2 Chronicles 33.

Matthew Henry

In this chapter we have the history of the reign, I. Of Manasseh, who reigned long. 1. His wretched apostasy from God, and revolt to idolatry and all wickedness (Ch2 33:1-10). 2. His happy return to God in his affliction; his repentance (Ch2 33:11-13), his reformation (Ch2 33:15-17), and prosperity (Ch2 33:14), with the conclusion of his reign (Ch2 33:18-20). II. Of Amon, who reigned very wickedly (Ch2 33:21-23), and soon ended his days unhappily (Ch2 33:24, Ch2 33:25).

1–10. We have here an account of the great wickedness of Manasseh. It is the same almost word for word with that which we had Kg2 21:1-9, and took a melancholy view of. It is no such pleasing subject that we should delight to dwell upon it again. This foolish young prince, in contradiction to the good example and good education his father gave him, abandoned himself to all impiety, transcribed the abominations of the heathen (Ch2 33:2), ruined the established religion, unravelled his father's glorious reformation (Ch2 33:3), profaned the house of God with his idolatry (Ch2 33:4, Ch2 33:5), dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the devil's lying oracles his guides and his counsellors, Ch2 33:6. In contempt of the choice God had made of Sion to be his rest for ever and Israel to be his covenant-people (Ch2 33:8), and the fair terms he stood upon with God, he embraced other gods, profaned God's chosen temple, and debauched his chosen people. He made them to err, and do worse than the heathen (Ch2 33:9); for, if the unclean spirit returns, he brings with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. That which aggravated the sin of Manasseh was that God spoke to him and his people by the prophets, but they would not hearken, Ch2 33:10. We may here admire the grace of God in speaking to them, and their obstinacy in turning a deaf ear to him, that either their badness did not quite turn away his goodness, but still he waited to be gracious, or that his goodness did not turn them from their badness, but still they hated to be reformed. Now from this let us learn, 1. That it is no new thing, but a very sad thing, for the children of godly parents to turn aside from that good way of God in which they have been trained. Parents may give many good things to their children, but they cannot give them grace. 2. Corruptions in worship are such diseases of the church as it is very apt to relapse into again even when they seem to be cured. 3. The god of this world has strangely blinded men's minds, and has a wonderful power over those that are led captive by him; else he could not draw them from God, their best friend, to depend upon their sworn enemy.

11–20. We have seen Manasseh by his wickedness undoing the good that his father had done; here we have him by repentance undoing the evil that he himself had done. It is strange that this was not so much as mentioned in the book of Kings, nor does any thing appear there to the contrary but that he persisted and perished in his son. But perhaps the reason was because the design of that history was to show the wickedness of the nation which brought destruction upon them; and this repentance of Manasseh and the benefit of it, being personal only and not national, is overlooked there; yet here it is fully related, and a memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy and the power of his renewing grace. Here is,
I. The occasion of Manasseh's repentance, and that was his affliction. In his distress he did not (like king Ahaz) trespass yet more against God, but humbled himself and returned to God. Sanctified afflictions often prove happy means of conversion. What his distress was we are told, Ch2 33:11. God brought a foreign enemy upon him; the king of Babylon, that courted his father who faithfully served God, invaded him now that he had treacherously departed from God. He is here called king of Assyria, because he had made himself master of Assyria, which he would the more easily do for the defeat of Sennacherib's army, and its destruction before Jerusalem. He aimed at the treasures which the ambassadors had seen, and all those precious things; but God sent him to chastise a sinful people, and subdue a straying prince. The captain took Manasseh among the thorns, in some bush or other, perhaps in his garden, where he had hid himself. Or it is spoken figuratively: he was perplexed in his counsels and embarrassed in his affairs. He was, as we say, in the briers, and knew not which way to extricate himself, and so became an easy prey to the Assyrian captains, who no doubt plundered his house and took away what they pleased, as Isaiah had foretold, Kg2 20:17, Kg2 20:18. What was Hezekiah's pride was their prey. They bound Manasseh, who had been held before with the cords of his own iniquity, and carried him prisoner to Babylon. About what time of his reign this was we are not told; the Jews say it was in his twenty-second year.
II. The expressions of his repentance (Ch2 33:12, Ch2 33:13): When he was in affliction he had time to bethink himself and reason enough too. He saw what he had brought himself to by his sin. He found the gods he had served unable to help him. He knew that repentance was the only way of restoring his affairs; and therefore to him he returned from whom he had revolted. 1. He was convinced the Jehovah is the only living and true God: Then he knew (that is, he believed and considered) that the Lord he was God. He might have known it at a less expense if he would have given due attention and credit to the word written and preached: but it was better to pay thus dearly for the knowledge of God than to perish in ignorance and unbelief. Had he been a prince in the palace of Babylon, it is probable he would have been confirmed in his idolatry; but, being a captive in the prisons of Babylon, he was convinced of it and reclaimed from it. 2. He applied to him as his God now, renouncing all others, and resolving to cleave to him only, the God of his fathers, and a God on covenant with him. 3. He humbled himself greatly before him, was truly sorry for his sins, ashamed of them, and afraid of the wrath of God. It becomes sinners to humble themselves before the face of that God whom they have offended. It becomes sufferers to humble themselves under the hand of that God who corrects them, and to accept the punishment of their iniquity. Our hearts should be humbled under humbling providences; then we accommodate ourselves to them, and answer God's end in them. 4. He prayed to him for the pardon of sin and the return of his favour. Prayer is the relief of penitents, the relief of the afflicted. That is a good prayer, and very pertinent in this case, which we find among the apocryphal books, entitled, The prayer of Manasses, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon. Whether it was his or no is uncertain; if it was, in it he gives glory to God as the God of their fathers and their righteous seed, as the Creator of the world, a God whose anger is insupportable, and yet his merciful promise unmeasurable. He pleads that God has promised repentance and forgiveness to those that have sinned, and has appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved, not unto the just, as to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but to me (says he) that am a sinner; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea: so he confesses his sin largely, and aggravates it. He prays, Forgive me, O Lord! forgive me, and destroy me not; he pleads, Thou art the God of those that repent, etc., and concludes, Therefore I will praise thee for ever, etc.
III. God's gracious acceptance of his repentance: God was entreated of him, and heard his supplication. Though affliction drive us to God, he will not therefore reject us if in sincerity we seek him, for afflictions are sent on purpose to bring us to him. As a token of God's favour to him, he made a way for his escape. Afflictions are continued no longer than till they have done their work. When Manasseh is brought back to his God and to his duty he shall soon be brought back to his kingdom. See how ready God is to accept and welcome returning sinners, and how swift to show mercy. Let not great sinners despair, when Manasseh himself, upon his repentance, found favour with God; in him God showed forth a pattern of long-suffering, as Ti1 1:16; Isa 1:18.
IV. The fruits meet for repentance which he brought forth after his return to his own land, Ch2 33:15, Ch2 33:16. 1. He turned from his sins. He took away the strange gods, the images of them, and that idol (whatever it was) which he had set up with so much solemnity in the house of the Lord, as if it had been master of that house. He cast out all the idolatrous altars that were in the mount of the house and in Jerusalem, as detestable things. Now (we hope) he loathed them as much as ever he had loved them, and said to them, Get you hence, Isa 30:22. "What have I to do any more with idols? I have had enough of them." 2. He returned to his duty; for he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had either been abused and broken down by some of the idolatrous priests, or, at least, neglected and gone out of repair. He sacrificed thereon peace-offerings to implore God's favour, and thank-offerings to praise him for his deliverance. Nay, he now used his power to reform his people, as before he had abused it to corrupt them: He commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Note, Those that truly repent of their sins will not only return to God themselves, but will do all they can to recover those that have by their example been seduced and drawn away from God; else they do not thoroughly (as they ought) undo what they have done amiss, nor make the plaster as wide as the wound. We find that he prevailed to bring them off from their false gods, but not from their high places, Ch2 33:17. They still sacrificed in them, yet to the Lord their God only; Manasseh could not carry the reformation so far as he had carried the corruption. It is an easy thing to debauch men's manners, but not so easy to reform them again.
V. His prosperity, in some measure, after his repentance. He might plainly see it was sin that ruined him; for, when he returned to God in a way of duty, God returned to him in a way of mercy: and then he built a wall about the city of David (Ch2 33:14), for by sin he had unwalled it and exposed it to the enemy. He also put captains of war in the fenced cities for the security of his country. Josephus says that all the rest of his time he was so changed for the better that he was looked upon as a very happy man.
Lastly, Here is the conclusion of his history. The heads of those things for a full narrative of which we are referred to the other writings that were then extant are more than of any of the kings, Ch2 33:18, Ch2 33:19. A particular account, it seems, was kept, 1. Of all his sin, and his trespass, the high places he built, the groves and images he set up, before he was humbled. Probably this was taken from his own confession which he made of his sin when God gave him repentance, and which he left upon record, in a book entitled, The words of the seers. To those seers that spoke to him (Ch2 33:18) to reprove him for his sin he sent his confession when he repented, to be inserted in their memoirs, as a token of his gratitude to them for their kindness in reproving him. Thus it becomes penitents to take shame to themselves, to give thanks to their reprovers, and warning to others. 2. Of the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord (Ch2 33:10, Ch2 33:18), the reproofs they gave him for his sin and their exhortations to repentance. Note, Sinners ought to consider, that, how little notice soever they take of them, an account is kept of the words of the seers that speak to them from God to admonish them of their sins, warn them of their danger, and call them to their duty, which will be produced against them in the great day. 3. Of his prayer to God (this is twice mentioned as a remarkable thing) and how God was entreated of him. This was written for the generations to come, that the people that should be created might praise the Lord for his readiness to receive returning prodigals. Notice is taken of the place of his burial, not in the sepulchres of the kings, but in his own house; he was buried privately, and nothing of that honour was done him at his death that was done to his father. Penitents may recover their comfort sooner than their credit.

21. We have little recorded concerning Amon, but enough unless it were better. Here is,
I. His great wickedness. He did as Manasseh had done in the days of his apostasy, v. 22. Those who think this an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent forget how many good kings had wicked sons. Only it should seem that Manasseh was in this defective, that, when he cast out the images, he did not utterly deface and destroy them, according to the law which required Israel to burn the images with fire, Deu 7:2. How necessary that law was this instance shows; for the carved images being only thrown by, and not burnt, Amon knew where to find them, soon set them up, and sacrificed to them. It is added, to represent him exceedingly sinful and to justify God in cutting him off so soon, 1. That he out-did his father in sinning: He trespassed more and more, Ch2 33:23. His father did ill, but he did worse. Those that were joined to idols grew more and more mad upon them. 2. That he came short of his father in repenting: He humbled not himself before the Lord, as his father had humbled himself. He fell like him, but did not get up again like him. It is not so much sin as impenitence in sin that ruins men, not so much that they offend as that they do not humble themselves for their offences, not the disease, but the neglect of the remedy.
II. His speedy destruction. He reigned but two years and then his servants conspired against him and slew him, Ch2 33:24. Perhaps when Amon sinned as his father did in the beginning of his days he promised himself that he should repent as his father did in the latter end of his days. But his case shows what a madness it is to presume upon that. If he hoped to repent when he was old, he was wretchedly disappointed; for he was cut off when he was young. He rebelled against God, and his own servants rebelled against him. Herein God was righteous, but they were wicked, and justly did the people of the land put them to death as traitors. The lives of kings are particularly under the protection of Providence and the laws both of God and man.

Adam Clarke

Manasseh reigns fifty-five years, and restores idolatry, pollutes the temple, and practises all kinds of abominations, Ch2 33:1-9. He and the people are warned in vain, Ch2 33:10. He is delivered into the hands of the Assyrians, bound with fetters, and carried to Babylon, Ch2 33:11. He humbles himself, and is restored, Ch2 33:12, Ch2 33:13. He destroys idolatry, and restores the worship of God, Ch2 33:14-16. The people keep the high places, but sacrifice to the Lord on them, Ch2 33:17. His acts, prayer, and death, Ch2 33:18-20. His son Amon succeeds him; and after a wicked idolatrous reign of two years, is slain by his own servants in his own house, Ch2 33:21-24. The people rise up, and slay his murderers, and make Josiah his son king in his stead, Ch2 33:25.

1–2. Manasseh was twelve years old - We do not find that he had any godly director; his youth was therefore the more easily seduced. But surely he had a pious education; how then could the principles of it be so soon eradicated?

3–4. Altars for Baalim - The Sun and Moon. And made groves, אשרות Asheroth, Astarte, Venus; the host of heaven, all the Planets and Stars. These were the general objects of his devotion.

5–6. He built altars - See the principal facts in this chapter explained in the notes on 2 Kings 21:1-17 (note).

7–11. A carved image - "He set up an image, the likeness of himself, in the house of the sanctuary." The Targumist supposes he wished to procure himself Divine honors.

12. And when he was in affliction - Here is a very large addition in the Chaldee: "For the Chaldeans made a brazen mule, pierced full of small holes, and put him within it, and kindled fires all around it; and when he was in this misery, he sought help of all the idols which he had made, but obtained none, for their were of no use. He therefore repented, and prayed before the Lord his God, and was greatly humbled in the sight of the Lord God of his fathers."

13. And prayed unto him - "While he was thus praying, all the presiding angels went away to the gates of prayer in heaven; and shut all the gates of prayer, and all the windows and apertures in heaven, lest that his prayer should be heard. Immediately the compassions of the Creator of the world were moved, whose right hand is stretched out to receive sinners, who are converted to his fear, and break their hearts' concupiscence by repentance. He made therefore a window and opening in heaven, under the throne of his glory; and having heard his prayer, he favourably received his supplication. And when his Word had shaken the earth, the mule was burst and he escaped. Then the Spirit went out from between the wings of the cherubim; by which, being inspired through the decree of the Word of the Lord, he returned to his kingdom in Jerusalem. And then Manasseh knew that it was the Lord God who had done these miracles and signs; and he turned to the Lord with his whole heart, left all his idols, and never served them more." This long addition gives the Jewish account of those particulars which the sacred writer has passed by: it is curious, though in some sort trifling. The gates of prayer may be considered childish; but in most of those things the ancient rabbins purposely hid deep and important meanings.

14. He built a wall - This was probably a weak place that he fortified; or a part of the wall which the Assyrians had broken down, which he now rebuilt.

15–16. He took away the strange gods - He appears to have done every thing in his power to destroy the idolatry which he had set up, and to restore the pure worship of the true God. His repentance brought forth fruits meet for repentance. How long he was in captivity, and when or by whom he was delivered, we know not. The fact of his restoration is asserted; and we believe it on Divine testimony.

17. The people did sacrifice - "Nevertheless the people did sacrifice on the high places, but only to the name of the Word of the Lord their God." - Targum.

18. The words of the seers that spake to him - "Which were spoken to him in the name of the Word of the Lord God of Israel." - Targum.

19–20. His prayer also - What is called the Prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon, being found among our apocryphal books, I have inserted it at the end of the chapter, without either asserting or thinking that it is the identical prayer which this penitent king used when a captive in Babylon. But, as I have observed in another place, there are many good sentiments in it; and some sinners may find it a proper echo of the distresses of their hearts; I therefore insert it.
Written among the sayings of the seers - "They are written in the words of Chozai." - Targum. So says the Vulgate. The Syriac has Hunan the prophet; and the Arabic has Saphan the prophet.

21. Amon - reigned two years - See on Kg2 21:19 (note).

22. Sacrificed unto all the carved images - How astonishing is this! with his father's example before his eyes, he copies his father's vices, but not his repentance.

23. Trespassed more and more - He appears to have exceeded his father, and would take no warning.

24. His servants conspired against him - On what account we cannot tell.

25. The people of the land slew all them - His murder was not a popular act, for the people slew the regicides. They were as prone to idolatry as their king was. We may rest satisfied that idolatry was accompanied with great licentiousness and sensual gratifications else it never, as a mere religious system, could have had any sway in the world.
For an explanation of the term groves, Ch2 23:3, see the observations at the end of Kg2 21:26 (note).
I have referred to the prayer attributed to Manasseh, and found in what is called the Apocrypha, just before the first book of Maccabees. It was anciently used as a form of confession in the Christian Church, and is still as such received by the Greek Church. It is as follows: -
"O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed, who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name; whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening towards sinners is insupportable; but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, long-suffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness, hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee, and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. Thou, therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, has not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner: for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied; my transgressions are multiplied; and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head, neither have any release; for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee. I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments. I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offenses. Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities: wherefore I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not in mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me into the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, the God of them that repent; and in me thou wilt show all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy. Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. - Amen."
The above translation, which is that in our common Bibles, might be mended; but the piece is scarcely worth the pains.

John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 33

This chapter gives an account of the reign of Manasseh, of his idolatries and impieties, Ch2 33:1, of his captivity, humiliation, repentance, and reformation, Ch2 33:11 of his last end, death, and burial, Ch2 33:18 and of the wicked reign of Amon his son, and of his death by his servants, Ch2 33:21.

1–9. Manasseh was twelve years old,.... From hence to the end of Ch2 33:9 the same things are recorded, almost word for word, as in Kg2 21:1, see the notes there. See Gill on Kg2 21:1.
.
2 Chronicles 33:10

ch2 33:10
ch2 33:10
ch2 33:10And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people,.... By his servants the prophets, see Kg2 21:10, where what was said to them is recorded:

but they would not hearken; to what was said, to reproofs, admonitions, and exhortations to repent and reform.

10. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria,.... Who was Esarhaddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib; this, according to the Jewish chronology (f), was in the twenty second year of Manasseh's reign:

which took Manasseh among the thorns; in a thicket of briers and thorns, where, upon his defeat, he had hid himself; a fit emblem of the afflictions and troubles his sins brought him into:

and bound him with fetters; hands and feet; with chains of brass, as the Targum, such as Zedekiah was bound with, Kg2 25:7, not chains of gold, with which Mark Antony bound a king of Armenia, for the sake of honour (g):

and carried him to Babylon; for now the king of Assyria was become master of that city, and added it to his monarchy, and made it the seat of his residence; at least some times that and sometimes Nineveh, Merodachbaladan being dead, or conquered; though, according to Suidas (h), it was he that took Manasseh; and by an Arabic writer (i), he is said to be carried to Nineveh.

(f) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 24. p. 67. (g) Vell. Patercul. Hist. Roman. l. 2. (h) In voce (i) Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 67. So Suidas, ib.

11. And when he was in affliction,.... In prison; however, in fetters; according to the Targum, the Chaldeans made an instrument of brass with holes in it, and put him in it, and fire about it, something like the brasen bull of Perillus; and the above Arabian writer (k) calls it a tower of brass:

he besought the Lord his God; by prayer and supplication:

and humbled himself greatly before the Lord God of his fathers; confessing his sins, expressing great sorrow and repentance for them.

(k) Abulph. & Suidas, ib. (Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 67.)

12. And prayed unto him,.... To have mercy on him, and forgive him his sins:

and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication; and granted his request, showed favour to him, and forgave him his sins:

and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom; so wrought upon the heart of the king of Assyria, as to give him his liberty, and restore him to his dominions; it is very probable his captivity was not long; for, being soon brought by his affliction to a sense and confession of his sins, by the overruling providence of God, he was quickly released:

then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God; and not the idols he had served; that he was a holy God, and hated sin, and a just God in afflicting him for it, and gracious and merciful in forgiving his sins, and bringing him out of his troubles.

13. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David,.... Which perhaps had been broken down by the Assyrian army, when it came and took him; Vitringa (l) thinks this is the wall of the pool of Siloah, Neh 3:15 which seems to be the first and oldest wall, as Josephus (m); for that turning to the north bent towards the pool of Siloam; an Arabic writer (n) calls it the southern wall:

on the west side of Gihon; on the west side of the city, towards Gihon; for that was to the west of it, Ch2 32:30,

in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate; through which the fish were brought from Joppa, and where, according to the Targum, they were sold:

and compassed about Ophel; the eastern part of Mount Zion; some say it was the holy of holies, Ch2 27:3,

and raised it up a very great height; built the wall very high there:

and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah; this he did to put his kingdom in a posture of defence, should it be attacked by the Assyrian army again.

(l) Comment. in Jesaiam, c. 22. 9. (m) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 9. (n) Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 67.

14. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord,.... Which he had set there, Ch2 33:7.

and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem; see Ch2 33:4,

and cast them out of the city; perhaps into the brook Kidron; all this he did to show the sincerity of his repentance for his idolatry, and his abhorrence of it.

15. And he repaired the altar of the Lord,.... Which was fallen to ruin, being neglected and disused in his times of idolatry: or, according to the Keri, or marginal reading, and so the Targum, "he built it"; which perhaps he had before pulled down and destroyed:

and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings; to the Lord, for bringing him out of captivity, and restoring him to his kingdom; and especially for converting him from his idolatries, giving him repentance for them, and forgiveness of sins:

and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel; and him only; another instance of the truth of his repentance, in endeavouring to reform those whom he had misled, and restore the true worship of God among them, and bring them back to that.

16. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places,.... Not in those that were built for idols, at least did not sacrifice to them; for it follows:

yet unto the Lord their God only; the Targum is,"to the name of the Word of the Lord their God.''

17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh,.... Good and bad, what were done by him both before and after his conversion:

and his prayer unto his God; which it seems was taken and recorded, but now lost; for as for that which is among the apocryphal writings, there is no reason to believe it to be his, though it is thought to be so by many (o):

and the words of the seers; or the prophets, as the Targum; and the prophets in his days, according to the Jewish chronology (p), were Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk:

that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel; words of admonition and reproof before his humiliation, and words of comfort, advice, and instruction, after it; the Targum is,"that spake to him in the name of the Word of the Lord God of Israel:"

behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel; not in the canonical book so called, where none of the above things, namely, his prayer, and the speeches of the prophets, are to be found, at least not all; but in the annals of the kings of Israel, now lost.

(o) Vid. Fabritii Bibliothec. Graec. l. 3. c. 31. p. 738, 739. (p) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20.

18. His prayer also,.... Was not only recorded in the above annals, but in the writings of another person after mentioned:

and how God was entreated of him; heard his prayer, and showed him favour both in a temporal and spiritual way; for though the Jews would not allow that he was saved, or had a part in the world to come, eternal life (q), yet there appears no just reason why it should be so thought:

and all his sin, and his trespass; his impieties, idolatries, and murders: and the places wherein he built high places; see Ch2 33:3.

and set up groves; statues in groves:

and graven images, before he was humbled; see Ch2 33:7,

behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers; or of Hosea, the name of a prophet who wrote the history of his own times; so the Targrim and Vulgate Latin version; and, according to the Jewish chronology (r), there was a prophet of this name in the times of Amon the son of Manasseh.

(q) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 2. (r) Seder Olam Zuta, p. 105. Ed. Meyer.

19. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house,.... That is, in the garden of his house; see Gill on Kg2 21:18; there; to which may be added, that the Jews (s) in later times buried in a garden; though it was the custom of the ancients, both Greeks (t) and Romans (u), to bury the dead in their own houses; hence sprung the worship of the Lares and Penates, the household gods: from hence to the end of the chapter is the same with Kg2 21:18.

(s) Cippi Heb. p. 43. (t) Plato in Minoe. (u) Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. 5. "praeterea si nova", & in l. 6. "sedibus hunc refer", &c.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 34

JFB

MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN. (Ch2 33:1-10)

Manasseh . . . did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord--(See on 2Ki. 21:1-16).

11. HE IS CARRIED UNTO BABYLON, WHERE HE HUMBLES HIMSELF BEFORE GOD, AND IS RESTORED TO HIS KINGDOM. (Ch2 33:11-19)

the captains of the host of the king of Assyria--This king was Esar-haddon. After having devoted the first years of his reign to the consolidation of his government at home, he turned his attention to repair the loss of the tributary provinces west of the Euphrates, which, on the disaster and death of Sennacherib, had taken the opportunity of shaking off the Assyrian yoke. Having overrun Palestine and removed the remnant that were left in the kingdom of Israel, he despatched his generals, the chief of whom was Tartan (Isa 20:1), with a portion of his army for the reduction of Judah also. In a successful attack upon Jerusalem, they took multitudes of captives, and got a great prize, including the king himself, among the prisoners.

took Manasseh among the thorns--This may mean, as is commonly supposed, that he had hid himself among a thicket of briers and brambles. We know that the Hebrews sometimes took refuge from their enemies in thickets (Sa1 13:6). But, instead of the Hebrew, Bacochim, "among the thorns", some versions read Bechayim, "among the living", and so the passage would be "took him alive."

bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon--The Hebrew word rendered "fetters" denotes properly two chains of brass. The humiliating state in which Manasseh appeared before the Assyrian monarch may be judged of by a picture on a tablet in the Khorsabad palace, representing prisoners led bound into the king's presence. "The captives represented appear to be inhabitants of Palestine. Behind the prisoners stand four persons with inscriptions on the lower part of their tunics; the first two are bearded, and seem to be accusers; the remaining two are nearly defaced; but behind the last appears the eunuch, whose office it seems to be to usher into the presence of the king those who are permitted to appear before him. He is followed by another person of the same race as those under punishment; his hands are manacled, and on his ankles are strong rings fastened together by a heavy bar" [Nineveh and Its Palaces]. No name is given, and, therefore, no conclusion can be drawn that the figure represents Manasseh. But the people appear to be Hebrews, and this pictorial scene will enable us to imagine the manner in which the royal captive from Judah was received in the court of Babylon. Esar-haddon had established his residence there; for though from the many revolts that followed the death of his father, he succeeded at first only to the throne of Assyria, yet having some time previous to his conquest of Judah, recovered possession of Babylon, this enterprising king had united under his sway the two empires of Babylon and Chaldea and transferred the seat of his government to Babylon.

12–13. when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God--In the solitude of exile or imprisonment, Manasseh had leisure for reflection. The calamities forced upon him a review of his past life, under a conviction that the miseries of his dethronement and captive condition were owing to his awful and unprecedented apostasy (Ch2 33:7) from the God of his fathers. He humbled himself, repented, and prayed for an opportunity of bringing forth the fruits of repentance. His prayer was heard; for his conqueror not only released him, but, after two years' exile, restored him, with honor and the full exercise of royal power, to a tributary and dependent kingdom. Some political motive, doubtless, prompted the Assyrian king to restore Manasseh, and that was most probably to have the kingdom of Judah as a barrier between Egypt and his Assyrian dominions. But God overruled this measure for higher purposes. Manasseh now showed himself, by the influence of sanctified affliction, a new and better man. He made a complete reversal of his former policy, by not only destroying all the idolatrous statues and altars he had formerly erected in Jerusalem, but displaying the most ardent zeal in restoring and encouraging the worship of God.

14–16. he built a wall without the city . . . on the west side of Gihon . . . even to the entering in at the fish gate--"The well-ascertained position of the fish gate, shows that the valley of Gihon could be no other than that leading northwest of Damascus gate, and gently descending southward, uniting with the TyropÅ“on at the northeast corner of Mount Zion, where the latter turns at right angles and runs towards Siloam. The wall thus built by Manasseh on the west side of the valley of Gihon, would extend from the vicinity of the northeast corner of the wall of Zion in a northerly direction, until it crossed over the valley to form a junction with the outer wall at the trench of Antonia, precisely in the quarter where the temple would be most easily assailed" [BARCLAY].

17–19. the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only--Here it appears that the worship on high places, though it originated in a great measure from the practice of heathenism, and too often led to it, did not necessarily imply idolatry.

20. HE DIES AND AMON SUCCEEDS HIM. (Ch2 33:20-25)

Manasseh slept with his fathers . . . Amon began to reign--(See on Kg2 21:19).

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 34