CHRISTIANS: 2Kings 24:8 “Jehoiachin was eighteen” 2Ch 36:9 “Jehoiachin was eight” – Please explain.?

Question

KI2 24:8 “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.”

CH2 36:9 “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

If it is a typo, then why has it not yet been fixed after so many centuries?

If it is the word of God, then why did he contradict himself?

Either way, I find the fact that it has yet to be fixed to be quite pathetic.

Answer 1

In 2 Kings 8:26, we read that Ahaziah, the sixth king of Judah, was twenty-two years old when he began his reign. However, in the book of 2 Chronicles, the Bible indicates that he was forty-two years old when he became king (22:2). Furthermore, in 2 Kings 24:8 we read where Jehoiachin succeeded his father as the nineteenth king of Judah at the age of eighteen, yet 2 Chronicles 36:9 informs us that he was “eight years old when he became king.” How is it that both of these kings are said to have begun their respective reigns at different times in their lives. Was Ahaziah twenty-two or forty-two when he became king? And was Jehoiachin merely eight years old when he began his rule over Judah, or was he eighteen as 2 Kings 24:8 indicates? How do we know which numbers are correct? And more important, how does the believer, who regards the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, explain these differences?

Fortunately, there is enough additional information in the biblical text to prove the correct age of both men when they began their particular reigns over Judah. (Ahaziah ruled Judah around 841 B.C., and Jehoiachin almost 250 years later in 598 B.C.) Earlier, in 2 Kings 8:17, the author mentions that Ahaziah’s father (Jehoram) was 32 when he became king, and died eight years later at the age of 40 (2 Chronicles 21:5, 20). Obviously, Ahaziah could not have been 42 at the time of his father’s death at age 40, since that would make the son (Ahaziah) two years older than his father (Jehoram). Thus, the correct reading of Ahaziah’s age is “twenty-two,” not “forty-two.” There also is little doubt that Jehoiachin began his reign at eighteen, not eight years of age. This conclusion is established by Ezekiel 19:5-9, where Jehoiachin appears as going up and down among the lions, catching the prey, devouring men, and knowing the widows of the men he devoured and the cities he wasted. As Keil and Delitzsch observed when commenting on this passage: “The knowing of widows cannot apply to a boy of eight, but might well be said of a young man of eighteen” (1996). Furthermore, it is doubtful that an eight-year-old child would be described as one having done “evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 24:9).

Even though it is possible to know the ages of Ahaziah and Jehoiachin when they began their respective reigns in Judah, the ages of these two kings in Chronicles are incorrect. Are these legitimate mistakes? Are we to conclude, based upon these two verses in 2 Chronicles, that the Bible is not from God? What shall we say to such questions?

The simple answer to these queries is that a copyist, not an inspired writer, made these mistakes. In the case of Ahaziah, a copyist simply wrote twenty instead of forty, and in Jehoiachin’s situation (2 Chronicles 36:9), the scribe just omitted a ten, which made Jehoiachin eight instead of eighteen. This does not mean the Bible had errors in the original manuscripts, but it does indicate that minor scribal errors have slipped into some copies of the Bible. [If you have ever seen the Hebrew alphabet, you will notice that the Hebrew letters (which were used for numbers) could be confused quite easily.] Supporting this answer to the “number problems” in Chronicles are various ancient manuscripts such as the Syriac, the Arabic, at least one Hebrew manuscript, and a few of the Septuagint manuscripts—all of which contain the correct ages for these kings in 2 Chronicles (22 and 18 rather than 42 and 8). Based upon this evidence, and from the fact that the ages of Ahaziah and Jehoiachin given in the Massoretic text of Chronicles are incorrect, the translators of the NIV decided to translate 2 Chronicles 22:2 and 36:9 as “twenty-two” and “eighteen” rather than the way most other English versions of the Bible read (“forty-two” and “eight”).

Although history records that copyists were meticulously honest in handling the text of the Bible, they, like all humans, made mistakes from time to time. Yet, even though technical mistakes in copying the text were made by these scribes of old, three important facts remain: (1) accurate communication still is possible; (2) many times one can find the correct reading by investigating ancient manuscripts such as those listed above; and (3) errors in copies of the Bible do not mean that those errors were in the original manuscripts written by inspired men.


Blessed Be

Answer 2

Who cares whether he was eight or eighteen? These discrepancies are there to help keep us from becoming the Taliban.

The beautiful thing about the fact that no one has gone in to "fix" this discrepancy (as the Taliban tried to "fix" the huge, ancient Buddhas carved into the cliffs in Afghanistan) is that it illustrates that the fathers of our faith were not so dogmatic as to get bent out of shape over such things.

There are many, many more such discrepancies. Just look at the four gospels. Each one is different, but when the Church leaders got together to figure out which gospels to consider "inspired" enough to include as scripture and which ones were not, they chose four. Not one, but four different gospels.

The Bible is a beautiful, wonderful, diverse collection of ancient writings. Only in modern days do some people expect these writings to be a science book, historical documentaries, and what not.

The Bible teaches us about who we are and about our relationship to God. It's full of all different types of literature and spans back to about 1800 years before Christ. Much of it was passed down orally for the first 800 years or so.

Read it analytically, understand it within its historical context, and love it for what it is. Don't throw it in the trash because it isn't what you expect it to be.

Answer 3

Well unfortunately the Bible is now the words of God + the words of historians + the words of translators which is terrible ....but if you don't like typos read the Quran it is the only authentic book written from 1400 years still didn't loose its original language (Arabic) unlike the Bible and also memorized exactly the same by over than 9,000,000 person that do not even know Arabic (in Pakistan and India and all the far east) which makes it impossible to be corrupted or add into it or anything else

if you wanna know more fact about the Quraan feel free to MSG me anytime byeee :)

Answer 4

"Jehoiachin" was found 11 times in 9 verses.

2 Kings 24:6 - So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

2 Kings 24:8 - Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

2 Kings 24:12 - And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

2 Kings 24:15 - And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 Kings 25:27 - And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

2 Chronicles 36:8 - Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 36:9 - Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Jeremiah 52:31 - And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison.

Ezekiel 1:2 - In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

Answer 5

You are correct, most Christians assume that it it the ancient equivalent of a typo (a scribal error).

Why not fix it? I assume that because we do not have the original, so we are not entirely sure which figure is correct.

Besides, what difference does it make anyway? He is dead now, so it matters not if he was eighty or eight several thousand years ago.

Answer 6

I agree. It was written and translated by men, not God, and so certain words and phrases don't translate from one language to another without major problems. Also, back then, I'm sure people weren't as picky about typos as they are today, if they were even aware of them.

Answer 7

PROMISED LAND KINGS
1Chr.2:9 - 15; 3:3 - 17; Ruth 4:18-22;
#01. 2949- 40- 2989 king Saul Acts 13: 20,21;
#02. 2989- 40- 3029 king David 2 Sam.5:4,5; 1Ki.2:10,11;
#03. 3029- 40-3069 king Solomon. 1Ki.6:1 [ 480 after Moses dies ]; 11:42;
~~~~~~~~~~~~3069 after Adam created is 997 before Christ.
#04. 3069- 17- 3086 king Rehoboam 1Ki.14:21;
#05. 3086 -03- 3089 king Abijam 1Ki.15:2;
#06. 3089- 41 = 3130 King Asa. 1Ki.15:10;
#07. 3130- 23-3153 king Jehosaphat 1Ki.22:42;
#08. 3153- 08-3161 Jehoram 2Ki.8:17;
#09. 3161- 01-3162 king Ahaziah 2Ki.8:26;
#10. 3162- 06-3168 Athalia his mom], 2Ki.11:3;
#11. 3168- 40-3208 king Jehoash 2Ki.12:1;
#12, 3208- 29-3237 king Amaziah 2Ki.14:2;
#13. 3237- 52-3289 king uzziah. 2Ki.15:2;
#14. 3289- 16-3305 King Jotham. 2Ki.15:33;
#15. 3305- 16-3321 king Ahaz. 2Ki.16:2;
#16. 3321- 29-3350 king Hezekiah. 2Ki. 18:2;
#17. 3350- 55- 3405 king Manasseh. 2Ki. 21:1;
#18. 3405- 02-3407 king Amon. 2Ki.21:19;
#19. 3407- 31-3438 king Josiah. 2Ki. 22:1;
#20. 3438- 11-3449 king Jehoiakim. 2Ki.23:36;
#21. 3449- 11-3460 king zedekiah. 2Ki.24:18; 2Chr.36.20-23; 606 before Christ.
3460 THE PROMISED LAND IS DESOLATE- 606 before Christ. Matt.1:1-17;

Jehoiachin was 18 years old, he has been king 8 years with the king and 3 mont as king himself. 2Ki.25:27-30 he was taken captive Jer.52:30,31;

Answer 8

WELL DONE! It's now not effortless for anyone located to are living existence on their possess phrases and by means of their regulations to take delivery of that responsibility is inevitable! We will all account for our movements. They dislike those who reveal their sinful approaches additionally. Your faithfulness is threatening to them. Thats the character of God even though. He is excellent and simply in all he does and instructions people. Our judgment of right and wrong, given by means of God and reinforced by means of the Holy Spirit, alive within the believer, yield the emotions of guilt and disgrace we consider after we sin. Gods holiness, forgiveness, love and charm exhibit us we're accredited by means of him and thats what's major. Mans attractiveness isn't major. Living in a system detestable to the one who created you. They make excuses for themselves! We do not make excuse for them. Why do they do that if their tradition is so traditional , right and appropriate!