Jehoiachin' age 18yrs old in one passage and 8 on the other - Does Bible have contradictions?

 Question

(Originally asked by a Muslim man claiming Bible is not 100% pure and only Quran is) :

In 2 Ki 24:8, Jehoiachin was “eighteen years old” when he began to reign.  In 2 Chr 36:9, Jehoiachin was “eight years old” when he began to reign.

 

 Answer:

Is there a mistake?  No.  Then what’s the explanation for the difference in his age?  The explanation is simple.  Brown’s Dictionary, 1834, said, “It seems, his father installed him when he was but eight years of age; and after his father’s death, he, at eighteen, succeeded to the sole government.”

For simplicity, a Chart is prepared which shows the names of the kings, the years of their reigns, and the three sieges by Nebuchadnezzar.

King	Age	Year	Length of Reign	Reference	Captivity (or notes on reign)	Reference
Jehoiakim	25	609	11 years	2 Ki 23:36
		606	The 3rdyear of his reign		1st – in the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign	Dan 1:1
		598	The end of his reign
Jehoiachin	8/18	598	3 mos. 10 days	2 Chr 36:9 2 Ki 24:8	This king is also called Jeconiah in Jer 29:2
		597	The end of his reign		2nd – in the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. The year expired in Jehoiachin’s reign	2 Ki 24:12 2 Chr 36:10
Zedekiah	21	597	11 years	2 Ki 24:18
		586	The end of his reign		3rd – in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign	2 Ki 25:2, 8

                       

Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin’s father, reigned for eleven years.  In the second year of his reign, when Jehoiachin was 8, Jehoiakim would have picked Jehoiachin to rule.  Then, when Jehoiakim died, Jehoiachin ascended to the throne at age 18 and reigned for 3 months and 10 days.  To help him with his rule, his mother reigned as queen.  [See 2 Ki 24:12 and Jer 29:2.  When Jehoiachin went into captivity, he went with his mother, who was called “the queen.”].

Jehoiachin had to be 18 when he actually ascended to the throne, because a prophecy about him in Jer22:28, where he is called Coniah, says that he is cast out with “his seed.”  He had to be old enough to have children when he went into captivity.  He wouldn’t have had seed at age eight.

Why would Jehoiakim have named Jehoiachin king at eight?  That’s fairly simple.  Pharaohnecho killed Josiah, Jehoiachin’s grandfather, in battle and the people installed Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin’s uncle, as king to replace Josiah.  He reigned for 3 months (2 Ki23:30-31).  Then, Pharaoh removed Jehoahaz and installed his brother Jehoiakim as king (2 Ki23:34).  This was the first instance of a foreign king selecting a king in Judah.

To prevent this from happening again, Jehoiakim would have named his son, Jehoiachin, king and his mother, Nehushta (2 Ki 24:8), queen to provide stability in the government in case anything happened to Jehoiakim.  At this time, Babylon was taking control away from Egypt (2 Ki 24:7) and Egypt was losing power in Judah.  Things were very unstable.

Sure enough, when Jehoiakim died, Jehoiachin ascended to the throne.  But his reign only lasted 3 months and 10 days, until Nebuchadnezzar came in for the second time, took Jehoiachin and his mother captive, and put Zedekiah on the throne.  Thus, God fulfilled his promise to cut off Jehoiachin’s seed from the throne (Jer22:28-30).

Now, Answer to the Muslim Friend:

Bible was written by the inspiration of The Holy Spirit. There are about 40 writers wrote in the span of 1500 years.. Yet everyone speak about “one” that’s Jesus Christ. Most of the authors do not meet each other, not lived in same place !!

The Reality of Truth

I commend to everyone the honest pursuit of truth. Truth never fears investigation and a lover of truth will never run from an honest discussion. Those who follow Jesus Christ understand the real battle between truth and error. Jesus wants you to find the truth that will “make you free” (John 8:32). Jesus’ followers are instructed to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (I Peter 3:15). Any such defense must be based upon facts, not tradition, feelings or the threats of terror.

Do We Have an Accurate Bible?

Our Muslim critic brings these attacks upon the Bible:

·         We do not have the original manuscripts (autographs) of the Bible.

·         The original manuscripts were copied by fallible men and as a result every copy that we posses today contains errors. In fact, no two manuscripts are alike.

·         Because these errors exist, then whatever was originally in the Bible is “unknowable” today.

The Testimony of the Manuscripts

The original ancient texts had to be copied by hand in order to be preserved. There are no original manuscripts in existence. However, honest scholars can easily determine if the present Bible was transmitted accurately or if there was some conspiracy to later change the text. We have at least 5,366 manuscripts of the Greek New Testament in existence today, in whole or in part, that testify to the accuracy of the New Testament. There are nearly complete manuscripts that date from 280 to 350 AD and there is a fragment that is dated around 125 AD. For the Old Testament we have the Dead Sea Scrolls that were written around 100 BC, which include a complete scroll of the book of Isaiah, along with other ancient manuscripts.1 What do we find when these scrolls are examined and compared to what we have today? When the text of Isaiah found in the Dead Sea Scrolls was compared to what had previously been the oldest known text of Isaiah (written 900 years later), the two texts matched word for word with only minor variations.2 Jesus read from one of these texts of Isaiah in His ministry and called it scripture (Luke 4:16-21)! By doing so He gave His approval for the accuracy and authority of these scrolls produced by copyists.

Do We Have the Original Manuscript of the Koran?

Mr. Muhammed has asserted that the Koran is the “only purely original manuscript existing revelation on the face of earth for mercy and salvation.” Therefore the Koran could not have any problems with copyist errors. Asserting these things proves nothing, for anyone on earth that wishes to do so can test his claims. When we look at how the Koran came into being, a very different picture emerges from what our Muslim critic has said.

The author of the Koran, Muhammad, could neither read nor write. He did not personally write one sentence of the Koran.

What he spoke was both memorized and “written down on pieces of leather, on pieces of parchment, on bones, on palm leaves, on stones, on boards, and on other things.”

After the death of Muhammad there was an effort made to collect and record his teachings in written form. At first, many were reluctant to do this because Muhammad never attempted to do this, nor did he give a commandment to have it done.

There were many differences in the texts produced through these efforts.5 The different versions were ordered to be destroyed by fire by the Muslim Caliph Uthman and one final text was presented.

No manuscript of the Koran from this period is in existence today. The earliest documents in existence are fragments that were written over 200 years after the final edition of the Koran.

Therefore the Koran we posses in fact came to us through copyists who were also “fallible men.”

Islam was founded by an Arab merchant named Muhammed about AD 622. Muhammed claimed to have received a revelation from an angel of God.

Muhammed had fifteen wives (although he limited other men to four wives apiece) and sanctioned the beating of wives (Sura 4:34). Muhammed was well known for spreading his new religion by force. He commanded, “Fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them” (Sura 9:5), and he specified the proper way to execute an unbeliever was to cut his throat (Sura 47:4). Muhammed led raids against caravans to plunder their goods, broke oaths, ordered the murder of those who mocked him, and wiped out the last Jewish tribe in Medina—he killed all the men and enslaved the women and children. Interestingly, Muhammed acknowledged his own need to seek God’s forgiveness on occasion (Sura 40:55).

In stark contrast to the moral depravity of Muhammed, Jesus Christ was above reproach in every way (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus never married, He defended and honored women (John 8:1–11), and His law was “love one another” (John 13:34). Accordingly, Jesus never assassinated anyone, never beat a woman, never enslaved a child, never broke a promise, and never plundered a caravan. On the cross, when Jesus was mocked by those nearby, His response was, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34).

We respect Muslims. We never critic them. However, it is our responsibility, when someone questions Bible’s authentication !!

Hope this helps

Eddy