How old was Ahaziah when he began to reign?

Does it matter?

IndyEllis said:

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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Foolish me. I thought there was a simple answer!

II Kings 8:26 says he was 22.

II Chronicles 22:2 says he was 42.

Both seem to agree that he reigned only one year.

According to this website, the difference is due to a copyists error and II Kings is correct.

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/ahaziah_age.html

The other websites I checked into seem to rely on one verse or the other but don't try to reconcile both.

Which would seem to raise an interesting question. If the Bible is the divinely inspired inerrant word of God, why does such an error exist?

As always,

OldChurchGuy

I kind of guessed this wouldn't be a simple answer...

And I'm guessing that the concept of a medieval monk copying it wrongly will just raise more issues..

IndyEllis said:

What issues are you refering to?

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These ones!

How do these two verses relate to...

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. ~ Proverbs 30:5

In this verse it says the 'imrah (words) of God are tsaraph (tested as in refined like gold is refiled).

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. ~ 2 Timothy 3:16

In this verse it says pas (all) graphe (scripture) is theopneustos (God given).

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Many things are God-given, though.
It doesn't stop humans messing them up!

IndyEllis said:

Are you referring to God as "it" there?

And why do you think He didn't stop this specific human "mess up" as I believe you are calling it?

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'It" refers to the aforementioned fact, not to God!

And - He has given humans free will.
Not that that is relevant, I suppose, unless it was a deliberate error.
And I can't see any reason why it should be.
But - I make a lot of mistakes.
God doesn't stop me!
He just helps me sort them out if I ask Him to.

I'm aware that i'm way off topic here - sorry!

IndyEllis said:

So I guess you're kinda say that people can kinda put whatever they want in the Bible.

Then what do you do with...

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. ~ 2 Peter 1:20,21

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No, I'm not saying that at all!
I believe that the bible is inspired by God.
But if a scribe makes a mistake copying down something, God isn't going to strike him dead!
There is a very big difference between transcribing a number inaccurtely and false interpretation of scripture!
And I don't believe thatGod would allow mistakes that fundementally alter His word.

(Although I seem to remember hearing that there was a print run that read "Thou shalt kill"!)

But in all honesty, the age of Ahaziah doesn't make any great difference!

Umm.

OK, that does sound rather stupid!

But - obviously, from the verses you pointed out and others, there are some inconsistencies.
So it would be pointless to dispute that.

And I don't believe that God would allow His underlying message to be corrupted.
But - as to judging what is and what isn't a 'big' mistake...
Fortunately, that isn't my job!

Another cop-out!!
But I honestly don't know.
And as I have said before, I don't think we will ever know all the answers.
Which is someting I have found hard to accept, but...
Perhaps one day I will be as certain of all the details as so many others seem to be - on both sides of the Christian/athiest divide.
For now - I have to work with what I have.
And so, I can't really answer this one.
Sorry!

IndyEllis said:

Then who "discerns" on your behalf.

Isn't it your job to test it for yourself?

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ~ 1 John 4:1

Isn't that similar to what the Bereans were commended for?

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ~ Acts 17:11

An if it's not your job, who's is it, and why isn't it getting done?

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That's not really what I meant.
If it comes to preventing 'big' errors - that has to be down to God.
When it comes to testing the truth - the Bereans were testing the teaching they had recieved against the scriptures - not testing the scriptures!

What divide?

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There is evidently a division at some point between belief and unbelief. One cannot be both a Christian and an atheist!

But it's not like it's a hard question really.

Just wanted to know when the guy's reign began.

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With respect, I don't really think that that was your reason for posing this question!
Was it not rather an opening to discuss the inconsistencies you have found in the Bible??

However, if you really want an answer - Ahaziah's father, Joram, who preceeded him, came to the throne at the age of thirty-two, and reigned for eight years. (According to both 2Kings and 2Chronicles!).
This would seem to indicate that his son was in fact twenty-two rather han forty-two - since the latter would make him two years older than his father!!

IndyEllis said:

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Heyas,

Sorry to do a lame copy/paste here, but this may have the answer you are seeking as it deals with the timelines and possible problems with them. I don't think it's necessary to read the entire thing, you are looking for the part about 1/5th down, where it deals with problems and resolutions.

Cheers,
Digit

Oh! So the truth is based on popularity? Sorry, better ignore that then.

Digit

OldChurchGuy said:

Foolish me. I thought there was a simple answer!

II Kings 8:26 says he was 22.

II Chronicles 22:2 says he was 42.

Both seem to agree that he reigned only one year.

According to this website, the difference is due to a copyists error and II Kings is correct.

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/ahaziah_age.html

The other websites I checked into seem to rely on one verse or the other but don't try to reconcile both.

Which would seem to raise an interesting question. If the Bible is the divinely inspired inerrant word of God, why does such an error exist?

As always,

OldChurchGuy

Click to expand...

Did some more checking and finally found a web site that offers an explanation. What does anyone think of the answer?

http://www.geocities.com/brandplucked/22or42.html

As always,

OldChurchGuy

Sorry, distracted... back to OP...
Click the links to word definitions.

2Kings 8:26

Ahaziah was twenty-two * years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.

II Chronicles 22:2

Ahaziah was twenty-two * years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.

---

Letter: Value
Alef 1 Bet 2 Gimel 3 Dalet 4 He 5 Vav 6 Zayin 7 Het 8 Tet 9 Yod 10 Kaf 20 Lamed 30 Mem 40 Nun 50 Samekh 60 Ayin 70 Pe 80 Tsadi 90 Qof 100 Resh 200 Shin 300 Tav 400
Number:Letters
1 Alef Geresh 2 Bet Geresh 3 Gimel Geresh 4 Dalet Geresh 5 He Geresh 6 Vav Geresh 7 Zayin Geresh 8 Het Geresh 9 Tet Geresh 10 Yod Geresh 11 Yod Gershayim Alef 14 Yod Gershayim Dalet 15 Tet Gershayim Vav 16 Tet Gershayim Zayin 17 Yod Gershayim Zayin 18 Yod Gershayim Het 20 Kaf Geresh
51
Nun Gershayim Alef
600
Tav Gershayim Resh
900
Tav Tav Gershayim Qof
5759
He Geresh Space Tav Shin Nun Gershayim Tet
5000
He Geresh Space Alef Lamed Pe Yod Final Mem1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 10 = 100 = 1,000 = 10,000 = 100,000 = 1,000,000 =

As for fractions, 'r' was used for the word 'part'. This means that r-10 is equivalent to our 1/10.
The Egyptian sign 'gs' was used for the word 'side' or 'half' ½. The word 'hsb' meant 'fraction', but it came to mean 'part-4' or ¼. 'rwy' meant 'two parts out of three' 2/3, and 'khmt rw' , though rare, was 'three parts out of four' 3/4.

Everyone - Please stay on topic.

No Debate will be allowed