Editing Hezekiah (section)

===Academic debate===
There has been considerable academic debate about the actual dates of the Israelite kings' reigns. Scholars have endeavored to synchronize the chronology of events in the [[Hebrew Bible]] with those derived from other external sources. In the case of Hezekiah, scholars have noted that the apparent inconsistencies are resolved by accepting the evidence that Hezekiah, like his predecessors for four generations in the kings of Judah, had a coregency with his father, and this coregency began in 729 BCE.

As an example of the reasoning that finds inconsistencies in calculations when co-regencies are ''a priori'' ruled out, 2 Kings 18:10 dates the fall of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Samaria]] (the Northern Kingdom) to the 6th year of Hezekiah's reign.<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:10|he}}</ref> Albright has dated the fall of the Kingdom of Israel to 721 BCE, while Thiele calculates the date as 723 BCE.<ref>Edwin R. Thiele, ''[[The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings]]'' (3rd ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983), pp. 134, 217.</ref> If Albright's or Thiele's dating is correct, Hezekiah's reign would begin in 729 or 727 BCE. On the other hand, 2 Kings 18:13<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:13|HE}}</ref> states that Sennacherib invaded Judah in the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign. Dating based on Assyrian records date this invasion to 701 BCE, and Hezekiah's reign would therefore begin in 716/715 BCE.<ref>Leslie McFall, "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles," ''Bibliotheca Sacra'' 148 (1991) p. 33. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20030807124024/http://www.btinternet.com/~lmf12/TransGuide.pdf Link])</ref>

[[File:Chludov proclamation.jpg|thumb|A miniature from the [[Chludov Psalter]]]]

Since Albright and [[Richard Elliott Friedman|Friedman]], several scholars have explained these dating problems based on a coregency between Hezekiah and his father Ahaz between 729 and 716/715 BCE. Assyriologists and Egyptologists recognize that coregency was a practice both in Assyria and Egypt.<ref>William J. Murnane, ''Ancient Egyptian Coregencies'' (Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1977).</ref><ref>J. D. Douglas, ed., ''New Bible Dictionary'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965) p. 1160.</ref> After noting that coregencies were only used sporadically in the northern kingdom (Israel), [[Nadav Na'aman]] writes,
<blockquote>In the kingdom of Judah, on the other hand, the nomination of a co-regent was the common procedure, beginning from David who, before his death, elevated his son Solomon to the throne. When taking into account the permanent nature of the co-regency in Judah from the time of Joash, one may dare to conclude that dating the co-regencies accurately is indeed the key for solving the problems of biblical chronology in the eighth century BC[E]."<ref>Nadav Na'aman, "Historical and Chronological Notes on the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the Eighth Century BC" ''[[Vetus Testamentum]]'' 36 (1986) p. 91.</ref></blockquote>

Among the numerous scholars who have recognized the coregency between Ahaz and Hezekiah is Kenneth Kitchen in his various writings,<ref>See Kitchen's chronology in ''New Bible Dictionary'' p. 220.</ref> Leslie McFall,<ref>Leslie McFall, "Translation Guide" p. 42.</ref> and Jack Finegan.<ref>Jack Finegan, ''Handbook of Biblical Chronology'' (rev. ed.; Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1998) p. 246.</ref> McFall, in his 1991 article, argues that if 729 BCE—that is, the Judean regnal year beginning in Tishri of 729—is taken as the start of the Ahaz/Hezekiah coregency, and 716/715 BCE as the date of the death of Ahaz, then all the extensive chronological data for Hezekiah and his contemporaries in the late eighth century BCE are in harmony. Further, McFall found that no [[Conjecture (textual criticism)|textual emendation]]s are required among the numerous dates, reign lengths, and synchronisms given in the Hebrew Bible for this period.<ref>Leslie McFall, "Translation Guide" pp. 4–45 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20030807124024/http://www.btinternet.com/~lmf12/TransGuide.pdf Link]).</ref>

Scholars who accept the principle of coregencies note that abundant evidence for their use is found in the Biblical material itself.<ref>Thiele, ''Mysterious Numbers'' chapter 3, "Coregencies and Rival Reigns."</ref> The agreement of scholarship built on these principles with both Biblical and secular texts was such that the Thiele/McFall chronology was accepted as the best chronology for the kingdom period in Jack Finegan's encyclopedic ''Handbook of Biblical Chronology''.<ref>Jack Finegan, ''Handbook of Biblical Chronology'' p. 246.</ref>