When I read Ezra and Nehemiah, I had some problems with the counting numbers recorded in both books. I believe the list of names in Ezra chapter 2 and Nehemiah chapter 7 are the same thing. But the number of singers and porters are different in these two books. While in Ezra 2:41-42 there were 128 singers and 139 porters, in Nehemiah 7:44-45 there were 148 singers and 138 porters. And in Ezra 2:65 there were singing men and women 200, but in Nehemiah 7:67 the number of singers was 245. Other numbers are the same, so what is wrong about these three countings?<\/p>\n
Your help will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.<\/p>\n\t
Actually there are seventeen differences between Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7:<\/p>\n
| Ezra 2<\/th>\n | Nehemiah 7<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|
| Verse 5: \nThe sons of Arah, 775<\/td>\n | Verse 10: \nThe sons of Arah, 652<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 6: \nThe sons of Pahath-moab, 2,812<\/td>\n | Verse 11: \nThe sons of Pahath-moab, 2,818<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 8: \nThe sons of Zattu, 945<\/td>\n | Verse 13: \nThe sons of Zattu, 845<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 10: \nThe sons of Bani, 642<\/td>\n | Verse 15: \nThe sons of Binnui, 648<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 11: \nThe sons of Bebai, 623<\/td>\n | Verse 16: \nThe sons of Babai, 628<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 12: \nThe sons of Azgad, 1,222<\/td>\n | Verse 17: \nThe sons of Azgad, 2,322<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 13: \nThe sons of Adonikam, 666<\/td>\n | Verse 18: \nThe sons of Adonikam, 667<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 14: \nThe sons of Bigvai, 2,056<\/td>\n | Verse 19: \nThe sons of Bigvai, 2,067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 15: \nThe sons of Adin, 454<\/td>\n | Verse 20: \nThe sons of Adin, 655<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 17: \nThe sons of Bezai, 323<\/td>\n | Verse 23: \nThe sons of Bezai, 324<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 28: \nThe men of Bethel and Ai, 223<\/td>\n | Verse 32: \nThe men of Bethel and Ai, 123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 33: \nThe sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725<\/td>\n | Verse 37: \nThe sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 35: \nThe sons of Senaah, 3,630<\/td>\n | Verse 38: \nThe sons of Senaah, 3,930<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 41: \nThe singers, the sons of Asaph, 128<\/td>\n | Verse 44: \nThe singers, the sons of Asaph, 148<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 42: \nThe sons of the gatekeepers, 139<\/td>\n | Verse 45: \nThe sons of the gatekeepers, 138<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verses 59-60 \nVarious names totaling 652<\/td>\n | Verse 61-62: \nVarious names totaling 642<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Verse 65: \nServants, 7,337 and singers, 200<\/td>\n | Verse 67: \nServants, 7,337 and singers, 245<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n It might be possible that a few of the differences is due to errs in copying the numbers, but given the care of the Jewish scribes, it isn’t reasonable that there were that many mistakes in one section.<\/p>\n Ezra states, “Now these are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his own city<\/em>” (Ezra 2:1). Nehemiah was written about fifty years later. He states, “Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and found written in it: These are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city<\/em>” (Nehemiah 7:5-6). Please note that Nehemiah does\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0state that he had Ezra’s records. Though they begin the same, there are differences in numbers. There are also differences in terms. For example, Ezra 2:21 talks about the children (Hebrew:\u00a0ben<\/em>) of Bethlehem, but Nehemiah talks about the men (Hebrew:\u00a0enowsh<\/em>) of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n The most likely cause of the difference is that Ezra recorded those who left for Israel from Babylon. Many scholars believe that Ezra’s list was compiled in Babylon before the people actually left. Of course, in any large crowd things happen. People who start to leave get ill and have to stay behind. Some die, some are born. Some didn’t leave with the group but joined it while it was in progress. Nehemiah had a list of who arrived in Jerusalem, but his list was for a later time. “Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, …<\/em>” (Nehemiah 7:1). In other words, Nehemiah recorded those who came from Babylon at the time the walls in Jerusalem were finished. His list was based on the earlier list but updated to the current numbers. This would also explain the shift from children to men in some of the entries. In the time that elapsed, people would have died and been born giving a different number of people currently in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n Therefore, the clearest answer is that Ezra and Nehemiah’s records are for a similar event but recorded at different moments in time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: When I read Ezra and Nehemiah, I had some problems with the counting numbers recorded in both books. I believe the list of names in Ezra chapter 2 and Nehemiah chapter 7 are the same thing. But the number of singers and porters are different in these two books. While in Ezra 2:41-42 there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[568,803,804],"class_list":["post-23972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-ezra","tag-nehemiah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-proof-is-there-that-jews-returned-with-nehemiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":23972,"position":0},"title":"What proof is there that Jews returned with Nehemiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I saw your web page Q&A regarding how many waves of people were taken to Babylon. You also list three return groups. Is there any scriptural support for any Jews returning with Nehemiah? Answer: The list of those who returned with Zerubbabel is found in Ezra 2:2-67. 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That listing is from Ezra\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-always-heard-about-the-three-waves-of-the-babylonian-captivity-but-where-is-this-found\/","url_meta":{"origin":23972,"position":2},"title":"I’ve always heard about the three waves of the Babylonian captivity, but where is this found?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've always heard about the three waves of the Babylonian captivity, but where is this found? Answer: Three Captivities Jehoiakim, also called Eliakim, was put into power by Pharaoh Neco who had killed his brother. Babylon attacked Judah and Jehoiakim surrendered to Babylon for three years, but he rebelled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mixed-marriages\/","url_meta":{"origin":23972,"position":3},"title":"Mixed Marriages","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Nehemiah 13:23-29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While Israel was in captivity because of their many sins, the people had lived among the foreign nations for so long that they had become lax in following God\u2019s commands \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A major cause of this problem stemmed from mixed marriages where the foreign spouse brought their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15694,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/they-promised-to-put-away-their-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":23972,"position":4},"title":"They Promised to Put Away Their Wives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The book of Ezra is a remarkable book of \u201cthose whose spirits God had moved\u201d (Ezra 1:5). 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