Do 2 Kings 8:26 & 2 Chronicles 22:2 Contradict?

This is an interesting claim, one used primarily by young skeptics. Today we will go over the most probable answer. In 2 Kings this is written, "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 Kings 8:26 KJV).

However, in the second book of Chronicles, this is said, "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," (2 Chronicles 22:2 KJV).

It seems both of these verses contradict as one verse seems to claim Ahaziah was 22 when he became king while the latter claims 42. So which is correct?

So these two verses are considered a copyist mistake. In ancient Hebrew, a quick way to write numbers was to use letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Here is A Diagram:

The letters used for 22 are כ''ב.

The letters used for 42 are מ''ב

(The quotation marks are placed to show it is a number and not a word)

When writing fast, simply messing up a letter is an easy mistake. Based on the context of the passage, we can know he was 22(this is a topic for another day).

Do 2 Chronicles 36:9 & 2 Kings 24:8 Contradict?

Originally, this was going to be a separate page; however, the reasoning is the exact same so I thought this was a better idea.

2 Chronicles 36:9:

"Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 36:9 NASB1995).

2 Kings 24:8:

"8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem" (2 Kings 24:8 NASB1995).

Here is The Diagram:

The letters used for 18 are:י''ח

The letter used for 8 is:ח

Does it really seem strange for a scribe to forget a letter? Once again, we'll have to look at the reasoning for Jehoiachin being 18 for another day.

Other Sources With These Kinds of Mistakes:

Muhammad Mustafa Al-Azami, Professor Emeritus at King Saud University, claimed:

"We must nevertheless take into consideration that there are over 250,000 manuscripts of the Qur’an scattered all over the globe. When comparing them it is always possible to find copying mistakes here and there; this is an example of human fallibility, and has been recognized as such by authors who have written extensively on the subject of “unintentional errors.” Such occurrences cannot be used to prove any corruption within the Quran" (The History of The Qur’anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments [Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003], 13).

Some Variants Due to Scribal Errors:

Is the Quran the Word of God?. 2022. Quran Manuscripts, Copyist Errors, and Viable Variants. [online] Available at: <https://bible-quran.com/quran-manuscripts-copyist-errors/> [Accessed 6 June 2022].

Works Sited:

Is the Quran the Word of God?. 2022. Quran Manuscripts, Copyist Errors, and Viable Variants. [online] Available at: <https://bible-quran.com/quran-manuscripts-copyist-errors/> [Accessed 6 June 2022].

The History of The Qur’anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments [Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003]

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