Apparently Discrepant Passages

2 Kings 25:8‑9; Jeremiah 52:12  •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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In the fifth month, on the SEVENTH day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house he burnt with fire.
Now in the fifth month, in the TENTH day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon into Jerusalem, and burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire.
Remarks have been made upon the apparent discrepancy of these two passages; the seventh day, in (1), being supposed to be called the tenth in (2); and Syriac and Arabic versions have been quoted on the subject, as also Josephus.
It would seem to me that in the English version there is necessarily no discrepancy; he came unto Jerusalem on the FIFTH day, and into Jerusalem on the tenth, is the statement of the English authorized version. [Oxford, Nov. 23, 1833. Exact reprint, page for page, of the 1611 Bible.]
In (1) the Hebrew reads: בׇא ירוּשׇלׇםִ; in (2) it reads: בָּא בִּירושָלׇםִֽ i.e. in (1) comes "to... Jerusalem "; and in (2) comes " into... Jerusalem."
The LXX. render both alike "ᾗλθε...εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ."
So the vulgate has "venit ... in Jerusalem," in both places. So the French "Entra dans" Jerusalem.
And so the German, "kam.... gen" Jerusalem.
I do not doubt that the nicety of the English translation is sustained by the Hebrew, and that the other translations are open to the objection raised.