A SCRIBAL ERROR IN 2 CHRONICLES 22:2? NO!
Robert J Sargent
Permission granted to use this article 12-10-2014
Texts in Question
2 Kings 8:26—“Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he
began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was
Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.”
2 Chronicles 22:2—“Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when
he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also
was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.”
Is there a discrepancy between 2 Kings 8:26 and 2 Chronicles
22:2? To the casual reader, there indeed appears to be a contradiction between
two parallel accounts of the accession of King Ahaziah over Judah. Was Ahaziah
22 or 42 when he ascended the Judean throne?
The “Scholarly” Solution
There is an easy solution to the problem—if you are a
Bible corrector! Obviously this just has to be an error! The “scholarly”
statement of this “explanation” is: “The number ‘forty and two’ in 2 Chron 22:2
is evidently the mistake of a copyist.” In other words, since Ahaziah’s father
Jehoram died at age 40 (2 Chron 21:20), it would have been impossible for
Ahaziah to succeed him at an age of 42! Therefore, somewhere in the history of
the transmission of the Hebrew text, a careless scribe committed a
transcriptional error.
The problem with this easy solution is: if there is one
error in the Bible (albeit an innocent slip of the pen), who is to say there
are not other errors in the Bible? How could we be absolutely certain that the
precious verses God used to speak to our heart and save our soul are not among
those containing errors? Can we really trust our Bible?
For a number of compelling reasons, we believe the Bible is
the Perfect Word (Ps 119:140) of a Perfect God (Tit 1:2) and
given to man in a Perfect Manner (2 Pet 1:21, 2 Tim 3:16) and preserved
in a Perfect Form (Ps 12:6-7). Our Bible is not only infallible in all
its teachings but inerrant in all its content. That is why we can say with full
assurance: “I know whom I have believed;” that is why we can say with
absolute confidence: “there hath not failed one word of all his good
promise.”
Statements of Fact
How, then, can we understand this apparent contradiction
concerning the age of King Ahaziah when he began to reign? Before we come to
untie what one writer calls “the Gordian Knot of the Chronology of the Kings of
Israel and Judah,” several statements of fact need to be made.
(I)
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Some parts of God’s Word are likened to milk (1 Pet 2:2),
while other parts are called strong meat (Heb 5:12-14). This conundrum most
definitely falls into the strong meat category.
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(II)
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Every Christian is commanded to study the Bible (2 Tim
2:15). This particular question is one which requires much careful and
diligent study.
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(III)
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Whenever we encounter a difficult-to-understand Bible
passage, it does not mean the Bible is somehow in error. We have to consider
two realities:
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(1)
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that we may not be of sufficient spiritual maturity to
grasp the deep treasure God has put there in His Word (1 Cor 3:1-2, Luke
24:25), and must therefore keep growing and keep studying; or
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(2)
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that God never intended for us to know everything there is
to know (John 21:25), and must therefore be content with the knowledge that
He has given us all we need to know until we enter into His glorious presence
in heaven (1 Cor 13:12).
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(IV)
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The two passages in question are accurate English
translations of the Masoretic Hebrew text—all the extant Hebrew manuscripts
say the same thing! This is not some supposed “poor translation” by the
translators of the Authorised, King James Version. Why, those men would run
rings around 20th century scholarship—and do you not think they
would have had enough sense to “patch up” such a glaring inconsistency if
they really believed it was an error? (This perplexing question is actually a
wonderful demonstration of the honesty of the translators of the Authorised,
King James Version.)
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(V)
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When interpreting the Bible chronologically (which is part
of the solution to these problem texts), it is absolutely necessary to keep
in mind some important facts:
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(1)
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Scripture deals only with whole years when it comes to the
reign of the kings. A part of a year is counted as a whole year, and when
applied to the kings of Israel, that part of one year may actually be counted
twice—once for the outgoing king, once for the incoming king. As a matter of
fact, at time of the events mentioned in our problem text, the Northern
kingdom of Israel had three kings reigning in the same year—Ahab (absent in
battle, then killed), his son Ahaziah (co-Rex, then dies of a fall), and his
grandson Jehoram.
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(2)
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Sometimes the reign of a king is dated from the beginning
of a dynasty instead of the beginning of his own succession to the throne.
The classic example of this is found in 2 Chronicles 16:1 where the reign of
Asa at the time of Baasha’s invasion has been counted from the division of
the united monarchy under Rehoboam. (This explains the apparent contradiction
with 1 Kgs 16:8.) Chronicles records the length of the kingdom; Kings records
the length of the term of office. We may find this a strange way of
reckoning, but that is the way it is sometimes counted in the Biblical
record.
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(3)
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Sometimes the beginning of the reign of a king may be
given from his anointing or from his accession, or both! The Lord Jesus
Christ was born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2), but His reign will not begin
until He sits upon David’s throne in the Millennium. Following the
deportation of his father, Jehoiachin legally became king of Judah when he
was eight years old (2 Chron 36:9), but his mother ruled for him as queen
(Jer 13:18) until he was 18 (2 Kgs 24:8). Three months later both king and
queen mother were deported (2 Kgs 24:12).
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(4)
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It was not uncommon for there to be more than one king
reigning at a given time in either Israel or Judah. Some ruled as pro-Rex (in
place of the king), others as co-Rex (together with the king).
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(VI)
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The term “son,” as it is used in the Bible, does not
always mean the contiguous male offspring of a father. A father may actually
be a grandfather (Dan 5:2—Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson), or
step-father, or a distant forebear (Matt 1:1).
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(VII)
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This particular question is somewhat complicated by the
similarity of names of the kings of Israel and Judah during the period of
time. There were in fact two Ahaziahs, one in the Northern kingdom of Israel
and one in the Southern kingdom of Judah. One way to keep them straight in
your mind is to remember the following formula: ISRAEL = A-A-J
(Ahab-Ahaziah-Jehoram); JUDAH = J-J-A (Jehoshaphat-Jehoram-Ahaziah). Lastly,
Ahaziah has three names in the records: Ahaziah (2 Chron 22:1), Jehoahaz (2
Chron 21:17), and Azariah (2 Chron 22:6).
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The Biblical Solution
The “key” which unlocks the door to our understanding this
matter is found in the New Testament. The royal genealogy of the Lord Jesus
Christ is recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew 1:8 lists the
kings in the Davidic line at the time of our particular concern—and there are
some notable omissions!
The following chart compares the kings of Judah as given in
the Old Testament record to the same kings listed in Matthew 1:8:
OLD TESTAMENT RECORD
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CHRIST'S GENEALOGY
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Asa
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Asa
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Jehoshaphat
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Jehoshaphat
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Jehoram
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Jehoram
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Ahaziah
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-
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Joash
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-
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Amaziah
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-
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Uzziah
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Uzziah
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Three kings of Judah are not counted in the lineage of Jesus
Christ! Why? The answer to that is found in Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18 and
Psalm 109:13-15 and is seen in the character of this reign (2 Chron 22:2-4).
The fact is, Ahaziah is not counted as a seed of David—his ancestry is traced
to the house of Omri. The Bible accentuates both the bloodline and the
influence of his mother (Athaliah), who is the daughter of Omri—either
literally, or in the sense that she is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kgs
8:18), i.e., she is Omri’s granddaughter.
Two Possible Explanations
This being the case, there are now two possible
explanations:
Solution #1
Ahaziah was literally 22 years old (2 Kgs 8:26) when he
ascended to the throne of Judah. He was the actual son of Jehoram and Athaliah.
Ahaziah was co-Rex with his ailing father Jehoram (2 Chron
21:18) for one year (2 Kgs 9:29—the 11th year of Jehoram of Israel)
and sole king for one year (the 12th year of Jehoram of Israel—2 Kgs
8:25).
Ahaziah ascended to the throne in 894 BC [Ed: 842/1 BC]. If
we count backwards 42 years (to 936 BC) we come to the first year of Omri [Ed:
885/4 BC]. In other words, Ahaziah was indeed 22 years old (as stated in
Kings), but his reign is counted (in Chronicles) from the beginning of the evil
dynasty of Omri. This is the Holy Spirit’s way of highlighting the wicked
aberration in the royal Davidic line.
The phrase “Forty and two years” may then be taken as a
Hebrew idiom “A son of forty two years”—meaning that it was 42 years from the
beginning of the dynasty founded by Omri.
Solution #2
Ahaziah was literally 42 years old (2 Chron 22:2) when he
ascended to the throne of Judah. He therefore was not the literal son of
Jehoram (who died at age 40), but a son in the sense of being a step-son. His
mother was his father’s wife.
If we count back 20 years (to when Ahaziah was 22 years
old—2 Kings 8:26) we come to the year 914 BC [Ed: 862/1 BC] which is the eighth
year of Jehoshaphat. This was about the time that Jehoshaphat “joined affinity
with Ahab” (2 Chron 18:1), since we know that in the third year of Jehoshaphat’s
reign he instituted a revival in Judah (2 Chron 17:7-9), following which his
kingdom prospered (2 Chron 17:12).
We are told in 2 Chronicles 18 that several years after this
alliance was forged, Ahab and Jehoshaphat engaged in a joint military venture
against Syria (2 Chron 18:2). Both kings went into battle (2 Chron 18:28) and
Ahab was killed (2 Chron 18:33-34). Prior to the battle the faithful prophet
Micaiah was deported in chains to Amon where (the one-year-old) Joash was
residing (1 Kgs 22:26). It is here, in this passage, we have a most revealing
statement: Joash—the biological son of Ahaziah (2 Chron 22:11)—is called the
“king’s son,” indicating that Ahaziah was already a king! How could this
possibly be? If, as part of the affinity Jehoshaphat made with Ahab, Ahaziah
was anointed king at this time, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together.
In other words, Ahaziah was anointed king at age 22—he
finally sat on the throne of Judah 20 years at age 42.
The Word of God does not give all the details of the
affinity between the two monarchs. Evidently, it was far-reaching because in 2
Chronicles 21:2 Jehoshaphat was given the title “king of Israel!” Furthermore,
when Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram finally gained sole rule over Judah, he not only
murdered his brothers, but “divers also of the princes of Israel” (2 Chron
21:4). Why would he do that if they were not a threat to the Judean throne?
Not only that, but Ahaziah obviously felt “right at home” in
the Israeli court (2 Chron 22:6). Perhaps both kings were interested in
reuniting the monarchy which had been divided for about 70 years—undoubtedly
with different motives. Ahab (or Jezebel!) conspired to install one of his own
on the Judean throne following the death of Jehoshaphat—a move which would be
accomplished by earmarking Ahaziah (whose mother was Ahab’s own daughter) ahead
of time. When Ahab’s scheme to have Jehoshaphat killed in battle backfired (2
Chron 18:29, 31-33), Ahaziah had to wait 20 years to be enthroned.
In this way, Ahaziah was both 22 and 42 when he began to
reign—22 when he was anointed, 42 when he was seated.
The only question which remains is: Who was his biological
father? The affinity struck between Ahab and Jehoshaphat appears to be somewhat
sordid—a tangled web in fact! Consider that Ahaziah is said to be:
(1)
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The son of Jehoram (2 Chron 22:1). Since Ahaziah was two
years older than his “father” Jehoram, he must have been his step-son,
brought into that relationship with his mother Athaliah when she married
Jehoram.
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(2)
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The son-in-law of the house of Ahab (2 Kgs 8:27). This
relationship would have been established by his marriage to Zibiah (2 Chron
24:1) who must have been either a daughter or grand-daughter of Ahab.
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(3)
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The son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 22:9). It seems Ahaziah
was given a decent burial only out of respect for the fact that he was a son
of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 22:9). Could it be that in earlier times, Jehoshaphat
followed the custom of cementing royal ties (1 Kgs 3:1) by going in unto
Athaliah, Ahab’s daughter? Perhaps it is at this point that the Biblical
record ceases to give sufficient details for anyone to know for certain.
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The Almighty God is never pleased with unholy alliances (2
Cor 6:14-17). The Lord never recognised the reigns of Jehoram and Azariah, who
both sought to introduce Baal worship into Judea—along with Joash, they are
omitted from the genealogy of the Saviour. When Ahaziah died, God Himself cut
off the house of Ahab from the royal line (2 Chron 22:7-9).
Robert J Sargent serves as pastor of Bible
Baptist Church in Oak Harbor, Washington. The above article is taken from
Things Hard to be Understood by David Cloud, Way of Life Literature
(http://wayoflife.org), 2001. Permission granted to use this article 12-10-2014
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