—one might count only those who died on the battlefield, while the other might include soldiers who died later from related causes, such as infection (Crossway 835). While these are plausible explanations, it remains unclear which is correct without further information.

References:

ESV Study Bible. United States, Crossway, 2008

Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1920). Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament. Library of the Union Theological Seminary.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

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