Variant traditions

      There are other conflicts in the accounts that indicate that Numbers and Deuteronomy represent alternative traditions, and that it was not simply Moses who wrote the Bible. The account in the book of Numbers conflicts with the Deuteronomy version of events (see the page on historical contradictions in the story of Balaam, and the book of Numbers also conflicts with the story in Exodus and with details in Genesis.

"And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of YAHWEH, and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor." (Numbers Chapter 33 verse 38)

"The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Benejaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his stead." (Deuteronomy Chapter 10 verse 6)

      The account of the travels of Israel also varies. After Aaron died,

"The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Benejaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water." (Deuteronomy Chapter 10 verse 6)

      The variant version in Numbers suggests that the account was derived from a separate source.

"And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. And they set out from Mount Hor, and encamped at Zalmonah. And they set out from Zalmonah, and encamped at Punon. And they set out from Punon, and encamped at Oboth. And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the territory of Moab. And they set out from Iyim, and encamped at Dibongad. And they set out from Dibongad, and encamped at Almondiblathaim. And they set out from Almondiblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they set out from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; they encamped by the Jordan from Bethjeshimoth as far as Abelshittim in the plains of Moab." (Numbers Chapter 33 verse 39)

      The separate traditions also disagree on such details as the lineage of Moses.

"Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian." (Exodus Chapter 3 verse 1)

"And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which YAHWEH said, 'I will give it to you'." (Numbers Chapter 10 verse 29)

      In this matter the book of Judges follows the tradition found in Numbers.

"The descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses." (Judges Chapter 4 verse 11)

      It is characteristic of the narratives of the Exodus to give what must be inflated numbers of the Israelites who participated in the Exodus. In both Exodus and Numbers we are told that the number of men of military age who take part in the Exodus was more than 600,000. Allowing for women, children, and older men would probably mean that a total of about 2,000,000 Israelites left Egypt. Exodus 12:37; Numbers 1:45-46 Yet, in the book of Kings we are told that at a later time the Israelites number only 7,000.

"Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand." (1 Kings Chapter 20 verse 15)

     Again in Ezra-Nehemiah the results of the census sit at around 30,000.