myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

1 Kings 16:8 and 2 Chronicles 16:1

When did Baasha attack Asa?

1 Kings 16:8 has Baasha's son begin to reign in Asa's 26th year, so Baasha was dead by then. 2 Chronicles 16:1 has Baasha attack Judah in Asa's 36th year. The library's Greek of 1 Kings 16:8 has no synchronism with Asa at all.

Read 1 Kings 16:8 and 2 Chronicles 16:1 in every edition

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original KingsUnknown (debated)
  2. 2 Chronicles (parallel account)Composed c. 4th century BC
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Kings
Greek
  1. Septuagint, 3 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Proposed solutions

Counted from the division
The Chronicler's "36th year" counts from the start of Judah's kingdom, about Asa's 16th year (Thiele and others).
Copying error
A numeral was miscopied in Chronicles (for example 16 or 26 for 36).
Different sources
The Chronicler used a different chronology for theological structuring of Asa's reign.

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Kings

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Composed c. 4th century BC

    2 Chronicles (parallel account)

    ✓ Contains this passage

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    בִּשְׁנַת שְׁלֹשִׁים וָשֵׁשׁ לְמַלְכוּת אָסָא עָלָה בַּעְשָׁא

    In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha came up

    2 Chronicles 16:1.

  3. Translated c. 2nd century BC

    Septuagint, 3 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✕ Passage not in this witnessTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Et Ela, fils de Baasa, régna deux ans sur Israël, à Thersa.

    And Elah son of Baasha reigned two years over Israel at Tirzah.

    No mention of Asa's year in 16:8. The Greek tradition's royal synchronisms differ at several points. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical Greek edition.

  4. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Anno vigesimo sexto Asa regis Juda, regnavit Ela

    26th.

  5. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Kings

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    בִּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים וָשֵׁשׁ שָׁנָה לְאָסָא… מָלַךְ אֵלָה

    In the twenty-sixth year of Asa… Elah reigned

  6. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    In the twenty and sixth year of Asa

What changed, and why

The site does not change the numbers. It shows them as each text has them.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedAs written, 1 Kings 16:8 and 2 Chronicles 16:1 conflict.
  • Independently documentedThe library's Greek of 1 Kings 16:8 lacks the synchronism.
  • Plausible, not confirmedThe 36th year counts from the division.

Sources

  • E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)

Related lessons

  • Asa and the Northern Kings →Abijam reigns three years in Judah. Asa reigns forty-one years, removes cult prostitutes and idols, and deposes his grandmother Maacah for an Asherah image, though the high places remain. When Baasha of Israel fortifies Ramah, Asa sends the temple treasure to Ben-hadad of Damascus, who attacks northern Israel. Asa builds Geba and Mizpah with Ramah's stones. In Israel, Nadab son of Jeroboam is killed by Baasha, who wipes out Jeroboam's house.
  • Historical Investigation: The Divided Monarchy Outside the Bible →With the divided kingdom, the biblical story begins to meet outside records. An Egyptian pharaoh lists towns in Israel; a Moabite king names Omri; an Assyrian king names Ahab at Qarqar. These texts confirm names, dates and powers, and they also differ from Kings in what they emphasize.