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2 Kings 8 · a question people ask

Was Ahaziah twenty-two or forty-two when he began to reign?

In the text

2 Kings says, "Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem" (8:26). 2 Chronicles says, "Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 22:2). Both give one year in Jerusalem, and both name his mother Athaliah the daughter of Omri (8:26; 2 Chronicles 22:2). Neither book explains the difference in age, and these notes don't try to. Both verses are set here as they stand.

The verses

“Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.”
2 Kings 8:26 · World English Bible
“Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.”
2 Chronicles 22:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Kings 8

2 Kings 8: A lamp for his children

Elisha "restored to life" the Shunammite's son (8:1), and Benhadad asks, "Will I recover from this sickness?" (8:8): in Hebrew both are one verb, used ten times in the chapter's first fourteen verses. And the "lamp" the LORD promised for David's children (8:19) is a word the Hebrew Bible uses only four times, each time of a lamp for David.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions