Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: 2 Kings 21:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Ki 21:1	Strong Concordance	Manasseh [04519] was twelve [08147] [06240] years [08141] old [01121] when he began to reign [04427], and reigned [04427] fifty [02572] and five [02568] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389]. And his mother's [0517] name [08034] was Hephzibah [02657].
	King James	Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN, AND GREAT IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 21:1-18) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign--He must have been born three years after his father's recovery; and his minority, spent under the influence of guardians who were hostile to the religious principles and reforming policy of his father, may account in part for the anti-theocratic principles of his reign. The work of religious reformation which Hezekiah had zealously carried on was but partially accomplished. There was little appearance of its influence on the heart and manners of the people at large. On the contrary, the true fear of God had vanished from the mass of the people; corruption and vice increased, and were openly practised (Isa 28:7, &c.) by the degenerate leaders, who, having got the young prince Manasseh into their power, directed his education, trained him up in their views, and seduced him into the open patronage of idolatry. Hence, when he became sovereign, he introduced the worship of idols, the restoration of high places, and the erection of altars or pillars to Baal, and the placing, in the temple of God itself, a graven image of Asherah, the sacred or symbolic tree, which represented "all the host of heaven." This was not idolatry, but pure star-worship, of Chaldaic and Assyrian origin [KEIL]. The sun, as among the Persians, had chariots and horses consecrated to it (Kg2 23:11); and incense was offered to the stars on the housetops (Kg2 23:12; Ch2 33:5; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5), and in the temple area with the face turned toward the sunrise (Eze 8:16).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN, AND GREAT IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 21:1-18)

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign--He must have been born three years after his father's recovery; and his minority, spent under the influence of guardians who were hostile to the religious principles and reforming policy of his father, may account in part for the anti-theocratic principles of his reign. The work of religious reformation which Hezekiah had zealously carried on was but partially accomplished. There was little appearance of its influence on the heart and manners of the people at large. On the contrary, the true fear of God had vanished from the mass of the people; corruption and vice increased, and were openly practised (Isa 28:7, &c.) by the degenerate leaders, who, having got the young prince Manasseh into their power, directed his education, trained him up in their views, and seduced him into the open patronage of idolatry. Hence, when he became sovereign, he introduced the worship of idols, the restoration of high places, and the erection of altars or pillars to Baal, and the placing, in the temple of God itself, a graven image of Asherah, the sacred or symbolic tree, which represented "all the host of heaven." This was not idolatry, but pure star-worship, of Chaldaic and Assyrian origin [KEIL]. The sun, as among the Persians, had chariots and horses consecrated to it (Kg2 23:11); and incense was offered to the stars on the housetops (Kg2 23:12; Ch2 33:5; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5), and in the temple area with the face turned toward the sunrise (Eze 8:16).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Manasseh was twelve years old - Manasseh, therefore, was not born at the time of Hezekiah's dangerous illness; and it is probable that Hezekiah had at that time no son to succeed him. According to Josephus, this was the principal cause of his grief. Hephzibah - Jewish tradition makes Hephzibah, Hezekiah's wife, the daughter of Isaiah; but this is scarcely probable. She was, however, no doubt, known to the prophet, and it may well have been in special compliment to her that Isaiah introduced her name Isa 62:4 as one that Jerusalem would bear after her restoration to God's favor. The name means, "My delight (is) in her."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Reign of Manasseh (cf. 2 Chron 33:1-20). - Kg2 21:1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, so that he was not born till after Hezekiah's dangerous illness (Kg2 20:1.). Kg2 21:2 Having begun to reign at this early age, he did not choose his father's ways, but set up the idolatry of his father Ahab again, since the godless party in the nation, at whose head chiefs, priests, and (false) prophets stood, and who would not hearken to the law of the Lord, and in the time of Hezekiah had sought help against Assyria not from Jehovah, but from the Egyptians (Isa 28:7, Isa 28:14., Isa 30:9.), had obtained control of the young an inexperienced king, and had persuaded him to introduce idolatry again. On Kg2 21:2 cf. Kg2 8:18 and Kg2 16:3. Kg2 21:3-5 ויּבן ויּשׁב, "he built again" the high places, which Hezekiah had destroyed (Kg2 18:4), erected altars for Baal and an Asherah, like Ahab of Israel (Kg1 16:32-33). האשׁרה is the image of Asherah mentioned in Kg2 21:7, whereas in the Chronicles the thought is generalized by the plurals לבּעלים and האשׁרות. To these two kinds of idolatry, the idolatrous bamoth and the (true) Baal-and Asherah-worship, Manasseh added as a third kind the worship of all the host of heaven, which had not occurred among the Israelites before the Assyrian era, and was probably of Assyrian or Chaldaean origin. This worship differed from the Syrophoenician star-worship, in which sun and moon were worshipped under the names of Baal and Astarte as the bearers of the male and female powers of nature, and was pure star-worship, based upon the idea of the unchangeableness of the stars in contradistinction to the perishableness of everything earthly, according to which the stars were worshipped not merely as the originators of all rise and decay in nature, but also as the leaders and regulators of sublunary things (see Movers, Phniz. i. pp. 65 and 161). This star-worship was a later development of the primary star-worship of Ssabism, in which the stars were worshipped without any image, in the open air or upon the housetops, by simple contemplation, the oldest and comparatively the purest form of deification of nature, to which the earlier Arabians and the worshippers of the sun among the Ssabians (Zabians) were addicted (cf. Delitzsch on Job 31:26-27), and which is mentioned and forbidden in Deu 4:19 and Deu 17:3. In this later form the sun had sacred chariots and horses as among the Persians (Kg2 23:11), and incense was offered to the stars, with the face turned towards the east, upon altars which were built either upon housetops, as in the case of the Nabataeans (Strabo, xvi. 784), or within the limits of the temple in the two courts (cf. Eze 8:16, also Kg2 21:5; Kg2 23:12, and Ch2 33:5; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5). This burning of incense took place not merely to the sun and moon, but also to the signs of the zodiac and to all the host of heaven, i.e., to all the stars (Kg2 23:5); by which we are no doubt to understand that the sun, moon, planets and other stars, were worshipped in conjunction with the zodiac, and with this were connected astrology, augury, and the casting of nativities, as in the case of the later so-called Chaldaeans. (Note: Movers (Phniz. i. p. 65) correctly observes, that "in all the books of the Old Testament which are written before the Assyrian period there is no trace of any (?) star-worship; not that the Phoenician (Canaanitish) gods had not also a sidereal significance, but because this element was only a subordinate one, and the expressions, sun, moon, and stars, and all the host of heaven, which are not met with before, become for the first time common now," - although his proofs of the difference between the Assyrian star-worship and the Phoenician and Babylonian image-worship stand greatly in need of critical sifting.) This star-worship is more minutely described in Kg2 21:4, Kg2 21:5. The two verses are closely connected. The מזבּחות וּבנה of Kg2 21:4 is resumed in מזב ויּבן in Kg2 21:5, and the יי בּבית of Kg2 21:4 is more minutely defined in the יי בּית חצרות בּשׁתּי of. Kg2 21:5. "In the two courts:" not merely in the outer court, but even in the court of the priests, which was set apart for the worship of Jehovah. Kg2 21:6 He also offered his son in sacrifice to Moloch, like Ahaz (Kg2 16:3), in the valley of Benhinnom (Chr. cf. Kg2 23:10), and practised soothsaying and witchcraft of every kind. On ונחשׁ עונן see Deu 18:10 and Lev 19:26, אוב עשׂה, he made, i.e., appointed, put into office, a "necromancer and wise people" (cf. Lev 19:31 and Deu 18:11). Kg2 21:7 Yea, he even placed the image of Asherah in the temple, i.e., in the Holy Place. In the description of his idolatry, which advances gradatim, this is introduced as the very worst crime. According to the express declaration of the Lord to David (Sa2 7:13) and Solomon (Kg1 9:3 compared with Kg2 8:16), the temple was to serve as the dwelling-place of His name. Kg2 21:8 The word of the Lord, "I will no more make the foot of Israel to move out of the land which I gave to their fathers," refers to the promise in Sa2 7:10 : "I will appoint my people a place, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be stirred up no more," which had been fulfilled by the building of the temple as the seat of the name of the Lord, in the manner indicated in pp. 85ff. The lasting fulfilment of this promise, however, was made to rest upon the condition of Israel's faithful adherence to the commandments of God (cf. Kg1 9:6.). Kg2 21:9 This condition was not observed by the Israelites; Manasseh seduced them, so that they did more evil than the Canaanites, whom Jehovah had destroyed before them. Kg2 21:10-12 The Lord therefore announced through the prophets, to the rebellious and idolatrous nation, the destruction of Jerusalem and the deliverance of Judah into the hands of its enemies; but, as is added in Ch2 33:10, they paid no heed to them. The prophets who foretold this terrible judgment are not named. According to Ch2 33:18, their utterances were entered in the annals of the kings. Habakkuk was probably one of them, since he (Hab 1:5) predicted the Chaldaean judgment as a fact which excited astonishment and appeared incredible. The Amorites are mentioned in Kg2 21:11 instar omnium as the supporters of the Canaanitish ungodliness, as in Kg1 21:26, etc. - The phrase, "that whosoever heareth it, both his ears may tingle," denotes such a judgment as has never been heard of before, and excites alarm and horror (cf. Sa1 3:11 and Jer 19:3). The Keri שׁמעהּ is a correction, to bring the pronom. suff. into conformity with the noun רעה so far as the gender is concerned, whereas in the Chethb שׁמעיו the masculine suffix is used in the place of the feminine, as is frequently the case. Kg2 21:13 "I stretch over Jerusalem the measure of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab." The measure (קו) and the plummet (משׁקלת, lit., a level) were applied to what was being built (Zac 1:16), and also to what was being made level with the ground, i.e., completely thrown down (Amo 7:7). From this sprang the figurative expressions, measure of desolation and plummet of devastation (Isa 34:11). - The measure of Samaria therefore denotes the measure which was applied to the destruction of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab denotes the extermination of the royal house of Ahab. The meaning is: I shall destroy Jerusalem as I have destroyed Samaria, and exterminate its inhabitants like the house of Ahab. In the second hemistich the same thing is expressed, if possible, still more strongly: "I wipe away Jerusalem as one wipes the dish, and (having) wiped (it), turns it upon its upper side (פּניה)." The wiping of a dish that has been used, and the turning over of the dish wiped, so as not to leave a single drop in it, are a figurative representation of the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the utter extermination of its inhabitants. Kg2 21:14-15 With the destruction of Jerusalem the Lord forsakes the people of His possession, and give it up to its enemies for a prey and spoil. נחלתי שׁארית: Judah is called the remnant of the people of God's inheritance with a reference to the rejection and leading away of the ten tribes, which have already taken place. On וּמשׁסּה בּז see Isa 42:22; Jer 30:16. To this announcement of the judgment there is appended in Ch2 33:11. the statement, that Jehovah caused Manasseh the king to be taken prisoner by the generals of the king of Assyria and led away to Babylon in chains; and that when he humbled himself before God there, and made supplication to Him, He brought him back to Jerusalem and placed him upon his throne again; whereupon Manasseh fortified the walls of Jerusalem still further, placed garrisons in the fortified cities, removed the idol from the temple, abolished from the city the idolatrous altars erected in Jerusalem and upon the temple-mountain, restored the altar of Jehovah, and commanded the people to offer sacrifice upon it. - This incident is omitted in our book, because the conversion of Manasseh was not followed by any lasting results so far as the kingdom was concerned; the abolition of outward idolatry in Jerusalem did not lead to the conversion of the people, and after the death of Manasseh even the idolatrous abominations that had been abolished were restored by Amon. (Note: The historical truth of these accounts, which Rosenmller, Winer, and Hitzig called in question after the example of Gramberg, has been defended by Ewald, Bertheau, and even by Thenius; and the latest attack which has been made upon it by Graf in the theol. Studien u. Krit. 1859, iii., has been met by E. Gerlach in the same magazine of 1861. For further remarks see the Commentary on the Chronicles.) Kg2 21:16 Manasseh also sinned grievously by shedding innocent blood till Jerusalem was quite filled with it. לפה פּה, from one edge to the other, see at Kg2 10:21. This statement has been paraphrased by Josephus thus (Ant. x. 3, 1): Manasseh slew πάντας ὁμῶς τοὺς δικαίους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς Ἑεβραίοις, and did not spare even the prophets, with the additional clause, which exaggerates the thing: καὶ τούτων δέ τινας καθ ̓ ἡμέραν ἀπέσφαξε, ὥστε αἵματι ῥεῖσθαι τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα. (Note: The widespread Jewish and Christian legend, that Manasseh put to death the prophet Isaiah, and indeed had him sawn in sunder, to which there is an allusion in Heb 11:37, also belongs here. (See Delitzsch, Comm. on Isaiah, p. 5.)) Kg2 21:17-18 Manasseh was buried "in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza." "His house" cannot be the royal palace built by Solomon, because the garden is also called the garden of Uzza, evidently from the name of its former possessor. "His house" must therefore have been a summer palace belonging to Manasseh, the situation of which, however, it is impossible to determine more precisely. The arguments adduced by Thenius in support of the view that it was situated upon Ophel, opposite to Zion, are perfectly untenable. Robinson (Pal. i. p. 394) conjectures that the garden of Uzza was upon Zion. The name עוּא (עזּה) occurs again in Sa2 6:8; Ch1 8:7; Ezr 2:49, and Neh 7:51.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Reign of Manasseh (cf. 2 Chron 33:1-20). - Kg2 21:1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, so that he was not born till after Hezekiah's dangerous illness (Kg2 20:1.).

Kg2 21:2

Having begun to reign at this early age, he did not choose his father's ways, but set up the idolatry of his father Ahab again, since the godless party in the nation, at whose head chiefs, priests, and (false) prophets stood, and who would not hearken to the law of the Lord, and in the time of Hezekiah had sought help against Assyria not from Jehovah, but from the Egyptians (Isa 28:7, Isa 28:14., Isa 30:9.), had obtained control of the young an inexperienced king, and had persuaded him to introduce idolatry again. On Kg2 21:2 cf. Kg2 8:18 and Kg2 16:3.

Kg2 21:3-5

ויּבן ויּשׁב, "he built again" the high places, which Hezekiah had destroyed (Kg2 18:4), erected altars for Baal and an Asherah, like Ahab of Israel (Kg1 16:32-33). האשׁרה is the image of Asherah mentioned in Kg2 21:7, whereas in the Chronicles the thought is generalized by the plurals לבּעלים and האשׁרות. To these two kinds of idolatry, the idolatrous bamoth and the (true) Baal-and Asherah-worship, Manasseh added as a third kind the worship of all the host of heaven, which had not occurred among the Israelites before the Assyrian era, and was probably of Assyrian or Chaldaean origin. This worship differed from the Syrophoenician star-worship, in which sun and moon were worshipped under the names of Baal and Astarte as the bearers of the male and female powers of nature, and was pure star-worship, based upon the idea of the unchangeableness of the stars in contradistinction to the perishableness of everything earthly, according to which the stars were worshipped not merely as the originators of all rise and decay in nature, but also as the leaders and regulators of sublunary things (see Movers, Phniz. i. pp. 65 and 161). This star-worship was a later development of the primary star-worship of Ssabism, in which the stars were worshipped without any image, in the open air or upon the housetops, by simple contemplation, the oldest and comparatively the purest form of deification of nature, to which the earlier Arabians and the worshippers of the sun among the Ssabians (Zabians) were addicted (cf. Delitzsch on Job 31:26-27), and which is mentioned and forbidden in Deu 4:19 and Deu 17:3. In this later form the sun had sacred chariots and horses as among the Persians (Kg2 23:11), and incense was offered to the stars, with the face turned towards the east, upon altars which were built either upon housetops, as in the case of the Nabataeans (Strabo, xvi. 784), or within the limits of the temple in the two courts (cf. Eze 8:16, also Kg2 21:5; Kg2 23:12, and Ch2 33:5; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5). This burning of incense took place not merely to the sun and moon, but also to the signs of the zodiac and to all the host of heaven, i.e., to all the stars (Kg2 23:5); by which we are no doubt to understand that the sun, moon, planets and other stars, were worshipped in conjunction with the zodiac, and with this were connected astrology, augury, and the casting of nativities, as in the case of the later so-called Chaldaeans.

(Note: Movers (Phniz. i. p. 65) correctly observes, that "in all the books of the Old Testament which are written before the Assyrian period there is no trace of any (?) star-worship; not that the Phoenician (Canaanitish) gods had not also a sidereal significance, but because this element was only a subordinate one, and the expressions, sun, moon, and stars, and all the host of heaven, which are not met with before, become for the first time common now," - although his proofs of the difference between the Assyrian star-worship and the Phoenician and Babylonian image-worship stand greatly in need of critical sifting.)

This star-worship is more minutely described in Kg2 21:4, Kg2 21:5. The two verses are closely connected. The מזבּחות וּבנה of Kg2 21:4 is resumed in מזב ויּבן in Kg2 21:5, and the יי בּבית of Kg2 21:4 is more minutely defined in the יי בּית חצרות בּשׁתּי of. Kg2 21:5. "In the two courts:" not merely in the outer court, but even in the court of the priests, which was set apart for the worship of Jehovah.

Kg2 21:6

He also offered his son in sacrifice to Moloch, like Ahaz (Kg2 16:3), in the valley of Benhinnom (Chr. cf. Kg2 23:10), and practised soothsaying and witchcraft of every kind. On ונחשׁ עונן see Deu 18:10 and Lev 19:26, אוב עשׂה, he made, i.e., appointed, put into office, a "necromancer and wise people" (cf. Lev 19:31 and Deu 18:11).

Kg2 21:7

Yea, he even placed the image of Asherah in the temple, i.e., in the Holy Place. In the description of his idolatry, which advances gradatim, this is introduced as the very worst crime. According to the express declaration of the Lord to David (Sa2 7:13) and Solomon (Kg1 9:3 compared with Kg2 8:16), the temple was to serve as the dwelling-place of His name.

Kg2 21:8

The word of the Lord, "I will no more make the foot of Israel to move out of the land which I gave to their fathers," refers to the promise in Sa2 7:10 : "I will appoint my people a place, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be stirred up no more," which had been fulfilled by the building of the temple as the seat of the name of the Lord, in the manner indicated in pp. 85ff. The lasting fulfilment of this promise, however, was made to rest upon the condition of Israel's faithful adherence to the commandments of God (cf. Kg1 9:6.).

Kg2 21:9

This condition was not observed by the Israelites; Manasseh seduced them, so that they did more evil than the Canaanites, whom Jehovah had destroyed before them.

Kg2 21:10-12

The Lord therefore announced through the prophets, to the rebellious and idolatrous nation, the destruction of Jerusalem and the deliverance of Judah into the hands of its enemies; but, as is added in Ch2 33:10, they paid no heed to them. The prophets who foretold this terrible judgment are not named. According to Ch2 33:18, their utterances were entered in the annals of the kings. Habakkuk was probably one of them, since he (Hab 1:5) predicted the Chaldaean judgment as a fact which excited astonishment and appeared incredible. The Amorites are mentioned in Kg2 21:11 instar omnium as the supporters of the Canaanitish ungodliness, as in Kg1 21:26, etc. - The phrase, "that whosoever heareth it, both his ears may tingle," denotes such a judgment as has never been heard of before, and excites alarm and horror (cf. Sa1 3:11 and Jer 19:3). The Keri שׁמעהּ is a correction, to bring the pronom. suff. into conformity with the noun רעה so far as the gender is concerned, whereas in the Chethb שׁמעיו the masculine suffix is used in the place of the feminine, as is frequently the case.

Kg2 21:13

"I stretch over Jerusalem the measure of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab." The measure (קו) and the plummet (משׁקלת, lit., a level) were applied to what was being built (Zac 1:16), and also to what was being made level with the ground, i.e., completely thrown down (Amo 7:7). From this sprang the figurative expressions, measure of desolation and plummet of devastation (Isa 34:11). - The measure of Samaria therefore denotes the measure which was applied to the destruction of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab denotes the extermination of the royal house of Ahab. The meaning is: I shall destroy Jerusalem as I have destroyed Samaria, and exterminate its inhabitants like the house of Ahab. In the second hemistich the same thing is expressed, if possible, still more strongly: "I wipe away Jerusalem as one wipes the dish, and (having) wiped (it), turns it upon its upper side (פּניה)." The wiping of a dish that has been used, and the turning over of the dish wiped, so as not to leave a single drop in it, are a figurative representation of the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the utter extermination of its inhabitants.

Kg2 21:14-15

With the destruction of Jerusalem the Lord forsakes the people of His possession, and give it up to its enemies for a prey and spoil. נחלתי שׁארית: Judah is called the remnant of the people of God's inheritance with a reference to the rejection and leading away of the ten tribes, which have already taken place. On וּמשׁסּה בּז see Isa 42:22; Jer 30:16.

To this announcement of the judgment there is appended in Ch2 33:11. the statement, that Jehovah caused Manasseh the king to be taken prisoner by the generals of the king of Assyria and led away to Babylon in chains; and that when he humbled himself before God there, and made supplication to Him, He brought him back to Jerusalem and placed him upon his throne again; whereupon Manasseh fortified the walls of Jerusalem still further, placed garrisons in the fortified cities, removed the idol from the temple, abolished from the city the idolatrous altars erected in Jerusalem and upon the temple-mountain, restored the altar of Jehovah, and commanded the people to offer sacrifice upon it. - This incident is omitted in our book, because the conversion of Manasseh was not followed by any lasting results so far as the kingdom was concerned; the abolition of outward idolatry in Jerusalem did not lead to the conversion of the people, and after the death of Manasseh even the idolatrous abominations that had been abolished were restored by Amon.

(Note: The historical truth of these accounts, which Rosenmller, Winer, and Hitzig called in question after the example of Gramberg, has been defended by Ewald, Bertheau, and even by Thenius; and the latest attack which has been made upon it by Graf in the theol. Studien u. Krit. 1859, iii., has been met by E. Gerlach in the same magazine of 1861. For further remarks see the Commentary on the Chronicles.)

Kg2 21:16

Manasseh also sinned grievously by shedding innocent blood till Jerusalem was quite filled with it. לפה פּה, from one edge to the other, see at Kg2 10:21. This statement has been paraphrased by Josephus thus (Ant. x. 3, 1): Manasseh slew πάντας ὁμῶς τοὺς δικαίους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς Ἑεβραίοις, and did not spare even the prophets, with the additional clause, which exaggerates the thing: καὶ τούτων δέ τινας καθ ̓ ἡμέραν ἀπέσφαξε, ὥστε αἵματι ῥεῖσθαι τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα.

(Note: The widespread Jewish and Christian legend, that Manasseh put to death the prophet Isaiah, and indeed had him sawn in sunder, to which there is an allusion in Heb 11:37, also belongs here. (See Delitzsch, Comm. on Isaiah, p. 5.))

Kg2 21:17-18

Manasseh was buried "in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza." "His house" cannot be the royal palace built by Solomon, because the garden is also called the garden of Uzza, evidently from the name of its former possessor. "His house" must therefore have been a summer palace belonging to Manasseh, the situation of which, however, it is impossible to determine more precisely. The arguments adduced by Thenius in support of the view that it was situated upon Ophel, opposite to Zion, are perfectly untenable. Robinson (Pal. i. p. 394) conjectures that the garden of Uzza was upon Zion. The name עוּא (עזּה) occurs again in Sa2 6:8; Ch1 8:7; Ezr 2:49, and Neh 7:51.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Reigned - In which time the years of his imprisonment are comprehended.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Manasseh was twelve years old - He was born about three years after his father's miraculous cure; he was carried captive to Babylon, repented, was restored to his kingdom, put down idolatry, and died at the age of sixty-seven years. See 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.

Top

¹⁶ And he brought [0935] me into the inner [06442] court [02691] of the LORD'S [03068] house [01004], and, behold, at the door [06607] of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], between the porch [0197] and the altar [04196], were about five [02568] and twenty [06242] men [0376], with their backs [0268] toward the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], and their faces [06440] toward the east [06924]; and they worshipped [07812] the sun [08121] toward the east [06924].

⁵ And them that worship [07812] the host [06635] of heaven [08064] upon the housetops [01406]; and them that worship [07812] and that swear [07650] by the LORD [03068], and that swear [07650] by Malcham [04428];

¹³ And the houses [01004] of Jerusalem [03389], and the houses [01004] of the kings [04428] of Judah [03063], shall be defiled [02931] as the place [04725] of Tophet [08612], because of all the houses [01004] upon whose roofs [01406] they have burned incense [06999] unto all the host [06635] of heaven [08064], and have poured out [05258] drink offerings [05262] unto other [0312] gods [0430].

⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

¹² And the altars [04196] that were on the top [01406] of the upper chamber [05944] of Ahaz [0271], which the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had made [06213], and the altars [04196] which Manasseh [04519] had made [06213] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], did the king [04428] beat down [05422], and brake them down [07323] from thence, and cast [07993] the dust [06083] of them into the brook [05158] Kidron [06939].

¹¹ And he took away [07673] the horses [05483] that the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had given [05414] to the sun [08121], at the entering in [0935] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], by the chamber [03957] of Nathanmelech [05419] the chamberlain [05631], which was in the suburbs [06503], and burned [08313] the chariots [04818] of the sun [08121] with fire [0784].

⁷ But they [0428] also have erred [07686] through wine [03196], and through strong drink [07941] are out of the way [08582]; the priest [03548] and the prophet [05030] have erred [07686] through strong drink [07941], they are swallowed up [01104] of [04480] wine [03196], they are out of the way [08582] through strong drink [07941]; they err [07686] in vision [07203], they stumble [06328] in judgment [06417].

⁴ Thou shalt no more be termed [0559] Forsaken [05800]; neither shall thy land [0776] any more be termed [0559] Desolate [08077]: but thou shalt be called [07121] Hephzibah [02657], and thy land [0776] Beulah [01166]: for the LORD [03068] delighteth [02654] in thee, and thy land [0776] shall be married [01166].

⁵¹ The children [01121] of Gazzam [01502], the children [01121] of Uzza [05798], the children [01121] of Phaseah [06454],

⁴⁹ The children [01121] of Uzza [05798], the children [01121] of Paseah [06454], the children [01121] of Besai [01153],

⁷ And Naaman [05283], and Ahiah [0281], and Gera [01617], he removed [01540] them, and begat [03205] Uzza [05798], and Ahihud [0284].

⁸ And David [01732] was displeased [02734], because the LORD [03068] had made [06555] a breach [06556] upon Uzzah [05798]: and he called [07121] the name of the place [04725] Perezuzzah [06560] to this day [03117].

¹⁷ Now the rest [03499] of the acts [01697] of Manasseh [04519], and all that he did [06213], and his sin [02403] that he sinned [02398], are they not written [03789] in the book [05612] of the chronicles [01697] [03117] of the kings [04428] of Judah [03063]?
¹⁸ And Manasseh [04519] slept [07901] with his fathers [01], and was buried [06912] in the garden [01588] of his own house [01004], in the garden [01588] of Uzza [05798]: and Amon [0526] his son [01121] reigned [04427] in his stead.

³⁷ They were stoned [3034], they were sawn asunder [4249], were tempted [3985], were slain [599] with [1722] the sword [5408] [3162]: they wandered about [4022] in [1722] sheepskins [3374] and [1722] goatskins [122] [1192]; being destitute [5302], afflicted [2346], tormented [2558];

²¹ And Jehu [03058] sent [07971] through all Israel [03478]: and all the worshippers [05647] of Baal [01168] came [0935], so that there was not a man [0376] left [07604] that came [0935] not. And they came [0935] into the house [01004] of Baal [01168]; and the house [01004] of Baal [01168] was full [04390] from one end [06310] to another [06310].

¹⁶ Moreover Manasseh [04519] shed [08210] innocent [05355] blood [01818] very [03966] much [07235], till he had filled [04390] Jerusalem [03389] from one end [06310] to another [06310]; beside his sin [02403] wherewith he made Judah [03063] to sin [02398], in doing [06213] that which was evil [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068].

¹¹ Wherefore the LORD [03068] brought [0935] upon them the captains of [08269] the host of [06635] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], which took [03920] Manasseh [04519] among the thorns [02336], and bound him [0631] with fetters [05178], and carried [03212] him to Babylon [0894].

¹⁶ Therefore all they that devour [0398] thee shall be devoured [0398]; and all thine adversaries [06862], every one of them, shall go [03212] into captivity [07628]; and they that spoil [07601] [08154] thee shall be a spoil [04933], and all that prey [0962] upon thee will I give [05414] for a prey [0957].

²² But this is a people [05971] robbed [0962] and spoiled [08154]; they are all of them snared [06351] in holes [02352] [0970], and they are hid [02244] in prison [03608] houses [01004]: they are for a prey [0957], and none delivereth [05337]; for a spoil [04933], and none saith [0559], Restore [07725].

¹⁴ And I will forsake [05203] the remnant [07611] of mine inheritance [05159], and deliver [05414] them into the hand [03027] of their enemies [0341]; and they shall become a prey [0957] and a spoil [04933] to all their enemies [0341];
¹⁵ Because they have done [06213] that which was evil [07451] in my sight [05869], and have provoked [04480] me to anger [03707], since the day [03117] their fathers [01] came forth [03318] out of Egypt [04714], even unto this day [03117].

¹¹ But the cormorant [06893] and the bittern [07090] shall possess [03423] it; the owl [03244] also and the raven [06158] shall dwell [07931] in it: and he shall stretch out [05186] upon it the line [06957] of confusion [08414], and the stones [068] of emptiness [0922].

⁷ Thus he shewed [07200] me: and, behold, the Lord [0136] stood [05324] upon a wall [02346] made by a plumbline [0594], with a plumbline [0594] in his hand [03027].

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; I am returned [07725] to Jerusalem [03389] with mercies [07356]: my house [01004] shall be built [01129] in it, saith [05002] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], and a line [06957] [06961] shall be stretched forth [05186] upon Jerusalem [03389].

¹³ And I will stretch [05186] over Jerusalem [03389] the line [06957] of Samaria [08111], and the plummet [04949] of the house [01004] of Ahab [0256]: and I will wipe [04229] Jerusalem [03389] as a man wipeth [04229] a dish [06747], wiping [04229] it, and turning [02015] it upside down [06440].

³ And say [0559], Hear [08085] ye the word [01697] of the LORD [03068], O kings [04428] of Judah [03063], and inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389]; Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the God [0430] of Israel [03478]; Behold, I will bring [0935] evil [07451] upon this place [04725], the which whosoever heareth [08085], his ears [0241] shall tingle [06750].

¹¹ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] to Samuel [08050], Behold, I will do [06213] a thing [01697] in Israel [03478], at which both [08147] the ears [0241] of every one that heareth [08085] it shall tingle [06750].

²⁶ And he did very [03966] abominably [08581] in following [03212] [0310] idols [01544], according to all things as did [06213] the Amorites [0567], whom the LORD [03068] cast out [03423] before [06440] the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

¹¹ Because Manasseh [04519] king [04428] of Judah [03063] hath done [06213] these abominations [08441], and hath done wickedly [07489] above all that the Amorites [0567] did [06213], which were before [06440] him, and hath made Judah [03063] also to sin [02398] with his idols [01544]:

⁵ Behold [07200] ye among the heathen [01471], and regard [05027], and wonder [08539] marvellously [08539]: for I will work [06466] a work [06467] in your days [03117], which ye will not believe [0539], though it be told [05608] you.

¹⁸ Now the rest [03499] of the acts [01697] of Manasseh [04519], and his prayer [08605] unto his God [0430], and the words [01697] of the seers [02374] that spake [01696] to him in the name [08034] of the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], behold, they are written in the book [01697] of the kings [04428] of Israel [03478].

¹⁰ And the LORD [03068] spake [01696] to Manasseh [04519], and to his people [05971]: but they would not hearken [07181].

¹⁰ And the LORD [03068] spake [01696] by [03027] his servants [05650] the prophets [05030], saying [0559],
¹¹ Because Manasseh [04519] king [04428] of Judah [03063] hath done [06213] these abominations [08441], and hath done wickedly [07489] above all that the Amorites [0567] did [06213], which were before [06440] him, and hath made Judah [03063] also to sin [02398] with his idols [01544]:
¹² Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], Behold, I am bringing [0935] such evil [07451] upon Jerusalem [03389] and Judah [03063], that whosoever heareth [08085] of it, both [08147] his ears [0241] shall tingle [06750].

⁹ But they hearkened [08085] not: and Manasseh [04519] seduced [08582] them to do [06213] more evil [07451] than did the nations [01471] whom the LORD [03068] destroyed [08045] before [06440] the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

⁶ But if ye shall at all [07725] turn [07725] from following [0310] me, ye or your children [01121], and will not keep [08104] my commandments [04687] and my statutes [02708] which I have set [05414] before [06440] you, but go [01980] and serve [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], and worship [07812] them:

¹⁰ Moreover I will appoint [07760] a place [04725] for my people [05971] Israel [03478], and will plant [05193] them, that they may dwell [07931] in a place of their own, and move [07264] no more; neither shall the children [01121] of wickedness [05766] afflict [06031] them any more [03254], as beforetime [07223],

⁸ Neither will I make the feet [07272] of Israel [03478] move [05110] any more [03254] out of the land [0127] which I gave [05414] their fathers [01]; only if they will observe [08104] to do [06213] according to all that I have commanded [06680] them, and according to all the law [08451] that my servant [05650] Moses [04872] commanded [06680] them.

¹⁶ And in the fifth [02568] year [08141] of Joram [03141] the son [01121] of Ahab [0256] king [04428] of Israel [03478], Jehoshaphat [03092] being then king [04428] of Judah [03063], Jehoram [03088] the son [01121] of Jehoshaphat [03092] king [04428] of Judah [03063] began to reign [04427].

³ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto him, I have heard [08085] thy prayer [08605] and thy supplication [08467], that thou hast made [02603] before [06440] me: I have hallowed [06942] this house [01004], which thou hast built [01129], to put [07760] my name [08034] there for [05704] ever [05769]; and mine eyes [05869] and mine heart [03820] shall be there perpetually [03117].

¹³ He shall build [01129] an house [01004] for my name [08034], and I will stablish [03559] the throne [03678] of his kingdom [04467] for [05704] ever [05769].

⁷ And he set [07760] a graven image [06459] of the grove [0842] that he had made [06213] in the house [01004], of which the LORD [03068] said [0559] to David [01732], and to Solomon [08010] his son [01121], In this house [01004], and in Jerusalem [03389], which I have chosen [0977] out of all tribes [07626] of Israel [03478], will I put [07760] my name [08034] for ever [05769]:

¹¹ Or a charmer [02266] [02267], or a consulter [07592] with familiar spirits [0178], or a wizard [03049], or a necromancer [01875] [04191].

³¹ Regard [06437] not them that have familiar spirits [0178], neither seek [01245] after wizards [03049], to be defiled [02930] by them: I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430].

²⁶ Ye shall not eat [0398] any thing with the blood [01818]: neither shall ye use enchantment [05172], nor observe times [06049].

¹⁰ There shall not be found [04672] among you any one that maketh his son [01121] or his daughter [01323] to pass [05674] through the fire [0784], or that useth [07080] divination [07081], or an observer of times [06049], or an enchanter [05172], or a witch [03784],

¹⁰ And he defiled [02930] Topheth [08612], which is in the valley [01516] of the children [01121] [01121] of Hinnom [02011], that no man [0376] might make his son [01121] or his daughter [01323] to pass through [05674] the fire [0784] to Molech [04432].

³ But he walked [03212] in the way [01870] of the kings [04428] of Israel [03478], yea, and made his son [01121] to pass through [05674] the fire [0784], according to the abominations [08441] of the heathen [01471], whom the LORD [03068] cast out [03423] from before [06440] the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

⁶ And he made his son [01121] pass [05674] through the fire [0784], and observed times [06049], and used enchantments [05172], and dealt [06213] with familiar spirits [0178] and wizards [03049]: he wrought [06213] much [07235] wickedness [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068], to provoke him to anger [03707].

⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁴ And he built [01129] altars [04196] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], of which the LORD [03068] said [0559], In Jerusalem [03389] will I put [07760] my name [08034].

⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁴ And he built [01129] altars [04196] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], of which the LORD [03068] said [0559], In Jerusalem [03389] will I put [07760] my name [08034].

⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁴ And he built [01129] altars [04196] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], of which the LORD [03068] said [0559], In Jerusalem [03389] will I put [07760] my name [08034].

⁵ And he put down [07673] the idolatrous priests [03649], whom the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had ordained [05414] to burn incense [06999] in the high places [01116] in the cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and in the places round about [04524] Jerusalem [03389]; them also that burned incense [06999] unto Baal [01168], to the sun [08121], and to the moon [03394], and to the planets [04208], and to all the host [06635] of heaven [08064].

⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

³ And hath gone [03212] and served [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], and worshipped [07812] them, either the sun [08121], or moon [03394], or any of the host [06635] of heaven [08064], which I have not commanded [06680];

¹⁹ And lest thou lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] unto heaven [08064], and when thou seest [07200] the sun [08121], and the moon [03394], and the stars [03556], even all the host [06635] of heaven [08064], shouldest be driven [05080] to worship [07812] them, and serve [05647] them, which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath divided [02505] unto all nations [05971] under the whole heaven [08064].

²⁶ If I beheld [07200] the sun [0216] when it shined [01984], or the moon [03394] walking [01980] in brightness [03368];
²⁷ And my heart [03820] hath been secretly [05643] enticed [06601], or my mouth [06310] hath kissed [05401] my hand [03027]:

³² And he reared up [06965] an altar [04196] for Baal [01168] in the house [01004] of Baal [01168], which he had built [01129] in Samaria [08111].
³³ And Ahab [0256] made [06213] a grove [0842]; and Ahab [0256] did [06213] more [03254] to provoke the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478] to anger [03707] than all the kings [04428] of Israel [03478] that were before [06440] him.

⁴ He removed [05493] the high places [01116], and brake [07665] the images [04676], and cut down [03772] the groves [0842], and brake in pieces [03807] the brasen [05178] serpent [05175] that Moses [04872] had made [06213]: for unto those days [03117] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] did burn incense [06999] to it: and he called [07121] it Nehushtan [05180].

³ For he built up [01129] again [07725] the high places [01116] which Hezekiah [02396] his father [01] had destroyed [06]; and he reared up [06965] altars [04196] for Baal [01168], and made [06213] a grove [0842], as did [06213] Ahab [0256] king [04428] of Israel [03478]; and worshipped [07812] all the host [06635] of heaven [08064], and served [05647] them.
⁴ And he built [01129] altars [04196] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], of which the LORD [03068] said [0559], In Jerusalem [03389] will I put [07760] my name [08034].
⁵ And he built [01129] altars [04196] for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

¹⁸ And he walked [03212] in the way [01870] of the kings [04428] of Israel [03478], as did [06213] the house [01004] of Ahab [0256]: for the daughter [01323] of Ahab [0256] was his wife [0802]: and he did [06213] evil [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068].

² And he did [06213] that which was evil [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068], after the abominations [08441] of the heathen [01471], whom the LORD [03068] cast out [03423] before [06440] the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

⁹ That this is a rebellious [04805] people [05971], lying [03586] children [01121], children [01121] that will [014] not hear [08085] the law [08451] of the LORD [03068]:

¹⁴ Wherefore hear [08085] the word [01697] of the LORD [03068], ye scornful [03944] men [0582], that rule [04910] this people [05971] which is in Jerusalem [03389].

¹ In those days [03117] was Hezekiah [02396] sick [02470] unto death [04191]. And the prophet [05030] Isaiah [03470] the son [01121] of Amoz [0531] came [0935] to him, and said [0559] unto him, Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Set thine house [01004] in order [06680]; for thou shalt die [04191], and not live [02421].

¹ Manasseh [04519] was twelve [08147] [06240] years [08141] old [01121] when he began to reign [04427], and reigned [04427] fifty [02572] and five [02568] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389]. And his mother's [0517] name [08034] was Hephzibah [02657].