Jeconiah stands in the fifty-first generation, beginning with Adam. This king of Judah who ruled briefly in the year 598 B.C. is referred to by three different names in the Old Testament: “Jeconiah,” “Coniah,” and “Jehoiachin.” The writer of 2 Kings is consistent in using the form “Jehoiachin” (2 Kgs 24.6, 8-17; 25.27-29). But the Chronicler sometimes uses Jeconiah, a name also found once in the book of Esther (2.6), and sometimes “Jehoiachin” (2 Chr 36.8-9). The prophet Jeremiah uses all three forms in different places in his book. Translators are advised to use “Jehoiachin” throughout the Old Testament, since it is the most common and best known form of the name. However, relatively few modern versions adopt this strategy (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).

The accounts of 2 Kings and 1–2 Chronicles are hard to reconcile regarding Zedekiah (see the discussion on the previous verse). According to 2 Kgs 24.17, King Zedekiah was the son of King Josiah. But according to 2 Chr 36.10, King Zedekiah was the son of King Jehoiakim and the grandson of King Josiah. Here in 1 Chr 3.16 the Hebrew phrase rendered Zedekiah his son probably means “Zedekiah the son of Jehoiakim,” since this is consistent with the claim in 2 Chr 36.10 that King Jehoiachin and King Zedekiah were brothers. Good News Translation‘s rendering is based on this interpretation that Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were brothers and sons of Jehoiakim (so also Contemporary English Version, Reina-Valera revisada).

It seems probable that for the Chronicler the Zedekiah in this verse is not the same as the Zedekiah in the previous verse. In other words, in 1–2 Chronicles King Zedekiah was the son of Jehoiakim and not the son of Josiah. Possibly by the time of the exile, there was confusion between Zedekiah, son of Josiah, and Zedekiah, son of Jehoiakim, and the son of Jehoiakim was incorrectly thought to have been a king.

Some translations attempt to reconcile the accounts in 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles; for example, New International Version simply does not translate the Hebrew word rendered his son at the end of this verse. New International Version has no note explaining this textual decision. New Living Translation takes the two occurrences of the phrase his son to mean “his successor,” so it renders this verse as follows: “Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin; he, in turn, was succeeded by his uncle Zedekiah.” But this translation cannot be recommended as a model since 2 Chr 36.10 clearly says that Zedekiah was a brother of Jehoiakin.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .