There is another summation error, this time big enough to give even the “round off” apologetic explanation a “headache” (in trying to come up with an explanation!). The passage Ezra 1:7-11 concerns the articles from the Temple which were returned to the Jews. It was mentioned, in Ezra 7:8, that the chief royal treasury made an inventory and that these are the items returned:
VerseDescriptionNumber of items
Ezra 1:9-10
gold basins 30
silver basins 1,000
silver pans 29
small gold bowls 30
small silver bowls 410
other vessels 1,000
Total 2,499
The total of articles returned were 2,499. Yet at the very next verse the total is given as:
Ezra 1:11
all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty nine. (5,469)
Note that Ezra 1:10 does not allow other unlisted items to be assumed since the last portion already mentioned “other vessels” or other articles. Obviously a discrepancy of 2,970 exist between the given total of 5,469 and the actual total of 2,499.