ContradictionsReading order 236Bible context 1 min read

When did Jehoash become king of Israel?

A seventeen-year reign beginning in year twenty-three does not finish by year thirty-seven under a simple consecutive chronology.

Textual conflict: Interpretive tension; The passages pull in different directions, but the conflict depends on how their wording, scope, or narrative context is read.
Importance: Minor; A local detail in a story, chronology, or inventory.

The father's seventeen-year reign extends past the son's accession under the ordinary consecutive reading of the two royal dates.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.

Jehoahaz starts in Joash's twenty-third year and reigns seventeen years

In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

2 Kings 13:1

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:2 Kings 13

Jehoash succeeds during Joash's thirty-seventh year

In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

2 Kings 13:10

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:

2 Kings 13

Understanding the contradiction

2 Kings 13:1 starts Jehoahaz's Israelite reign in the twenty-third year of Judah's Joash and gives it seventeen years. Straight addition puts its endpoint around the fortieth year of the reference reign, with inclusive counting shifting the boundary only modestly.

2 Kings 13:10 starts Jehoahaz's son Jehoash in the thirty-seventh year of the same Judahite king. That leaves roughly fourteen elapsed years from the earlier accession, shorter than the stated seventeen. The verses do not explicitly describe overlapping reigns or a different counting scheme. The discrepancy concerns how the succession fits the given durations. On the natural reading of consecutive reigns, the father's stated span extends beyond the son's stated accession.

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contradiction2 Kings

Jehoahaz starts in Joash's twenty-third year and reigns seventeen years

Jehoash succeeds during Joash's thirty-seventh year

Understanding the contradiction

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