THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Did God's plague kill 24,000 (Numbers 25:9) or 23,000 (1 Corinthians 10:8)?

RESPONSE:
Certainly, at first glance these two passage seem to disagree on the number of people who died in the plague as recorded in Numbers 25:9. However, let me suggest that the wording of the two passages allows us to harmonize them. Notice, in the account in Numbers 25, we are told "...those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand." Since there is nothing to indicate otherwise, we should understand this to be the total number of those who died in the plague. Now, consider what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, "...in one day twenty-three thousand fell..." Paul places a qualifier on the number he gives. This is the number who fell "...in one day..." It should be safe to assume then that another one thousand fell outside of that "...one day...", yet in the same incident.

Why would Paul list twenty-three thousand in one day, rather than reference the twenty-four thousand in total? I cannot tell. Only the inspired writer and the Lord Himself may know the answer to this question. However, there is an adequate explanation for the supposed discrepancy.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible, but original article is no longer listed

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