Two Ages at Once:
Just how old was Ahaziah anyway?
Two Ages at Once:
Just how old was Ahaziah anyway?
[Two Ages at Once: Just how old was Ahaziah anyway?
by Stacia McKeever and Bodie Hodge]
2 Kings 8:26
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of
Israel.
2 Chronicles 22:2
Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri.
"Was Ahaziah 22 or 42 years old when he became king of Judah?
Ahaziah’s true age when he became king of Judah is easy to discern by further
research. In
2 Kings 8:17, Ahaziah’s
father Joram reigned for 8 years after beginning his reign at age 32. Joram was
40 when he died, showing that Ahaziah could not have been 42, but was instead 22
when he began his reign. So what does the 42 in
2 Chronicles 22:2
indicate?
There are two primary answers that Christian scholars have given. Either answer
reveals there is no contradiction:
The 42 is in reference to the beginning of the kingly reign of which Ahaziah is
a part.
This was a copyist error which changed the original 22 in
2 Chronicles 22:2 to
42..." Full Text:
Two Ages at Once: Just how old was Ahaziah anyway?
McKeever, Hodge.
