2 Kings 21:16-18

C. CONCLUSION OF THE REIGN OF MANASSEH 21:16-18

TRANSLATION

(16) And also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin in which he made Judah to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. (17) Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all which he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (18) And Manasseh slept with his fathers and he was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his place.

COMMENTS

The national decadence culminated in a bloody persecution of the faithful by the ruthless Manasseh. The Holy City was filled with blood and violence from one end to the other (2 Kings 21:16). Josephus (Ant., X, 3.1) declares that Manasseh cruelly put to death all the righteous of the nation and did not even spare the prophets. A widespread ancient tradition names Isaiah as one of the victims of this persecution.

Important additional information concerning the reign of Manasseh comes from the Assyrian monuments and from the Biblical Book of Chronicles. In the annals of the Assyrian Esarhaddon it is noted that Manasseh was a faithful vassal, even contributing supporting troops for the Great King's invasion of Egypt. At some point in his reignperhaps toward the very endManasseh must have rebelled against his overlord. The Assyrians took Manasseh captive to Babylon.[633] While in his affliction there, Manasseh repented of his sins against God and man. When the Assyrians restored him to his throne, Manasseh made a valiant effort to put away the idolatrous practices and paraphernalia which he himself had introduced into the land. He repaired the altar of the Lord which had gone to decay, and re-established so far as he could the worship of the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:11-17). It is not entirely clear why the author of Kings chose to omit the account of Manasseh's late repentance.

[633] Supplemental information can be found in ANET, p. 289.

After referring his readers to the standard book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (NOT the Biblical book of Chronicles), the author closes His account of this king by noting that he was buried in the garden of his own house. (2 Kings 21:18). This garden of Uzza may have been purchased by Manasseh with the object of converting it into a burial ground.[634] The garden has been located in the general vicinity of the Pool of Siloam on the east side of Jerusalem.[635]

[634] Manasseh and his son Amon are the only two kings said to have been buried in this garden. Was there no more burial space in the royal necropolis? Or did the idolatry of these two kings disqualify them from burial there?
[635] Finley, BBC, p. 491.