Contradictions and Paradoxes in Numbers 26:5

Check out Contradictions Catalog of Numbers 26:5 for the comprehensive list of verses that contradicts Numbers 26:5. Some key contradictions and paradoxes are described below.

According to Moses, this verse is about counting the families of Israel, starting with Reuben, who was the first son. It shows that each family has its own special place and name, like the Hanochites and the Palluites, who come from Reuben's children.

Numbers 26:5: Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, [of whom cometh] the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:

Contradiction with Genesis 46:9

Lists the sons of Reuben, including Hanoch, but Numbers 26:5 lists the family of Hanoch, a subtle contradiction in naming descendants vs. familial designation.

Genesis 46:9: And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

Contradiction with Numbers 26:8-9

References the sons of Pallu but does not mention Hanoch in the same lineage context as Numbers 26:5 suggests.

Numbers 26:8-9: And the sons of Pallu; Eliab.

Contradiction with Deuteronomy 10:22

States the number of Israel's ancestors as seventy, contrasting with Numbers 26:5 which implies numerous descendants of a single progenitor.

Deuteronomy 10:22: Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Contradiction with Exodus 1:5

Mentions the total number of Jacob's descendants who went to Egypt, seemingly contradicting the expansive enumeration starting from individual names in Numbers 26:5.

Exodus 1:5: And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt [already]. [loins: Heb. thigh]

Contradiction with Numbers 1:20

Lists the descendants of Reuben by their families in a census, potentially contradicting the explicit mention of just one familial line (Hanoch) in Numbers 26:5.

Numbers 1:20: And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
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