First Discrepancy To Twenty-Fifth Discrepancy.

First Discrepancy

The period from Adam to the Flood of Noah is described differently in all the three versions.

1.The Hebrew version: 1656 years

2.The Greek version: 2262 years

. 3.The Samaritan version 1307 years

Second Discrepancy

The period from the Flood to the birth of the prophet Abraham is described as follows in the above three versions.

1 The Hebrew version: 292 years

2. The Greek version: 1072 years

3. The Samaritan version 942 years

Third Discrepancy

Arphaxad and Shelah are described by the Greek version as being separated by only one generation from Canaan who is not mentioned in the Hebrew and Samaritan versions. Similarly I Chronicles7[7] and the history of Josephus do not mention the name of Canaan. It may be noted that Luke has followed the Greek version and has added the name of Canaan in the genealogy of Jesus. This requires that the Christians should believe the truth of the Greek 8[8] version and reject the other two as being false in order to save the Gospel of Luke from containing a falsehood.

Fourth Discrepancy

The appointed place of the temple, as described by the Hebrew version, is mount Ebal, while according to the Samaritan version it is mount Gerezim. We have discussed this in great detail earlier and so no more comments are needed here.

Fifth Discrepancy

The period from Adam to Christ is differently described by the different versions.

1. The Hebrew version: 4004 years

2. The Greek version: 5872 years

3. The Samaritan version 4700 years:

The following statement conceming this is found in the first vol- ume of Henry and Scott’s commentary:

Hales having made corrections to the errors found in the history of Josephus and in the Greek version has concluded as follows: the period from the beginning of the creation to the birth of Christ is 5411 years, while the period from the Flood to the birth of the Christ comes to 3155 years.

Charles Rogers has presented in his book a comparison of various English translations, providing us with no less than fifty-five conflicting statements from the historians with regard to the period from the Creation to the birth of Christ.

Names Years

1. Marianus Scotus: 9[9] 4192

2. Larntios Codemus: 4141

3. Thoms Lithet. 4103

4. Michaelus Mastlinus 4079

5. G.Baptist Rickulus 4062

6. Jacob Salianus 4053

7. Henry Kus pemdens 10[10] 4051

8. William Link 4041

9. Erasmus Reinholt 4021

10. Jacobus Kipalus 4005

11. Archbishop Ussher 4003

12. Dionicius Petavius 3983

13. Bishop Burke (Book) 3974

14. Kirogian 3971

15. Ellius Rusnileus 3970

16. Johnias Cleverius 3968

17. Christanis Logomentenas 3966

18. Philip Malla Nagtuj 3964

19. Jacobin Lins 3963

20. Alphonso Salmeron 3958

21. Johi Liker11[11] 394

22. Matthews Burundius 3927

23. Andrians Hull 3836

24. The Jewish view 3760

25. The Christian view 4004

None of the above statements seems to be the same as any other. This great variety of views on the matter is highly confusing. The main reason for the great inconsistency found in historical descriptions is the indifferent and neglectful attitude of the historians towards the systematic preservation of their history. It makes it absolutely impossible for anyone now to arrive at the correct number of years from Adam to Christ. Charles Roger has admitted that the number of years estimated by the ancient historians are based on nothing but their conjectures and inferences from defective documentation. Moreover we find that the period commonly acknowledgcd by the Jews is different from the common belief of the Christians.

Now resuming our course of discussion, we should state that the deliberate opposition of the Qur’an to any or some descriptions of the Bible, especially in the presence of such a profusion of contradictions and inconsistencies, is certainly no reason to cast doubt on the Qur’anic revelation. We must repeat our claim that the elders of the Christians included in their books erroneous, and sometimes unbelievable, material that seemed to suit their whims at the time. This is why the periods described by the Bible are not considered to have any historical value.

The great scholar Taqiuddin al-Maqrizi quoted Ibn Hazm in the first volume of his book:

We Muslims do not believe in any definite number of years. Those who have claimed it to be around seven thousand years, have claimed something about which we find no indication made by the Holy Prophet in his traditions. We believe that the definite period of the creation of the universe is known to none but Allah. Allah, our Lord, says in the Holy Qur’an:12[12]

I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor to their own creation.

The Holy Prophet said that in comparison with the past people we are not more than a single white fibre on the body of a white ox, or a black fibre on the body of a white ox. The above and all other circumstantial evidence point to the fact that the definite period since the Creation is known to none but Allah.

Sixth Discrepancy

In addition to the ten commandments of Moses an eleventh commandment is present in the Samaritan version which does not exist in the Hebrew version.

Seventh Discrepancy

Genesis 4:8 of the Hebrew version has:

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field.....

The same statement appears differently in the Greek and Samaritan version in these words:

Cain spoke to his brother Abel, let us go to the field; and it came to pass when they were in the field.

The theologians have preferred the Greek and the Samaritan versions.

Eighth Discrepancy

Genesis 7:17 of the Hebrew version says, “And the flood was forty days upon the earth.” The Greek version has, “The flood was forty days and nights upon the earth.”

The Greek version is obviously correct.

Ninth Discrepancy

Genesis 29:8 of the Hebrew version contains:

Until all the flocks be gathered together.

The Greek and the Samaritan versions and the Arabic translation of Houbigant and Kennicott contain a different statement:

Until all the herdsmen gather together.

Tenth Discrepancy

Genesis 35:22 of the Hebrew version says:

That Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it.

The Greek version has:

He went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and Israel heard it and he fell low in his estimation.

The Greek version seems to be correct.

Eleventh Discrepancy

The Greek version of Genesis 44:5 has this sentence:

Why did you steal my measures?

This sentence does not exist in the Hebrew.version.The Greek text is correct.

Twelfth Discrepancy

The Hebrew version of Genesis 50:25 says:

And ye shall carry up my bones from hence. 13[13]

The Greek and Samaritan versions have:

Ye shall carry up my bones from hence with you. 14[14]

Thirteenth Discrepancy

The Greek version of the Book of Exodus contains the following statement at 2:22:

Second time she bore a son and called his name Eleazer and said, For this reason that the Lord of my father assisted me and protected me from the sword of Pharaoh.

The verse is not found in the Hebrew text. 15[15]The Greek version seems to be correct as the Arabic translators have included it in their translation.

Fourteenth Discrepancy

The Hebrew version of Exodus 6:20 says:

And she 16[16] bare him Aaron and Moses.

The Greek and Samaritan versions have:

And she bare him Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

The Greek and Samaritan versions are correct. 17[17]

Fifteenth Discrepancy

The Book of Numbers in the Greek version contains the following verse at 10:6:

And on the third sound the western camp, and on the fourth the northern camps shall be raised for a march. 18[18]

The above verse is also not found in the Hebrew version, and the Greek version is correct.

Sixteenth Discrepancy

The Book of Numbers in the Samaritan version contains the following passage between verses 10 and 11 of chapter 10:

The Lord our God spake unto Moses, ye have dwelt long enough in this mount, turn you and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites and unto all places nigh thereunto in the plain, in the hills and in the vales, and unto the south; and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites. Behold, I have given the land to you, go and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

The above passage does not exist in the Hebrew version. Horsley said in his commentary, vol. 1, page 161:

The description that is found in Numbers between verses 10 and 11 of the Samaritan version can be found in Deuteronomy 1:6,7 and 8.19[19] It was discovered in the time of Procobius.

Seventeenth Discrepancy

We find the following verses in Deuteronomy 10:6-8 of the Hebrew version:

And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar, his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers and waters. At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

The above passage is different from the description of Numbers 33:30-42, where the route of their journey is described very differently. It is there described as follows:

And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. And they departed from Moseroth and pitched in Bene-jaakan. And they removed from Bene-jaakan and encamped at Hor-hagidgad. And they went from Hor-hagidgad and pitched in Jotbathah. And they removed from Jothathah and encamped at Ebronah. And they departed from Ebronah and encamped at Ezion-gaber. And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. And they removed ’from Kadesh and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

And they departed from Mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah. And they departed from Zalmonah and pitched in Punon.

Adam Clarke quoted a long passage by Kennicott under his comments on the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy in the first volume of his book on pages 779 and 780. The sum and substance of what he says is that the Samaritan text in this respect is correct while the text of the Hebrew version is erroneous. He also concluded that four verses, that is from 6 to 9, are strange and irrelevant at this place. Their exclusion from the text does not in any way lessen the text. The copier seems to have inserted these verses here by mistake. Further he suggested that this proposition should not be rejected in a hurry.20[20] He said that these verses originally belonged to the second chapter of Deuteronomy. We may add here that the sentence which is found at the end of versc 8 is enough evidence of the fact that these verses are a later addition. 21[21]

Eighteenth Discrepancy

Deuteronomy 32:5 in the Hebrew version contains:

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation.

This verse appears differently in the Greek and Samaritan versions. It reads:

They have corrupted themselves, it was not proper for them: they are children illegitimate and with spot.

Henry and Scott’s commentary remarks that this version seems to be closer to the original. Horsley says on page 215 of vol. 1 of his commentary:

This verse should be read according to the Greek and Samaritan versions. 22[22]

Contrary to the above, the translations of Houbigant and Kennicott and the Arabic translations have distorted this verse. The Arabic translations of 1844 and 1848 contain this verse in these words:

Take measures against them. They are distinct from the children of evil. O perverse and crooked generation! 23[23]

Nineteenth Discrepancy

The Hebrew version of the Book of Genesis 20:2 has:

And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, She is my sister: And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

According to the commentary of Henry and Scott, the above verse appears in the Greek version in the following words:

And he said of his wife Sarah, she is my sister; for he was afraid to call her his wife, fearing lest the citizens might kill him for her; for, Abimelech, king of Palestine sent his men and took Sarah.

The sentence, “...he was afraid to call her his wife fearing lest the citizens might kill him for her,” is not present in the Hebrew version.

Twentieth Discrepancy

Genesis 30:36 in the Samaritan version contains:

The messenger of the Lord cried, Jacob, he replied, Yes, I am here; the messenger said, Raise up thy eyes and behold the goats and sheep going to she-goats and ewes. Again they are white spotted, and moteley. For what Laban has done to you, is witnessed by you. I am the God of Beth-el, in where you erected the stone and poured oil and took a vow.

The above passage is not found in the Hebrew version.

Twenty-first Discrepancy

The following description, found after the first sentence of Exodus 11:3 of the Samaritan version, is not found in the Hebrew version:

And Moses told Pharaoh, The Lord said, Israel is my first-born. I said to you release my children that they may worship me, you refused to set them free. Know that I will kill your first-born son.

Twenty-second Discrepancy

The Book of Numbers, 24:7 in the Hebrew version has: 24[24]

He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

The Greek version contains this description in these words:

And a man will be born of him who will govern many tribes, his kingdom shall be greater than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 25[25]

Twenty-third Discrepancy

Leviticus 9:21 in the Hebrew version contains:

As Moses commanded.

The Greek and Samaritan versions have the following words instead:

As the Lord commanded Moses

Twenty-fourth Discrepancy

The Book of Numbers 26:10 in the Hebrew’ version has:

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.

The Samaritan version contains:

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. 26[26]

The commentary of Henry and Scott have said 1hat the above verse is closely related to the context and is in accordance with Psalm No. 106:17.

Twenty-fifth Discrepancy

The celebrated Christian theologian Leclerc divided all the differences found between the Hebrew and the Samaritan versions into six categories:

(1) The passages of the Samaritan version that are more correct than the Hebrew version. There are eleven such passages.

(2) The passages in the Hebrew version that seem to be more correct by their context. Such differences are seven.

(3) The passages of the Samaritan version that contain later additions which are thirteen.

(4) The passages of the Samaritan version that have been distorted which are seventeen.

(5) The passages of the Samaritan version which look more reasonable than the Hebrew version are ten.

(6) The passages that are defective in the Samaritan version are two.

The references to all the above passages are as follows according to the numbers given above

(1) GENESIS: 4:2, 7:3, 19:19, 20:2, 23:16, 34:14, 49:10,11, 50:26. (9)

EXODUS: 1:2, 4:2 (2)

(2) GENESIS: 31:49, 35:17,35, 41:34,37,41, 47:3 (6)

DEUTERONOMY: 32:5 (1)

(3) GENESIS: 29:15, 30:36, 14:16 (3)

EXODUS: 7:18, 8:23, 9:5, 21:20, 22:5, 23:10, 32:9 (7)

LEVITICUS: 1:10, 17:4 (2)

DEUTERONOMY: 5:21 (1)

(4) GENESIS: 2:2, 4:10, 9:5, 10:19, 11:21, 18:3, 19:12, 20:16 24:55, 35:7, 36:6, 41:50 (13)

EXODUS: 1:5, 13:6, 15:5 (3)

NUMBERS: 22:36 (1)

(5) GENESIS: 8:5, 31:11, 9:19, 34:37, 4:39, 25:43 (6)

EXODUS: 40:12, 17:14 (2)

NUMBERS: 14:4 (1)

DEUTERONOMY: 16:20 (1)

(6) GENESIS: 14:25, 16:20 (2)

The renowned scholar Home says in vol. 2 of his commentary printed in 1822:

The renowned theologian Leclerc, with the greatest pain and labour, has sorted out the differences of the Hebrew and Samaritan versions, and has concluded that the Samaritan version is comparatively more correct.

Such differences between the Hebrew and the Samaritan versions are not limited to the sixty pointed out by Leclerc. There are many more such dissimilarities found in the two versions. Leclerc has confined himself to the differences that were of serious nature. If we add twenty-four of the twenty-five discrepancies cited above to the sixty discovered by Leclerc, the total number of discrepancies comes to eighty-four. This is not counting all the differences and discrepancies that exist between the Hebrew and the Latin versions of the Pentateuch; and also those found between many other books of the Old Testament.

The above sufficiently proves our point that the objection raised by the Christians against the truth of the Qur’anic revelation based on Qur’anic disagreement with some of the descriptions of the Old and the New Testaments is not valid and does not serve the intended purpose.

This refers to the oral communication of Moses with God on Mount Sinai described in Exodus.

7[7] ”And Arphaxad begat Shelah.” I Chronicles 1:18.


8[8] All quotations from Greek and Samaritan versions have been reproduced from the old English translation. (Raazi)


9[9]All the spellings of the proper names have been reproduced from the English translation of the Gujrati version of Izharul Haqq. (Raazi)


10[10] . The spelling of all the above names as given in the English translation of the Gujrati version mostly seem to be different from what can be understood through the transliteration of the Urdu version. For instance this name, as given by transliteration should be something like “Henry Kospondanus” (Raazi)


11[11] It may be notified that in the absence of the original book it is always almost impossible to obtain the correct spelling of proper names. The names may be very different in spelling from the one given in both, the text and the margin. (Raazi)


12[12] Qur’an 18:51. Even up to 1988 modern scientific resources have been completely unable to provide a definite estimate in this regard. (Raazi)


13[13]This was said by the prophet Joseph to his brethren just before his death. (Raazi)


14[14]I do not see any discrepancy in the above two statements except that the latter statement has additional phrase ’with you’. (Raazi


15[15]Verse 22 of the Hebrew version ends with the following statement: ”And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have a stranger in a strange land. (Taqi)


16[16]That is, Amran’s wife Jochebed


17[17] I Chronicles 6:3 agrees with the latter versions. It says: “And the children of Amran; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam.”


18[18]We have reproduced the above verse from the English translation of the Gujrati version. (Raazi)


19[19] The description in Deuteronomy 1:6 starts with the words: ”The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb.” These words evidently indicate that the injunction contained in subsequent verses had been revealed much earlier in Horeb. It should, therefore have been present in the book of Numbers. This implies that the Samaritan version is correct.


20[20] There is a footnote under verse 10:7 of Deuteronomy in the Catholic Bible (Knox version 1963 London) page 157 which reads, “Verses 6-7 seem to be not taken from some record of the wanderings which is perhaps put in here to illustrate 9:20 above.”


21[21]This verse contains the words “unto this day” which also indicate that it verse is a later addition.


22[22]The present translations of the Hebrew version, however, have been made in accordance with the Greek and the Samaritan texts.


23[23] I have reproduced the above English passage from the English translation of the Gujrati version of Izharul Haqq. (Raazi)


24[24] I have quoted this passage from the English translation of Izharul Haqq since


25[25] the Samaritan version is not available to me. I am not certain of the faithful reproduction of this passage. (Raazi) 1.


The Catholic Bible (Knox version) gives yet a different version of this verse. It says, “Like a bucket brimming over the well, see how their posterity spreads from one river frontier to the next! The King that rules over them shall rival Agag himself, and take away his kingdom from him.” Numbers 24:7 (Raazi).


26[26]The King James version has this passage in accordance with the Samaritan version. Our author might have quoted it from the Hebrew version having a different text. Now both the passages are identical. (Raazi).