Q&A: Ahaziah 22 or 42?

Question

Was Ahaziah 22 or 42 years old when he began to reign in Judah? 2 Kings 8:26 and 2 Chronicles 22:2

Answer

2 Kings 8:26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mothers name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 22:2 (KJV) Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.

Forty-two would make Ahaziah older than his father, who died at age forty (2 Kings 21:5, 20). 2 Kings 8:26 reads twenty-two, probably indicating a copyists error in the text of 2 Chronicles.