2 Kings 24:8 & 2 Chr 36:9 taken at face value seems contradiction. Many bible scholars say this is a scribal copyist error and many say this is a contradiction. There is no contradiction in scripture and when we look at the surrounding evidence from scriptures we will see the amazing record Yahuah has made through his nebim for a reason. Let's begin by placing the verses below which in first blush meaning shows a contradiction.
2Ki 24:8 Yehoyaḵin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons. And his mother’s name was Neḥushta the daughter of Elnathan of Yerushalayim.
2Ch 36:9 Yehoyaḵin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons and ten days. And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה.
To understand the mystery surrounding the record we first need to look at his father and the events surrounding his rule.
2Ki 23:36 Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Zeḇiḏah the daughter of Peḏayah of Rumah.
2Ki 23:37 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his fathers did.
To understand this better we need to see that there were 3 sieges of Yerushalayim under the rule of Nebudchanazzer king of Babylon.
1. The first siege:
The first siege was during the rule of Yehoyakin's father Yehoyaqim's rule. We have 2 Kings 24:1 recording the first siege where Yehoyakin's father became a servant of king Nebudchanazzer for 3 years.
2Ki 24:1 In his days Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came up, and Yehoyaqim became his servant for three years. And he turned and rebelled against him.
Dan 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Yehoyaqim, sovereign of Yehuḏah, Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar, sovereign of Baḇel came to Yerushalayim and besieged it.
Daniel records that this besieging happened in the 3rd year of the reign of Yehoyaqim, the father of Yehoyakin.
2Ki 23:36 Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Zeḇiḏah the daughter of Peḏayah of Rumah.
We have 2Kings 23:36 recording that Yehoyaqim ruling for 11 years, which means for 3 years he was under the oppression of king Nebudchanazzer. (2Kings 24:1). We read in 2Kings 24:1 that he was servant to king Nebudchanazzer for 3 years after which he rebelled against king Nebudchanazzer. Hence, 3rd year of his reign when Nebudchanazzer came up to take over his kingdom (Dan 1:1) plus 3 years under subjection under king Nebudchanazzer (2Kings 24:1). With a total reign of 11 years makes it 11 - 6 = 5.
We have YarmeYahu (Jeremiah) recording in the 4th year of Yehoyaqim, it was the 1st year of king Nebudchanazzer.
Jer 25:1 The word that came to Yirmeyahu concerning all the people of Yehuḏah, in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, which was the first year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel,
Is there a contradiction here when comparing Jer 25:1 vs Daniel 1:1? No its not, as YarmeYahu (Jeremiah) records the word of Yahuah that came to him in the 4th year of Yehoyaqim which was the first year of Nebudchanzzer from a calculation as per kings of Yahudah which actually begins from the new year. This was called the accession year. Under the accession year method, if a king died or was replaced in the middle of a year, the period to the end of that year would be called the "accession year" of the new king, whose Year 1 would begin at the new year.
While Daniel who also is a Yahudite but is in Babylon tracking the time as per Babylonian method being a wise man ruler in Babylon and hence, mentions in the third year of the reign of Yehoyaqim, Nebudchanazzer came and besieged Yerushalayim. Yasharal used this method of calculation.
2. The second siege:
2Ki 24:6 So Yehoyaqim slept with his fathers. And Yehoyaḵin his son reigned in his place.
2Ki 24:7 And the sovereign of Mitsrayim did not come out of his land again, for the sovereign of Baḇel had taken all that belonged to the sovereign of Mitsrayim from the wadi of Mitsrayim to the River Euphrates.
2Ki 24:8 Yehoyaḵin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons. And his mother’s name was Neḥushta the daughter of Elnathan of Yerushalayim.
2Ki 24:9 And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his father did.
2Ki 24:10 At that time the servants of Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came up against Yerushalayim, and the city was besieged.
2Ki 24:11 And Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came against the city, as his servants were besieging it.
2Ki 24:12 And Yehoyaḵin sovereign of Yehuḏah, and his mother, and his servants, and his heads, and his eunuchs went out to the sovereign of Baḇel. And the sovereign of Baḇel, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
We have 2King 24:12 recording that in the 8th year of king Nebudchanazzer, Yehoyakin, his mother and servants went out to surrender to king Nebudchanazzer. So, it's evident that the 3rd year of his father Yehoyaqim's reign corresponds to the 1st year of king Nebudchanazzer's reign in which Yehoyaqim became a servant to king Nebudchanazzer.
2Kings 24:12 has to be king Nebudchanazzer's rule as Yehoyakin only ruled for 3 months in Yerushalayim. Hence, scripture is precise as 3 + 8 =11 (3rd year from Yehoyaqim rule according to Daniel 1:1 to the 8th year of king Nebudchanazzer's rule makes it 11 years of Yehoyaqim's rule and now he is dead and 3 months have passed when his son Yehoyaqin is ruling which is the 8th year of king Nebudchanazzer's rule).
2 Chron 36:9 shows us the 8th year rule when Yehoyakin ruled when the army of Nebudchanazzer's army was besieging Yerushalayim. This was a second siege and a little longer one as the king of Mitsrayim was helping him resist it. 2Kings 24:7 mentions that the king of Mitsrayim did not come out of his land again, for the sovereign of Baḇel had taken all that belonged to the sovereign of Mitsrayim from the wadi of Mitsrayim to the River Euphrates shows us the assistance provided to Yahudah by the king of Mitsrayim to resist the king of Babylon and his army.
Now let's see the 2 Chronicles text:
2Ch 36:5 Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה his Elohim.
2Ch 36:6 Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel came up against him, and bound him in bronze shackles to take him away to Baḇel.
2Ch 36:7 And Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar brought some of the utensils from the House of יהוה to Baḇel, and put them in his hěḵal at Baḇel.
Dan 1:2 And יהוה gave Yehoyaqim sovereign of Yehuḏah into his hand, with some of the utensils of the House of Elohim, which he brought to the land of Shin‛ar to the house of his mighty one. And he brought the utensils into the treasure house of his mighty one.
We have 2Chronicles 36:6 recording that king Nebudchanazzer binding Yehoqaqim in bronze shackles to take him away to Babel, it was only an intention mentioned because actually he had to be killed as prophesied by YarmeYahu dragged and thrown outside the gates of Yerushalayim. Hence, 2Chr 36:7 only records of some of the utensils from the house of Yahuah were carried to Babylon, whereas Yehoyaqim is missing in the text of being brought to Babylon which is an indication he was killed in Yerushalayim. Daniel is not saying Yehoyaqim was brought to Babylon, he is only saying Yahuah gave Yehoyaqim into his hand with some utensils of the house of Aluahym which he brought to the house of his mighty one. There is only mention of the utensils of the house of Yahuah being placed but no record of Yehoyaqim being placed which shows he is missing in the text. Hence, its obvious he was killed in Yerushalayim.
Jer 22:18 Therefore thus said יהוה concerning Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏah, “Let them not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’ Let them not lament for him: ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his excellency!’
Jer 22:19 “He shall be buried – the burial-place of a donkey – dragged and thrown outside the gates of Yerushalayim.
We have evidence in the 2 Chronicles 36 passages where it says that the king of Mitsrayim made Elyaqim the brother of Yehoahaz as king and changed his name to Yehoyaqim.
2Ch 36:1 And the people of the land took Yeho’aḥaz son of Yoshiyahu, and set him up to reign in his father’s place in Yerushalayim.
2Ch 36:2 Yeho’aḥaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three new moons in Yerushalayim.
2Ch 36:3 And the sovereign of Mitsrayim turned him aside in Yerushalayim, and imposed on the land a levy of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
2Ch 36:4 And the sovereign of Mitsrayim made his brother Elyaqim sovereign over Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, and changed his name to Yehoyaqim. And Neḵo took Yeho’aḥaz his brother and brought him to Mitsrayim.
2Ch 36:5 Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה his Elohim.
Yehoyakin's rule was short as it fell during the 2nd siege of Yerushalayim in which his father was killed.
Jer 29:2 (After that Yehoyakin the king, and the queen/gebiyrah H1377, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Yerushalayim;)
2Ki 24:8 Yehoyaḵin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons. And his mother’s name was Neḥushta the daughter of Elnathan of Yerushalayim.
Yehoyachin's mother Nechusta is mentioned as a queen/mistress in YarmeYahu 29:2. This word gebiyrah (feminine)comes from the root word gebiyr H1376 which means 'master/lord'. This shows that she was a coherent ruler of the kingdom with her husband Yehoyaqim & later with her son Yehoyakin. In the resistance Yehoyakin and his mother the queen survived for about 3 months & 10 days in power until they went out to the king of Babylon to surrender.
3. The third siege:
2Ki 24:17 And the sovereign of Baḇel set up Mattanyah, Yehoyaḵin’s uncle, to reign in his place, and changed his name to Tsiḏqiyahu/Zedekiah.
2Ki 24:18 Tsiḏqiyahu was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu of Liḇnah.
2Ki 25:1 And it came to be in the ninth year of his (Zedekiah's) reign, in the tenth new moon, on the tenth of the new moon, that Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel and all his army came against Yerushalayim and encamped against it, and they built a siege wall against it all around.
2Ki 25:2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu.
2Chr 36:13 records that Zedekiah rebelled against king Nebudchanazzer. While scripture is silent on whose help he took to rebel, the Babylonian chronicles state he allied with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt and revolted against Babylon. How Egypt came back to power out of the hand of king of Babylon is not mentioned in scriptures but in history and this we could do later if time permits.
2Ch 36:13 And he (Zedekiah) also rebelled against Sovereign Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar, who had made him swear by Elohim, but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ěl.
2Ki 25:8 And in the fifth new moon, on the seventh of the new moon, which was the nineteenth year of Sovereign Neḇuḵaḏnetstsar sovereign of Baḇel, Neḇuzaraḏan the chief of the guard, a servant of the sovereign of Baḇel, came to Yerushalayim.
It took 2 years for the besieging and capturing of Yerushalayim as 2Kings 25:1 states in the 9th year of Zedekiah's reign Nebudchanazzer and his army came to besiege it and verse 2 says the city was besieged until the 11th year.
Zedekiah ruled for 11 years (2 Kings 24:18)
Now lets do the maths:
1. 1st siege: In the 3rd year of Yehoyaqim which was the 1st year of king Nebudchanazzer, Yehoyaqim became servant of the king of Babylon for 3 years (Dan 1:1 & 2 Kings 24:1). We won't take the accession year count but the actual one. Yehoyaqim ruled for 11 years (2Kings 23:36). He rebelled against Nebudchanazzer in the 7th year of his reign with the help of king of Mitsrayim who had helped him earlier and had appointed him as king in place of his brother Yehoahaz.
Hence, 3rd year of Yehoyaqim was 1st year of Nebudchanazzer.
2. 2nd siege: In the 8th year of king Nebudchanazzer (2Kings 24:12) which was the 11th year of Yehoyaqim, he is bound to be brought to Babylon but is killed in Yerushalayim as per YarmeYahu's prophecy. His mother the queen and Yehoyakin put up some resistance for 3 months and 10 days until they surrender to the king of Babylon and are carried captive to Babylon.
8th year of Nebudchanazzer corresponded to Yehoyakin's short rule of 3 months and 10 days which 2 Chr 36:9 says Yehoyakin was 8 years son when he began to reign. The English translates 'ben' which in Hebrew means 'son' as 'old'. What the Chronicles writer is showing us that Yehoyakin was an 8 year old son under the Babylonian captivity and not that his age was 8 years old
2Ch 36:9 Yehoyaḵin was eight years old/ben H1121 when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three new moons and ten days. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahuah.
This is how the Hebrew renders:
2Chr 36:9. ben/son -sh’moneh/eight shanim/years Yahuyakin/Jehoachin b’mal’ko/ in the kingdom ush’loshah/and three chadashim/months wa`asereth/and ten yamim/days malak/ruled biY’rushalam/in Yerushalayim waya`as/and he did hara/evil` b’`eyney/in the eyes of Yahúwah/Yahuah.
Which should be translated correctly as 'Son eight years, Yahuyakin in the kingdom and three months and ten days ruled in Yerushalayim and he did evil in the eyes of Yahuah'
Hence there is no contradiction in 2Kings 24:8 vs 2 Chr 36:9 as 2Kings 24:8 mentions his actual age i.e.. 18 years when he ruled and 2 Chr 36:9 mentions his rule began in the 8th year of the king of Babylon's empire, showing a count and not an age.
3. 3rd siege: Zedekiah the brother of Yehoyaqim and uncle of Yehoyakin is made king instead by king of Babylon and he ruled 11 years in Yerushalayim. (2Kings 24:18) and he rebelled against the king of Babylon in the 19th year of the reign of Nebudchanazzer. (2Kings 25:8).
Nebudchanazzer's rule calculation: 1 (3rd year of Yehoyaqim) + 8 (11th year of Yehoyaqim and 3 months 10 days of Yehoyakin) + 11 (11 years of Zedekiah) = 19th year of Nebudchanazzer as mentioned in 2Kings 25:8.
All 3 times the king of Mitsrayim helped the last 3 kings of Yahudah which is why probably the reason when the king of Babylon carried all into captivity and left the poor of the land with a few rulers, these rulers wanted to flee to Mitsrayim (Egypt) and were warned by YarmeYahu by the word of Yahuah not to go up to Mitsrayim but remain in the land lest they die. They saw security in Mitsrayim.
After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Yerushalaym, resulting in tribute being paid by King Yehoyaqim. Yehoyaqim refused to pay tribute in Nebuchadnezzar's fourth year, which led to another siege in Nebuchadnezzar's eighth year, culminating with the death of Yehoyaqim and the exile of king Yehoyakin, his court and many others; Yehoyakin's successor Zedekiah and others were exiled in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year; a later deportation occurred in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year.
Matthew Luke | |
Yeḵonyah/Yehoyakin | Addi |
Meleḵi | |
Neri | |
She’alti’ĕl | She’alti’ĕl |
Zerubbaḇel | Zerubbaḇel |
Jer 39:7 And he put out the eyes of Tsiḏqiyahu, and bound him with bronze shackles to bring him to Baḇel.
With this background we can now understand why YashaYahu 6:1 says
Isa 6:1 In the year that Sovereign Uzziyahu died, I saw יהוה sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Hĕḵal.
It would be the end of Yahudah's monarchy (end of kings) as they would make way for the King of kings Yahusha who would rule forever. Number 7 after UzziYahu shows us the perfect will of Yahuah to end the monarchy as now He Himself would rule as intended before Yasharal asking Shemuel a king to rule over them. And the King is Yahusha who is our Yahuah.
There is the purpose of Yahuah in everything He does and states in scripture. We as His children should search out the matter in comparing spiritual things with spiritual in understanding that the physical kingdom has to make way for the spiritual. While Babylon is a spiritual kingdom today which has put everyone under its tributary, the fact is Yahusha is the King of kings and we who believe in Him and His Torah of life transition into His kingdom, as some trust in chariots and some in horses (indicating Egypt) but we will trust in the name of our Yahuah who alone delivers.
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