2 Chronicles 33:1-19

15. THE REIGN OF MANASSEH. (2 Chronicles 33:1-19)

TEXT

2 Chronicles 33:1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. 2. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. 3. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4. And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. 6. He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 7. And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8. neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses. 9. And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.

10. And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed. 11. Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12. And when he was in distress, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13. And he prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.
14. Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15. And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 16. And he built up the altar of Jehovah, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel. 17. Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.
18. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel. 19. His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.

PARAPHRASE

2 Chronicles 33:1. Manasseh was only twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years, in Jerusalem. 2. But it was an evil reign, for he encouraged his people to worship the idols of the heathen nations destroyed by the Lord when the people of Israel entered the land. 3. He rebuilt the heathen altars his father Hezekiah had destroyedthe altars of Baal, and of the shame-images, and of the sun, moon, and stars. 4, 5. He even constructed heathen altars in both courts of the Temple of the Lord, for worshiping the sun, moon, and starsin the very place where the Lord had said that he would be honored forever. 6. And Manasseh sacrificed his own children as burnt offerings in the Valley of Hinnom. He consulted spirit-mediums, too, and fortune-tellers and sorcerers, and encouraged every sort of evil, making the Lord very angry. 7. Think of it! He placed an idol in the very Temple of God, where God had told David and his son Solomon, I will be honored here in this Temple, and in Jerusalemthe city I have chosen to be honored forever above all the other cities of Israel. 8. And if you will obey my commandsall the laws and instructions given to you by MosesI won-'t ever again exile Israel from this land which I gave your ancestors. 9. But Manasseh encouraged the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the nations the Lord destroyed when Israel entered the land.

10. Warnings from the Lord were ignored by both Manasseh and his people. 11. So God sent the Assyrian armies, and they seized him with hooks and bound him with bronze chains and carted him away to Babylon. 12. Then at last he came to his senses and cried out humbly to God for help. 13. And the Lord listened, and answered his plea by returning him to Jerusalem and to his kingdom! At that point Manasseh finally realized that the Lord was really God!
14. It was after this that he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David and the wall from west of the Spring of Gihon in the Kidron Valley, and then to the Fish Gate, and around Citadel Hill, where it was built very high. And he stationed his army generals in all of the fortified cities of Judah. 15. He also removed the foreign gods from the hills and took his idol from the Temple and tore down the altars he had built on the mountain where the Temple stood, and the altars that were in Jerusalem, and dumped them outside the city. 16. Then he rebuilt the altar of the Lord and offered sacrifices upon itpeace offerings and thanksgiving offeringsand demanded that the people of Judah worship the Lord God of Israel. 17. However, the people still sacrificed upon the altars on the hills, but only to the Lord their God.
18. The rest of Manasseh's deeds, and his prayer to God, and God's reply through the prophetsthis is all written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel. 19. His prayer, and the way God answered, and a frank account of his sins and errors, including a list of the locations where he built idols on the hills and set up shame-idols and graven images (this of course was before the great change in his attitude) is recorded in The Annals of the Prophets.

COMMENTARY

Hezekiah had a wicked father; even so, he served God well. The son born late in Hezekiah's life-time proved to be as wicked as his grandfather, Ahaz.[75] A father's wickedness or righteousness does not guarantee the same character in his offspring. Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve and he was to have the responsibility of the longest reign (55 years) among the kings of Judah. After Hezekiah there was to be only one more good king in Judah, namely, Josiah. Manasseh hurried the kingdom toward its ultimate destiny. Without restraint Manasseh brought in the gods of the nations. High places, heathen altars, Baalim, Asheroth, passing children through the fire were fully sanctioned by the king. Altars to gods were once more set up in Jehovah's Temple.[76] The host of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars and worshiped as deities. Fortune-telling, astrology, contact with the dead (familiar spirits) were all practiced openly with the government's consent. Instead of leading Judah toward God, Manasseh seduced his people and they became more wicked than the native Canaanites with whom Joshua had contended in his day.

[75] Elmslie, W. A. L., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. Ill, p. 533.

[76] Schaff, Philip, Lange's Commentary, Chronicles, p. 262.

Jehovah spake to Manasseh most likely through prophets. There was no inclination to hear God. The Assyrians came and took Manasseh captive. They bound him like a criminal and he was utterly humiliated. In captivity the king came to his senses, repented of his sins and Jehovah mercifully restored him to the throne in Jerusalem. After returning to Jerusalem Manasseh attempted to fill his office honorably. The walls of Jerusalem were strengthened. Gihon was in the Kidron valley just east of Ophel. The fish gate was in the south-east sector of the wall of the city. The king began to cleanse the city of its idols and he also removed gods and altars from Jehovah's Temple. He worshiped Jehovah at the altar designated for this devotion He was not able to centralize all Jehovah worship at the Temple. Some Jehovah worship was conducted at high places in the city and the country. The prayer of Manasseh was regarded as very important. Careful records of this prayer were kept in the annals of his reign. Hozai may be a proper name. It also means seers. A seer was a prophet, one who spoke for God to man. These persons also kept written records about important events. Manasseh's wickedness was also a part of the record of his life. The good he accomplished did not erase the evil he had done. He probably was not granted the highest burial honors in that he was buried in his own house.