What is the best explanation for this Biblical error/inconsistency?

Question

2 Chronicles 36:9

"Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days."

2 Kings 24:8

"Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months."

Squirrel: Yes, it is the same Jehoichin.
Bella: It's 10 years, not days.

Answer 1

the two writers of these verses were copying from a single source, one translated wrongly. But the truth about the bible is seen in the scripture, that it is the work of man and not the word of God, for if God was omnipotent and could say "be" and it would be; why would he dictate his word to man? why would he not just have his word written in stone for all to see? or if he is as the theists would have us believe; why would he not let us all individualy hear his word as it was spoken?

Answer 2

I would say your source should be a little more careful when making up things, Ofcourse I could say the same for you, for not checking out the evidence before posting it.

2 Chronicles 36:9


Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen [a] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

Footnotes:

2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8 most Hebrew manuscripts eight


2 Kings 24:8
Jehoiachin King of Judah
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.

Answer 3

I think the scribe, by mistake in 2 Chronicles 36:9, a men coud wave children at 16 age.

But this is possible correct
2 Kings 24:8

"Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months."

Answer 4

The first thing is to not presume that it is an "error/inconsistency". The confusion over the passage however, may be remedied by speculating that Jehoaichin began to reign at eight years old in Judah, but officially in Jerusalem when he reached eighteen. Jehoiakim his father would have been reigning in Jerusalem during those ten years, 2Kings 24:6, although taken captive for three of those years. You might also try representing the _full_ verse next time: "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." (2Ch 36:9) - emphasis mine.

Answer 5

This is probably a copyist error. Most likely, Jehoiachin was 18 when he became king. The observation that he "did evil in the sight of the Lord", according to all that his father had done" ( 2 Kings 24:9 ), is a description of and older man rather a young boy. Additionally, the fact that the Chaldeans condemned him to prison in 597B.C., indicates that they considered him to be a responsible adult.

Answer 6

My dear Lithonate, You picked a very subtle error/inconsistency... Christian theologians have a full catalog of error/inconsistencies where they explain each one on them to the satisfaction of the clergy and the Bible curios laity like you. Every single Bible institute or college teaches mandatory classes on Apologetics 101, 201, 301, 401 and what have you... They learn how to apologize for all the error/inconsistencies that are found in the Bible. In Christian academic inner circles these error/inconsistencies are also known as Bible difficulties. Google "Apologetics" to learn more...

Answer 7

Well the Bible used to have to be hand written, and with the early different sects of Christianity constantly killing each other (Before Catholicism became dominant in the late Western Roman empire) the "truth" was altered for each sect leaders individual beliefs.

Answer 8

You can probably chalk that one up to error in translation. Most inconsistancies can be attributed to the fact that the modern canon was authored by many different people over many thousands of years.

Answer 9

In the translation I used the problem didn't appear.

However due to your question I checked the footnote. Here is what it contained:

“Eighteen,” LXXA,LSy and 2Ki 24:8; MVg, “eight.”

From that you can see that several different codex exist, the LXXA says 18.

Answer 10

Using the standard Christian explanation for things they can't explain...."God moves in mysterious ways!". Love the answers where they say it was written by many authors...or the one that said it was translated wrong....it's all way too convenient to say that instead of admitting the Bible is a fairy tale.