T
tonydavid180
Guest
Hi brothers and sisters ! (Before starting, sorry for my english, I’m french lol)
So, you probably heard about this “contradiction”.
In 2 Kings 8:26, we read :
“Ahaziah was twenty-two years old 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.”
But in 2 Chronicles 22:2, we read :
“Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri.”
Some new translations have corrected this alleged contradiction, but was there really a contradiction ?
So, 22 years old, or 42 years old ?.. Both !
To understand the “contradiction”, we will turn to Jewish tradition. Especially to the “RaDaQ” (Rabbi David Qimih).
So, the RaDaQ shows us 2 others passages to understand the problem. In these 2 others passages, God talks to Jehoram (Ahaziah’s father) through the prophet Elijah… So here is the first one :
“And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father’s house who were better than thyself etc…” (2 Chronicles 21:12-13)
Now let’s read the second passage :
“And Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who [are] near the Ethiopians; and they came up into Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.” (2 chronicles 21:16-17)
In the first passage, we have REPROACHES from God against Jehoram. In the second one, we have the CONSEQUENCES of these reproaches. What’s the relation with Ahaziah’s age ? It’s simple :
So, you probably heard about this “contradiction”.
In 2 Kings 8:26, we read :
“Ahaziah was twenty-two years old 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.”
But in 2 Chronicles 22:2, we read :
“Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri.”
Some new translations have corrected this alleged contradiction, but was there really a contradiction ?
So, 22 years old, or 42 years old ?.. Both !
To understand the “contradiction”, we will turn to Jewish tradition. Especially to the “RaDaQ” (Rabbi David Qimih).
So, the RaDaQ shows us 2 others passages to understand the problem. In these 2 others passages, God talks to Jehoram (Ahaziah’s father) through the prophet Elijah… So here is the first one :
“And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father’s house who were better than thyself etc…” (2 Chronicles 21:12-13)
Now let’s read the second passage :
“And Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who [are] near the Ethiopians; and they came up into Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.” (2 chronicles 21:16-17)
In the first passage, we have REPROACHES from God against Jehoram. In the second one, we have the CONSEQUENCES of these reproaches. What’s the relation with Ahaziah’s age ? It’s simple :
- Jehoram disobeyed God (fisrt passage), so God “stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians” (second passage).
- After that the Philistines and the Arabians “came up into Judah, broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house”, Jehoram’s royalty has been weakened… Since he was no longer able to govern, his son Ahaziah unofficially took over the reins. he had 22 years old (2 Kings 8:26).
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