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Summary
- Sixteen has no symbolic meaning in the Bible. It appears as ages, reign lengths, measurements and list totals.
- Azariah — Uzziah in Chronicles — was made king at sixteen (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26:3). Jotham and Ahaz each reigned sixteen years (2 Kings 15:33; 16:2).
- Scripture hands enormous responsibility to people barely adult and does not comment on it: Josiah crowned at eight, seeking God at sixteen (2 Chronicles 34:3); Manasseh at twelve, who went the other way.
- 1 Timothy 4:12 is the nearest thing to a statement about youth, and it is an instruction rather than a consolation.
- Seven, forty, twelve and three carry meaning because the text builds it. Sixteen is there because someone counted.
Bibliography (Click to show)
Sources: Scripture quotations from the NIV via BibleGateway (2 Kings 14:21; 15:33; 16:2; 2 Chronicles 26:3; 34:3; 1 Timothy 4:12; Leviticus 19:26; Philippians 4:6). Azariah and Uzziah are the same king under two names, as Kings and Chronicles respectively call him.
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