CHAPTER XXI _Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah, reigns fifty-five years,_ _and fills Jerusalem and the whole land with abominable idolatry_ _and murder_, 1-9. _God denounces the heaviest judgments against him and the land_, 10-15. _Manasseh's acts and death_, 16-18. _Amon his son succeeds... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:2. _AFTER THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE HEATHEN_] He exactly copied the conduct of those nations which God had cast out of that land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:3. _MADE A GROVE_] _He made Asherah_, the Babylonian _Melitta_ or Roman _Venus_. See 2 Kings 17:10, and the observations at the end of that chapter; and see here on 2 Kings 21:7. _WORSHIPPED ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN_] All the _stars_ and _planets_, but particularly the _sun_ and the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:4. _BUILT ALTARS_] He placed idolatrous altars even in the _temple_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:6. _MADE HIS SON PASS THROUGH THE FIRE_] Consecrated him to Moloch. _OBSERVED TIMES_] ועונן _veonen_; he practiced _divination_ by the _clouds_; by observing their course at particular times, their different kinds, contrary directions, c., c. _USED ENCHANTMENTS_] ונחש _venichesh_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:7. _HE SET A GRAVEN IMAGE OF THE GROVE THAT HE HAD MADE IN_ _THE HOUSE_] Every one may see that _Asherah_ here must signify an _idol_, and not a _grove_; and for the proof of this see the observations at the end of the chapter. 2 Kings 21:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:8. _NEITHER WILL I MAKE THE FEET OF ISRAEL_] Had they been faithful to God's testimonies they never had gone into captivity, and should even at this day have been in possession of the promised land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:9. _SEDUCED THEM TO DO MORE EVIL_] He did all he could to pervert the national character, and totally destroy the worship of the true God; and he succeeded.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:10. _THE LORD SPAKE BY - THE PROPHETS_] The prophets were Hosea, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Isaiah. These five following verses contain the sum of what these prophets spoke. It is said that Isaiah not only prophesied in those days, but also that he was put to death by Manasseh, bein... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:12. _BOTH HIS EARS SHALL TINGLE._] תצלנה _titstsalnah_; something expressive of the _sound_ in what we call, from the same sensation, the _tingling_ of the ears. This is the consequence of having the ears suddenly pierced with a _loud_ and _shrill noise_; the ears seem to _ring_ for... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:13. _THE LINE OF SAMARIA_] I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same _measure_. _AND THE PLUMMET OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB_] The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:14. _I WILL FORSAKE THE REMNANT OF MINE INHERITANCE_] One part (the _ten tribes_) was already forsaken, and carried into captivity; the _remnant_ (the _tribe of Judah_) was now about to be forsaken.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:16. _SHED INNOCENT BLOOD VERY MUCH_] Like the deities he worshipped, he was _fierce_ and _cruel_; an unprincipled, merciless tyrant: he slew innocent people and God's prophets.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:17. _NOW THE REST OF THE ACTS_] In 2 Chronicles 33:11, c., we read that the Assyrians took Manasseh, bound him with fetters, and took him to Babylon that there he repented, sought God, and was, we are not told how, restored to his kingdom; that he fortified the city of David, destro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:18. _IN THE GARDEN OF HIS OWN HOUSE_] It was probably a burying-place made for his own family, for Amon his son is said to be buried in the same place, 2 Kings 21:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:19. _HE REIGNED TWO YEARS IN JERUSALEM._] The remark of the rabbins is not wholly without foundation, that the sons of those kings who were idolaters, and who succeeded their fathers, seldom reigned more than _two_ years. So _Nadab_, the son of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 15:25; _Elah_, the s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 21:23. _THE SERVANTS OF AMON CONSPIRED_] What their reason was for slaying their king we cannot tell. It does not seem to have been a popular act, for the people of the land rose up and slew the _regicides_. We hear enough of this man when we hear that he was as bad as his father was i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _THE GARDEN OF UZZA_] The family sepulchre or burying-place. IT is said 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:7, that "Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," c. וישם את פסל האשרה אשר עשה _vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah_: "And he put the graven image of _Asherah_, whi... [ Continue Reading ]