Question
How old was Yehoyachin when he became king of Israel 8 or 18? (2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9)
Answer
According ot Da'at Mikra -
All agree that he did not become king before he was eighteen years old, Different Mefarshim explain the inconsistency in different ways.
In Seder Olam Raba it looks like the eight years in Chronicles refer to Nevuchadnetzar, which it was his eigth year since he conquered Egypt.
Radak says maybe Yehoyakim (Yehoyachin's father) appointed him as heir of the crown when Yehoyachin was eight, and ten years later, when he died, Yehoyachin became king at the age of eighteen.
The Abarbanel explains the "ten days" which appear in Chronicles, and not in Kings, as ten years that connect to the eight before that - making eighteen.
Rabbi Shimon Klein
