Bible Contradiction? Was Mahli the son of Levi?

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Was Mahli the son of Levi?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction (along with the wording by the skeptics of  additional thoughts):

Yes, Mahli was Levi’s son.

“According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men” (Ezra 8:18)

No.

Mahli was not the son of Levi.

“The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari..” (Genesis 46:11, 1 Chronicles 6:1, 6:16)

“David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.” (1 Chronicles 23:6)

“These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.” (Exodus 6:16)

He was the son of Merari.

“The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.” (Numbers 3:20)

“The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.” (1 Chronicles 6:19, 23:21)

“The sons of Merari, Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.” (1 Chronicles 24:26)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

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