A common charge of contradiction centers on the number of people who went to Egypt with Jacob: Acts 7:14 lists 75 people, while Genesis 46:26-27, Exodus 1:5, and Deuteronomy 10:22 state 70. This discrepancy is resolved when one recognizes that the biblical writers employed two different, well-defined counting methods—one reflected in the Masoretic Text (MT) and another in the Septuagint (LXX).

The MT calculates 70 people by counting Jacob's descendants who journeyed with him. This excludes the wives of Jacob's sons. The count goes as follows: 11 sons, 53 grandsons and great-grandsons, plus Dinah and Serah, totaling 66 people (Gen 46:26). To reach the 70 mentioned in Genesis 46:27, Exodus 1:5, and Deuteronomy 10:22, we add Joseph and his two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) who were already in Egypt (bringing the count to 69), and finally Jacob himself, resulting in 70 people.

The LXX, however, calculates 75 people. It begins with the same base of 66 direct descendants (excluding Jacob, Joseph, and his two sons). However, Genesis 46:27 in the LXX states that nine sons (or direct descendants) were born to Joseph in Egypt, rather than two. When these 9 are added to the initial 66, the total is exactly 75.

When Stephen speaks in Acts 7:14, he is simply quoting the numbering found in the Greek Septuagint, which was the common translation used by Greek-speaking Jews of the first century. Both figures represent accurate, alternate ways of reckoning the genealogy, depending on which descendants of Joseph were included in the total. Therefore, when the facts and reasonable explanations are laid out, the case for an unresolvable error falls short. There are natural, well-defined ancient counting mechanisms for both figures.