The math is wrong but God is still love...

Before I found the first error in the Bible, quite by accident,
I was under the mistaken impression that the Bible was free of error. Now my perception has changed and only one thing is clear. "God is love." If any man, spirit, or even an angel from heaven would tell me anything but God is love then I might smile and say a prayer because I would never go anywhere but here... meaning into the arms of a loving God but then If one wants to wander around in the land of fear....please don't try to take me there...because right here beside Aba Father God is where I belong... I am safe riught here...beyond any harm...

Mistakes in Sums
From the value of πwe now move one notch down the level of mathematical sophistication. We realize that some authors of the Bible can’t even do simple sums. Here is one taken from Numbers Chapter 3. Here the male members more than one month old of the three clans of Levi, namely Gershon, Kohath and Merari were counted, this is how the figures came out:

Verse Description Number of members
Numbers 3: 21
Numbers 3:27-28
Numbers 3:33-34 The clan of Gershon
The clan of Kohath
The clan of Merari 7,500
8,600
6,200
Total 22,300

However Numbers 3: 39 gives the total as 22,000! Thus we have a discrepancy of 300 people. It is pointless to argue that the author was simply “rounding off” the total. Why then, did he not round up the original numbers? It is more likely that the author of Numbers simply got his sums wrong!

There is another summation error, this time big enough to give even the “round off” apologetic explanation a “headache” (in trying to come up with an explanation!). The passage Ezra 1:7-11 concerns the articles from the Temple which were returned to the Jews. It was mentioned, in Ezra 7:8, that the chief royal treasury made an inventory and that these are the items returned:

Verse Description Number of items
Ezra 1:9-10 gold basins
silver basins
silver pans
small gold bowls
small silver bowls
other vessels 30
1,000
29
30
410
1,000
Total 2,499

The total of articles returned were 2,499. Yet at the very next verse the total is given as:

Ezra 1:11
all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty nine.

Note that Ezra 1:10 does not allow other unlisted items to be assumed since the last portion already mentioned “other vessels” or other articles. Obviously a discrepancy of 2,970 exist between the given total of 5,469 and the actual total of 2,499.

Another mistake in arithmetic which, as far as I can tell, was first pointed out by the American patriot, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), in his anti-Christian book The Age of Reason,[10] comes from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the second chapter of Ezra and the seventh chapter of Nehemiah, the authors gave a list of tribes and families, and the numbers of people of each, that were returning from the Babylonian exile. At the end of this list both Ezra and Nehemiah gave exactly the same total for the total number of people returning:

Ezra 2:64 (Nehemiah 7:66)
The whole assembly together was forty two thousand three hundred and sixty.

Thus the number is 42,360 people. The table below gives a breakdown of the list of the number of people given by Ezra and Nehemiah. Note that both Ezra's and Nehemiah's total do not come up to the figure they mentioned. In fact they even contradict one another. Ezra's total was actually 29,818 and Nehemiah's was 31,089. Both the authors can't do simple sums! Ezra missed the final total by 12,542 while Nehemiah missed it by 11,271. This discrepancy is not the only thing wrong with the two lists. The numbers of the individual families given by the two lists also contradict each other in at least 16 different places. For instance, Ezra gives the number of the sons of Arah as 775 while Nehemiah gives it as 652.

EZRA NEHEMIAH
Verse Passage No. of People Verse Passage No. of People
2: 3
2: 4
2: 5
2: 6
2: 7
2: 8
2: 9
2:10
2:11
2:12
2:13
2:14
2:15
2:16
2:17
2:18
2:19
2:20
2:21
2:22
2:23
2:24
2:25
2:26
2:27
2:28
2:29
2:30
2:31
2:32
2:33

2:34
2:35
2:36
2:37
2:38
2:39
2:40
2:41
2:42
2:58
2:60

sons of Parosh
sons of Shephatiah
sons of Arah
sons of Jeshua & Joab
sons of Elam
sons of Zattu
sons of Zaccai
sons of Bani
sons of Bebai
sons of Azgad
sons of Adonikam
sons of Bigvai
sons of Adin
sons of Ater
sons of Bezai
sons of Jorah
sons of Hashum
sons of Gibbar
sons of Bethlehem
sons of Netophah
men of Anathoth
sons of Azmaveth
sons of Kiriatharim...
sons of Ramah & Geba
men of Michmas
men of Behtel & Ai
sons of Nebo
sons of Magbish
sons of other Elam
sons of Harim
sons of Lod, Hadid & Ono
sons of Jericho
sons of Senaah
sons of Jedaiah
sons of Immer
sons of Pashhur
sons of Harim
sons of Hadaviah
sons of Asaph
sons of gatekeeper
servants of temple...
sons of Delaiah, Tobiah & Nekoda 2172
372
775
2812
1254
945
760
642
623
1222
666
2056
454
98
323
112
223
95
123
56
128
42
743
621
122
223
52
156
1254
320
725

345
3630
973
1052
1247
1017
74
128
139
392
652

7: 8
7: 9
7:10
7:11
7:12
7:13
7:14
7:15
7:16
7:17
7:18
7:19
7:20
7:21
7:22
7:23
7:24
7:25
7:26
-
7:27
7:28
7:29
7:30
7:31
7:32
7:33
-
7:34
7:35
7:37

7:36
7:38
7:39
7:40
7:41
7:42
7:43

7:44
7:45
7:46
7:47

sons of Parosh
sons of Shephatiah
sons of Arah
sons of Jeshua & Joab
sons of Elam
sons of Zattu
sons of Zaccai
sons of Binnui
sons of Bebai
sons of Azgad
sons of Adonikam
sons of Bigvai
sons of Adin
sons of Ater
sons of Hashum
sons of Bezai
sons of Hariph
sons of Gibbeon
men of Bethlehem
& Netophah
men of Anathoth
men of Bethazmaveth
men of Kiriathjearim...
men of Ramah & Geba
men of Michmas
men of Behtel & Ai
men of other Nebo
-
sons of other Elam
sons of Harim
sons of Lod, Hadid & Ono
sons of Jericho
sons of Senaah
sons of Jedaiah
sons of Immer
sons of Pashhur
sons of Harim
sons of Jeshua..of Hodevah
sons of Asaph
gatekeepers
servants of temple
sons of Delaiah, Tobiah & Nekoda
2172
372
652
2818
1254
845
760
648
628
2322
667
2067
655
98
328
324
112
95
-
188
128
42
743
621
122
123
52
-
1254
320
721

345
3930
973
1052
1247
1017
74

148
138
392
642

Total 29818 Total 31089
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Before I found the first error in the Bible, quite by accident,
I was under the mistaken impression that the Bible was free of error. Now my perception has changed and only one thing is clear. "God is love." If any man, spirit, or even an angel from heaven would tell me anything but God is love then I might smile and say a prayer because I would never go anywhere but here... meaning into the arms of a loving God but then If one wants to wander around in the land of fear....please don't try to take me there...because right here beside Aba Father God is where I belong... I am safe and beyond any harm...

Mistakes in Sums
From the value of πwe now move one notch down the level of mathematical sophistication. We realize that some authors of the Bible can’t even do simple sums. Here is one taken from Numbers Chapter 3. Here the male members more than one month old of the three clans of Levi, namely Gershon, Kohath and Merari were counted, this is how the figures came out:

Verse Description Number of members
Numbers 3: 21
Numbers 3:27-28
Numbers 3:33-34 The clan of Gershon
The clan of Kohath
The clan of Merari 7,500
8,600
6,200
Total 22,300

However Numbers 3: 39 gives the total as 22,000! Thus we have a discrepancy of 300 people. It is pointless to argue that the author was simply “rounding off” the total. Why then, did he not round up the original numbers? It is more likely that the author of Numbers simply got his sums wrong!

There is another summation error, this time big enough to give even the “round off” apologetic explanation a “headache” (in trying to come up with an explanation!). The passage Ezra 1:7-11 concerns the articles from the Temple which were returned to the Jews. It was mentioned, in Ezra 7:8, that the chief royal treasury made an inventory and that these are the items returned:

Verse Description Number of items
Ezra 1:9-10 gold basins
silver basins
silver pans
small gold bowls
small silver bowls
other vessels 30
1,000
29
30
410
1,000
Total 2,499

The total of articles returned were 2,499. Yet at the very next verse the total is given as:

Ezra 1:11
all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty nine.

Note that Ezra 1:10 does not allow other unlisted items to be assumed since the last portion already mentioned “other vessels” or other articles. Obviously a discrepancy of 2,970 exist between the given total of 5,469 and the actual total of 2,499.

Another mistake in arithmetic which, as far as I can tell, was first pointed out by the American patriot, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), in his anti-Christian book The Age of Reason,[10] comes from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the second chapter of Ezra and the seventh chapter of Nehemiah, the authors gave a list of tribes and families, and the numbers of people of each, that were returning from the Babylonian exile. At the end of this list both Ezra and Nehemiah gave exactly the same total for the total number of people returning:

Ezra 2:64 (Nehemiah 7:66)
The whole assembly together was forty two thousand three hundred and sixty.

Thus the number is 42,360 people. The table below gives a breakdown of the list of the number of people given by Ezra and Nehemiah. Note that both Ezra's and Nehemiah's total do not come up to the figure they mentioned. In fact they even contradict one another. Ezra's total was actually 29,818 and Nehemiah's was 31,089. Both the authors can't do simple sums! Ezra missed the final total by 12,542 while Nehemiah missed it by 11,271. This discrepancy is not the only thing wrong with the two lists. The numbers of the individual families given by the two lists also contradict each other in at least 16 different places. For instance, Ezra gives the number of the sons of Arah as 775 while Nehemiah gives it as 652.

EZRA NEHEMIAH
Verse Passage No. of People Verse Passage No. of People
2: 3
2: 4
2: 5
2: 6
2: 7
2: 8
2: 9
2:10
2:11
2:12
2:13
2:14
2:15
2:16
2:17
2:18
2:19
2:20
2:21
2:22
2:23
2:24
2:25
2:26
2:27
2:28
2:29
2:30
2:31
2:32
2:33

2:34
2:35
2:36
2:37
2:38
2:39
2:40
2:41
2:42
2:58
2:60

sons of Parosh
sons of Shephatiah
sons of Arah
sons of Jeshua & Joab
sons of Elam
sons of Zattu
sons of Zaccai
sons of Bani
sons of Bebai
sons of Azgad
sons of Adonikam
sons of Bigvai
sons of Adin
sons of Ater
sons of Bezai
sons of Jorah
sons of Hashum
sons of Gibbar
sons of Bethlehem
sons of Netophah
men of Anathoth
sons of Azmaveth
sons of Kiriatharim...
sons of Ramah & Geba
men of Michmas
men of Behtel & Ai
sons of Nebo
sons of Magbish
sons of other Elam
sons of Harim
sons of Lod, Hadid & Ono
sons of Jericho
sons of Senaah
sons of Jedaiah
sons of Immer
sons of Pashhur
sons of Harim
sons of Hadaviah
sons of Asaph
sons of gatekeeper
servants of temple...
sons of Delaiah, Tobiah & Nekoda 2172
372
775
2812
1254
945
760
642
623
1222
666
2056
454
98
323
112
223
95
123
56
128
42
743
621
122
223
52
156
1254
320
725

345
3630
973
1052
1247
1017
74
128
139
392
652

7: 8
7: 9
7:10
7:11
7:12
7:13
7:14
7:15
7:16
7:17
7:18
7:19
7:20
7:21
7:22
7:23
7:24
7:25
7:26
-
7:27
7:28
7:29
7:30
7:31
7:32
7:33
-
7:34
7:35
7:37

7:36
7:38
7:39
7:40
7:41
7:42
7:43

7:44
7:45
7:46
7:47

sons of Parosh
sons of Shephatiah
sons of Arah
sons of Jeshua & Joab
sons of Elam
sons of Zattu
sons of Zaccai
sons of Binnui
sons of Bebai
sons of Azgad
sons of Adonikam
sons of Bigvai
sons of Adin
sons of Ater
sons of Hashum
sons of Bezai
sons of Hariph
sons of Gibbeon
men of Bethlehem
& Netophah
men of Anathoth
men of Bethazmaveth
men of Kiriathjearim...
men of Ramah & Geba
men of Michmas
men of Behtel & Ai
men of other Nebo
-
sons of other Elam
sons of Harim
sons of Lod, Hadid & Ono
sons of Jericho
sons of Senaah
sons of Jedaiah
sons of Immer
sons of Pashhur
sons of Harim
sons of Jeshua..of Hodevah
sons of Asaph
gatekeepers
servants of temple
sons of Delaiah, Tobiah & Nekoda
2172
372
652
2818
1254
845
760
648
628
2322
667
2067
655
98
328
324
112
95
-
188
128
42
743
621
122
123
52
-
1254
320
721

345
3930
973
1052
1247
1017
74

148
138
392
642

Total 29818 Total 31089 Tweet