70
27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.
NASB Genesis 46:27
5 All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.
NASB Exodus 1:5
75
14 Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.
NASB Acts 7:14
SAB Contradiction 234
Bible Contradiction?
This is a simple and clear Bible contradiction, isn’t it? Two instances say that Jacob had 70 descendants, while one occasion says he had 75. If the Bible is perfect, how can it give such confusing information?
Other translations
The KJV makes use of different expressions:
(Genesis): the souls of the house of Jacob, instead of: the persons of the house of Jacob.
(Exodus): all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob, instead of: the persons who came from the loins of Jacob.
(Acts): all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls, instead of: all his [father’s] relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.
A broader circle?
It’s remarkable that the ’70-witnesses’ (Genesis and Exodus) have the same choice of words: ‘souls’ or ‘persons’, ‘the house of Jacob’ and ‘the loins of Jacob’. Why does Acts use different terms: kindred, relatives?
Does Acts perhaps include a broader circle of persons? The answer is: Yes, indeed.
House or Family
One who starts counting to come to the figure 70, will quickly see that Jacob’s children and grand-children are included. Jacob’s children are his 12 sons and his daughter Dinah. However the possible children of Dinah are not to be included in ‘the house/loins of Jacob’; they belonged to ‘the house/loins’ of her husband.
The children of Dinah could rightly be mentioned as the kindred of Jacob (KJV), or as his relatives (NASBu), but they did not belong to Jacob’s ‘house’. That means that Dinah had 5 children, who were part of the family of Jacob, but who didn’t belong to the house of Jacob.
Simple and accurate
Isn’t it strange that the critics can see such great problems in things that are so simple, and at the same time so accurate? Anyway: No Bible Contradiction at all.
No Bible Contradiction