# Does the Bible Contradict Itself? > Some Bible passages look as if they cannot both be true. Judas, the census numbers, and Matthew’s naming of Jeremy are real differences in the text. A contradiction is two claims that cannot both be true in the same way. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/does-the-bible-contradict-itself - Religions: Christianity - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: bible, contradictions - Updated: 2026-10-10 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) The Bible has passages that look as if they cannot both be true. Some are different counts. Some name a different prophet for a line that sits in another book. Some are differences in the copies, including a sentence the King James Version prints and many later Bibles omit. A contradiction, in the strict sense, is two claims that cannot both be true in the same way at the same time. These pages show the wording. They do not invent a hidden harmony the verses do not state. ## Key points - [Matthew 27:5](/bible/matthew/27/5) says Judas hanged himself. [Acts 1:18](/bible/acts/1/18) says he fell headlong and burst open. Both sentences are in the text. - [2 Samuel 24:9](/bible/2-samuel/24/9) counts eight hundred thousand men in Israel who drew the sword, and five hundred thousand in Judah. [1 Chronicles 21:5](/bible/1-chronicles/21/5) counts a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand in Israel, and four hundred threescore and ten thousand in Judah. - [Matthew 1:6](/bible/matthew/1/6) says David begat Solomon. [Luke 3:31](/bible/luke/3/31) names Nathan as the son of David in the line it is tracing. The lists are not the same list. - [Matthew 27:9](/bible/matthew/27/9) says the thirty pieces of silver fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremy. The silver and the potter are in [Zechariah 11:12–13](/bible/zechariah/11). - [Matthew 17:21](/bible/matthew/17/21) is in this site’s King James text: this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. A Bible that omits that sentence is not the same wording as this King James verse. - The names of God, and how often a title is printed, are [What Is God’s Name?](/christianity/what-is-gods-name). This page does not invent a count. ## What counts as a contradiction Two reports can both be true when they count different groups, name different ancestors, or tell two moments of one death. They cannot both be true when one says a thing happened and the other says that same thing did not happen. Rounding, a copyist’s numeral, and a quotation that names the wrong book are not the same kind of problem as a denial. Christians who trust the Bible still have to read the sentences that clash. Saying “context” without opening the two verses does not remove the clash. This page opens them. ## Did Judas hang himself or fall? [Matthew 27:5](/bible/matthew/27/5) says Judas cast down the pieces of silver, departed, and hanged himself. [Acts 1:18](/bible/acts/1/18) says he purchased a field with the reward of iniquity, and that falling headlong he burst asunder and his bowels gushed out. Matthew states a hanging. Acts states a fall and a rupture, and it also says he acquired the field. The two verses do not use the same verbs. A reading that he hanged himself and that the body later fell is a way some readers hold both sentences. Neither verse says that sequence. This page does not add it as a fact. Both descriptions are in the New Testament, and they are not the same description. [Matthew 27:9](/bible/matthew/27/9), in the same chapter, is a different problem. It is about who spoke the line, not about how Judas died. ## Why do the census numbers differ? David’s census is told in [2 Samuel 24](/bible/2-samuel/24) and again in [1 Chronicles 21](/bible/1-chronicles/21). [2 Samuel 24:9](/bible/2-samuel/24/9) says there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand. [1 Chronicles 21:5](/bible/1-chronicles/21/5) says all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword, and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. The Israel figures are eight hundred thousand and one million one hundred thousand. The Judah figures are five hundred thousand and four hundred seventy thousand. Samuel says “valiant men that drew the sword.” Chronicles says “all they of Israel” who drew the sword, and then a different Judah total. The verses themselves name the counts differently. They do not explain the gap. A reader can notice the different descriptions. This page will not supply a third number the text does not contain. ## Why does Matthew name Jeremy? [Matthew 27:9](/bible/matthew/27/9) says that what was spoken by Jeremy the prophet was fulfilled, and it speaks of thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued. [Zechariah 11:12–13](/bible/zechariah/11) is the passage where the price is thirty pieces of silver and the silver is cast to the potter in the house of the LORD. The silver and the potter are in Zechariah. Matthew’s sentence names Jeremy. That is an attribution difference in the Gospel as this King James text prints it. It is not two passion stories that cancel the crucifixion. Readers treat it as a question about the quotation. This page does not have a fetched sentence from a church confession that settles the name, so it does not invent one. ## The genealogies do not print the same names [Matthew 1:6](/bible/matthew/1/6) says David the king begat Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. [Luke 3:31](/bible/luke/3/31) names Nathan as the son of David in the line Luke is tracing back from Jesus. Solomon and Nathan are not the same name. [Matthew 1](/bible/matthew/1) and [Luke 3](/bible/luke/3) can be read on those pages. This page does not paste either list, and it does not invent a rule that would force the names to match. One reading is that the lists trace different lines. That reading is a proposal. The texts print both lines. ## A verse this King James Bible still has [Matthew 17:21](/bible/matthew/17/21) says this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. The sentence is in the King James text this site publishes. A claim that the verse was removed from the Bible does not describe this edition. Editions that follow a shorter Greek text omit it. That is a difference between copies and editions, not a blank line in this King James chapter. Where the critical Greek text omits a King James sentence, the verse page says so. [Matthew 17](/bible/matthew/17) is the chapter. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the biggest contradiction in the Bible? The clashes readers open first on this page are Judas in [Matthew 27:5](/bible/matthew/27/5) and [Acts 1:18](/bible/acts/1/18), the census in [2 Samuel 24:9](/bible/2-samuel/24/9) and [1 Chronicles 21:5](/bible/1-chronicles/21/5), and Jeremy in [Matthew 27:9](/bible/matthew/27/9) beside [Zechariah 11](/bible/zechariah/11). Each one is a real difference in the wording. They are not the same kind of difference. ### How many times does the Bible mention sin? This page does not have a fetched count, so it does not give one. [Proverbs 6:16](/bible/proverbs/6/16) says the LORD hates six things, yea, seven are an abomination. The next verses name them. That is a list of seven, not a census of the word “sin.” ### Does Ezekiel 25:17 say what the films say? [Ezekiel 25:17](/bible/ezekiel/25/17) says God will execute great vengeance with furious rebukes, and that they shall know that he is the LORD when he lays his vengeance upon them. The verse does not contain the longer speech films put in a character’s mouth. ### Does a contradiction about a number erase the resurrection? A census figure and a prophet’s name are questions about those sentences. The resurrection claim is [the resurrection of Jesus](/christianity/resurrection-of-jesus), from [1 Corinthians 15](/bible/1-corinthians/15). One problem does not answer the other. ### What does the Bible say about homosexuality? That question is [What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?](/moral-questions/homosexuality). It is not a contradiction between two verses on this page. ### How many names of God are in the Bible? The titles the King James text actually prints, including JEHOVAH, LORD, God, and Almighty, are [What Is God’s Name?](/christianity/what-is-gods-name). This page does not invent a total. ## Keep reading - [What Is God’s Name?](/christianity/what-is-gods-name) - [Does the Bible Say the Earth Is Flat?](/moral-questions/does-the-bible-say-the-earth-is-flat) - [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) - [The Resurrection of Jesus](/christianity/resurrection-of-jesus) - [Does God Exist?](/god/does-god-exist) - [What Do Atheists Argue against God?](/atheism/what-do-atheists-argue-against-god) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Matthew 27:5 King James Version. > And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. ### Acts 1:18 King James Version. > Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. ### 2 Samuel 24:9 King James Version. > And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. ### 1 Chronicles 21:5 King James Version. > And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. ### Matthew 1:6 King James Version. > And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; ### Luke 3:31 King James Version. > Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, ### Matthew 27:9 King James Version. > Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; ### Zechariah 11:12–13 King James Version. > [11:12] And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. [11:13] And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. ### Matthew 17:21 King James Version. > Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. ### Proverbs 6:16 King James Version. > These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ### Ezekiel 25:17 King James Version. > And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Gospel of Matthew, 27:5; 27:9; 17:21](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/27/5). King James Version 2. [Acts of the Apostles, 1:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/1/18). King James Version 3. [2 Samuel, 24:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-samuel/24/9). King James Version 4. [1 Chronicles, 21:5](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-chronicles/21/5). King James Version 5. [Book of Zechariah, 11:12–13](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/zechariah/11). King James Version 6. [Gospel of Matthew, 1:6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/1/6). King James Version 7. [Gospel of Luke, 3:31](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/luke/3/31). King James Version 8. [Book of Proverbs, 6:16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/proverbs/6/16). King James Version 9. [Book of Ezekiel, 25:17](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/ezekiel/25/17). King James Version ## See also - [How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-the-apocrypha) — Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition. - [Is the Bible True?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-the-bible-true) — Christians receive the Bible as God’s word. Its text is early and well copied, Jesus treated the Scriptures as fulfilled in him, and the crucifixion is a public event. That is not a laboratory proof that God exists. - [What Bible Do Catholics Use?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-bible-do-catholics-use) — The Catechism’s canon has 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and the books of Maccabees are in that Old Testament. - [What Does the Bible Say about Predestination?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-does-the-bible-say-about-predestination) — Romans, Ephesians, and Acts say God predestined and ordained. Other verses say God wills all to be saved. Westminster, Dort, the Remonstrance, the Catechism, Article XVII, and an Orthodox essay read those lines differently. The page does not decide. - [Which Bible Translation Is Most Accurate?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/which-bible-translation-is-most-accurate) — The most accurate Bible is the Hebrew and Greek the English translates. Word-for-word English such as Young’s Literal stays closer to that wording. The New World Translation is the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible, and at John 1:1 it differs from the Greek and the King James. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/does-the-bible-contradict-itself.md)