For my weekly quiet time this week, I studied II Kings 15.
Every commentator that I read today talked about the chronological problems in this chapter. I-II Kings usually discusses the reigns of the kings of Israel in reference to those of the kings of Judah, and vice versa, and it also tells us how long each king ruled. For example, II Kings 15:1-2 says that Azariah began to rule Judah in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, and that Azariah reigned for fifty-two years.
The problem is that the years of the kings' reigns do not always add up. I did some of the leg-work in my notes to see what the problems were, basing my calculations on the years that the kings ascended the throne (according to the chapter), as well as the number of years the reigns lasted (again, according to the chapter). In terms of II Kings 15, the problems are largely concentrated in vv 1, 8, and 30.
V 1 says that Azariah began to rule Judah in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam II of Northern Israel, but, if such were the case, then there were thirteen years between the end of the reign of Azariah's predecessor, Amaziah, and Azariah's ascent to the throne. Was there no king on the throne of Judah for thirteen years?
V 8 says that Zachariah came to the throne in Northern Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah. But, if that were the case, then there were twenty-four years between the reign of Zachariah's predecessor, Jeroboam II, and the ascent of Zachariah to the throne. Did Northern Israel lack a king for twenty-four years?
V 30 says that King Pekah of Northern Israel died in the twentieth year of Jotham, king of Judah. But v 33 says that Jotham only ruled Judah for sixteen years.
The commentators I read tried to solve the discrepancies by appealing to co-regency. II Kings 15:5 says, for instance, that Jotham ruled Judah while his father, King Azariah, had leprosy. So the reigns of kings in Judah could overlap, and we shouldn't be perplexed if some of the numbers don't add up.
Regarding the years of "missing kings", eighteenth century Calvinist commentator John Gill states that these were times of struggle for the throne, meaning there wasn't a clear claimant to the monarchy right after the king died.
Eleventh century Jewish commentator Rashi offered some interesting solutions. Regarding v 1, Rashi says that it's talking about Azariah's reign from the time that he got leprosy. And so Azariah was on the throne during the preceding thirteen years, but II Kings 15:1 talks about a specific aspect of Azariah's rule: when he was a leper.
On v 30, Rashi says that some of the years of Jotham's successor, Ahaz, are attributed to Jotham, for Ahaz was wicked. God is expressing his dim opinion of Ahaz by ascribing some of his years to a righteous king, Jotham.
What's interesting is that many features of this chapter are confirmed by non-biblical sources, for Assyrian records mention some of the Israelite kings, plus Tiglath-Pilesar is called "Pul", the name that II Kings 15:9 gives to the king of Assyria, who (at the time) was Tiglath-Pilesar III. So conservative apologists can make a case for this chapter's historical accuracy. And yet, the years of the reigns don't add up, which skeptics can point out to mock the inerrancy of Scripture.
V 37 was also interesting. It says while discussing Jotham that, "in those days", the LORD began to send Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria against Judah. Why did God want to punish Judah at this time, when she had a righteous king, Jotham? Some argue that the ancient Israelites attributed everything to God, so God was blamed even for bad things that didn't make sense; others claim that Jotham wasn't righteous enough and that's why God punished Judah during his reign---v 35, after all, tells us that Jotham didn't remove the high places! Or maybe God was setting the stage to afflict Jotham's successor, the wicked King Ahaz, whom God knew would be wicked once he ascended the throne.
We see an example of God setting the stage for a future punishment elsewhere in Scripture: in I Kings 11, incidents in the time of David affect a person who will be a thorn in the side of Solomon, when Solomon is going astray (see Struggles with I Kings 11). God prepares for Solomon's punishment (or the possibility thereof) long before Solomon even came to the throne, let alone sinned! And, according to Judges 2:20-21, God in Scripture does allow afflictions (or potential afflictions) in order to keep us humble and on the straight-and-narrow, since we can easily forget God when everything is going well (Deuteronomy 8:12-18). (But that may not fly for some people, whose suffering has gone too far, to the point of breaking them.) Was God trying to remind Judah under Jotham not to get too cocky, but to rely on God?