Reply To: The population of the Israelites during Exodus

[Thomas Donlon]

Does this scripture make it even harder to accept a markedly lower number of people in the Exodus and also maintain a belief that the Bible is true in its original manuscripts?

We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-- and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. (1 Cor. 10:8 NIV)

Is there any textual variants in this passage that might shed any light on a different original manuscript for the New Testament verse? Interestingly (or not too interesting from my perspective) the Old Testament has a slightly different number who died from the plague.

those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. (Numbers 25:9 NIV)