To Faithofchristian:
Most modern English translations of the Old Testament (OT) bible are translated from the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT), and supplement some passages with the Greek Septuagint, like the KJV, and more recently, supplemented with the mid-20th century discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jehoiachin’s conflicting ages are found in the same translation. But ages are not only contradicting here.
When we compare the ages of the patriarchs of when they became fathers to their sons (the future patriarchs), in Genesis 5 and 11 genealogy, most patriarchs were found to be 100 years older in the Septuagint, than those same patriarchs found in the Masoretic Text-based translations (eg KJV, NIV, NRSV, NASB, etc).
For instance, in Genesis 5:3-5, it say Adam was 130 years old, when Seth was born in the MT, but in the Septuagint, Adam was 230 years old.
And it is the same with Seth, all the way to Enoch becoming father to Methuselah. 100 years extra are found from Adam to Enoch, when comparing the Septuagint and Masoretic in Genesis 5.
The same pattern occurred with the differences of 100 years, starting with Shem’s son, Arpachshad, down to Serug, father of Nahor.
With Nahor, the difference is 150 years, displaying at 29 when he became father to Terah in Masoretic translations, and 179 in the Septuagint.
In the whole 2 books, only Noah, Shem and Terah are in agreement with ages between the two main sources.
The Samaritan Torah agree with the Masoretic in Genesis 5 genealogy, but with the Septuagint in Genesis 11 genealogy.
Other sources, like the Aramaic Targum Onkelos, the Syriac Pe****ta and the Latin Vulgate are in agreement with MT.
Unfortunately we don’t have the whole Genesis 5 (only 5:13-14 survived) and Genesis 11 is completely missing, from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dead Sea Scrolls is missing verse 12, which would have specify Kenan’s age, but verses 13 & 14 give us 840 & 910, so Kenan would have been 70 years old when he became father to Mahalalel (910-840 = 70). So the DSS most likely would have agree with Masoretic Text.
So the questions are which translation do you normally read, and how do you explain the discrepancies found in different sources to Genesis 5 & 11, Faithofchristian?