Tool Alpha
The Contradiction Desk
Claimed Bible contradictions, stated the way they circulate, each with one diagnosis and the evidence for it: the Hebrew, the Greek, the manuscripts.
Eighteen or eight?
2 Kings 24:8 says Jehoiachin was eighteen when he became king. Most Hebrew manuscripts of 2 Chronicles 36:9 say eight. Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint read eighteen there too.
2 Kings 24:8, in every translation this tool compares.
The real question: was this king a teenager or a child? The yearbook says he was 18 at graduation, and the newspaper says 8. Is that a prodigy, or a dropped digit?
2 Kings 24:8 says Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign. 2 Chronicles 36:9, in the King James, says he was eight.
The ESV prints eighteen at 2 Chronicles 36:9 and footnotes: Septuagint, compare 2 Kings 24:8; most Hebrew manuscripts eight. The CSB's textual note says some Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint read eighteen, other Hebrew manuscripts eight. MacArthur prefers eighteen at both places. Here the better figure survives in part of the Hebrew tradition itself, not only in translation.
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible asks "How old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign?" and quotes the two verses side by side. At full strength: most Hebrew manuscripts of Chronicles say eight, so the reading most copies carry is the wrong one.
MacArthur argues for eighteen from the full development of his wickedness, citing Ezekiel's description of him in Ezekiel 19:5-9. The copying diagnosis is the harmonizing case: the books agreed, and a figure was lost in some copies of Chronicles.
MacArthur's argument from wickedness assumes an eight-year-old king could not be judged as evil; that is an argument about character, not about the manuscripts, and the observation is made here. The two books also differ on the length of the reign, three months against three months and ten days, which is not diagnosed here.
Not a claim that most manuscripts are usually wrong. In this verse a minority of Hebrew copies, with the Septuagint and 2 Kings, carry the figure the sources prefer.
- ESV Study Bible, footnote on 2 Chronicles 36:9
- CSB Study Bible, textual note on 2 Chronicles 36:9
- The MacArthur Study Bible (ESV), notes on 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9
- The Skeptic's Annotated Bible, How old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign?, https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/jehoiachin.html
- King James Version, 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9
