Some critics say that the Bible is full of mathematical errors, but most of these alleged errors are easily explained if we keep in mind two basic concepts in mathematical speech that we use today. First, it is within the boundaries of plain human speech to round numbers up or down, and second, it is within the boundaries of plain human speech to count different parts of a set.
It is within the boundaries of plain human speech to round numbers up or down.
1 Kings 7:23 describes a vessel that is “ten cubits from brim to brim… and thirty cubits in circumference.” Critics sometimes point to this verse to make the accusation that the biblical value of pi is 3 instead of 3.14 and therefore the Bible is in error. Even if the Bible wrote that the vessel had a circumference of 31.4 cubits, the critic could say that the value of pi is not 3.14, but actually 3.14159. And even if the Bible had 31.4159 cubits, the critics could say that it should be 31.14159265 cubits and so on. The value of pi seems to go on forever and if the author of 1 Kings was to write it all the way out, he would still be writing today. Just as it is a normal practice to speak of pi as 3.14 today, it would be normal practice to speak of a circle that is 10 units across as being 30 units around.
Likewise, the Book of Numbers counts males a month old or more among the Levites: 7,500 in the Gershonite families (Num. 3:21–22), 8,600 in the Kohathite families (Num. 3:27—28), 6,200 in the Merarite families (Num. 3:33–34), which is totaled to 22,000 (Num. 3:39). The total of the three numbers would be 22,300, so is the Bible in error by 300? Obviously not. It is likely that the numbers of the members of the three clans were rounded to the nearest hundred and that the total was rounded to the nearest thousand.
It is within the boundaries of plain human speech to count different parts of a set.
Ezra 1:9–11a lists the temple vessels that were given to Sheshbazzar: “9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400.” The total of items listed is 2,499, but the total is numbered at 5,400, so is the Bible off by 2,901 items? Obviously not. Commentators with more liberal tendencies tend to write this off as an error, but even if Ezra was not inspired, it would be difficult to imagine how a solely human author would have made an error like this. Others have assumed this to be a scribal error, but the same numbers are found in old translations such as the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.
How then does the figure of 2,499 in verses 9–10 work with the number 5,400 in verse 11? Rashi proposes one possibility, that only the important articles were counted in verses 9–10 and verse 11 has the grand total including the less important items.[1] In the same vein, several commentators have proposed that the bigger vessels were counted in 9–10, with the smaller instruments included in verse 11. If several bigger and important items were ready for service and other smaller items were later melted and recycled, then it would make sense for Mithredath and Seshbazzar to catalogue them differently. Another way for this to work could be if the “1,000 other articles” referred to 1,000 other kinds of articles, with an average of around three items per kind of article, which would bring the total to 5,400, especially if the numbers included rounded figures. If the figure of 5,400 counted something different from the previous 2,499 figure, then there is no contradiction.
Likewise, the lists of returnees in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 have different numbers. An accusation is that the author could not keep his story straight when writing about the return, which would be odd because even an imposter should have been able to fabricate two identical lists. One conservative response has been that while the original text was inspired, later copiers made some errors, but this seems unlikely considering the professionalism of those who copied Scriptures. A more likely explanation is that Ezra 2 lists those who left Babylon and Nehemiah 7 lists those who arrived in the land. Perhaps Zerubbabel’s party picked up some Israelites in exile as they returned to the land and perhaps other returnees lost enthusiasm along the way and returned to Babylon. This would result in a difference between those who left and those who arrived. If Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 count these two different figures, then there is no contradiction between the two.
[1] Rashi on Ezra 1:11.