Was Ahaziah 42 or 22?

2 Chronicles 22:2—”Was Ahaziah 42 years old or 22 years old (2 Kings 8:26) when he began to reign over Jerusalem?”

Some ancient manuscripts (Septuagint and Syriac) read “22,” which is consistent with 2 Kings 8:26, while other manuscripts read “42.” It is quite clear that this is a copyist mistake in some early manuscripts. We must also remember that the scribes who were responsible for the copies were meticulously honest in handling Biblical texts. They delivered them as they received them, without changing even obvious mistakes, which are few indeed.

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