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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 33

2 Chronicles 33: Manasseh's idolatry, captivity and return, and Amon

General context

Manasseh is twelve at accession and reigns fifty-five years, doing evil like the nations the Lord cast out. He rebuilds the high places Hezekiah broke down, raises altars for Baalim, makes groves, worships the host of heaven, builds altars in the house of the Lord and its two courts, makes his children pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, practices witchcraft, and sets a carved image in the house of God, where God told David and Solomon he would put his name for ever and keep Israel in the land if they kept the law. He leads Judah to do worse than the nations. The Lord speaks to Manasseh and the people, but they do not listen, so the Lord brings the captains of the king of Assyria, who take Manasseh among the thorns, bind him with fetters and carry him to Babylon. In affliction he humbles himself greatly and prays; God hears and brings him back to Jerusalem and his kingdom, and then Manasseh knows that the Lord is God. He builds an outer wall of the city of David, garrisons the fenced cities, removes the strange gods, the idol and the altars he had built, repairs the Lord's altar, offers peace and thank offerings and commands Judah to serve the Lord; yet the people still sacrifice at the high places, though only to the Lord. He is buried in his own house. Amon, twenty-two, reigns two years and does evil as Manasseh had, sacrificing to the images Manasseh made, but does not humble himself as his father did. His servants kill him in his own house; the people of the land kill the conspirators and make Josiah king.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 33:1, 2 Chronicles 33:2, 2 Chronicles 33:3, 2 Chronicles 33:4, 2 Chronicles 33:5, 2 Chronicles 33:6, 2 Chronicles 33:7, 2 Chronicles 33:8, 2 Chronicles 33:9, 2 Chronicles 33:10, 2 Chronicles 33:11, 2 Chronicles 33:12, 2 Chronicles 33:13, 2 Chronicles 33:14, 2 Chronicles 33:15, 2 Chronicles 33:16, 2 Chronicles 33:17, 2 Chronicles 33:18, 2 Chronicles 33:19, 2 Chronicles 33:20, 2 Chronicles 33:21, 2 Chronicles 33:22, 2 Chronicles 33:23, 2 Chronicles 33:24, 2 Chronicles 33:25

2 Chronicles 33 (KJV)

1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

2But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

6And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

7And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

8Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

9So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

10And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

11Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

12And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

13And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

14Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

15And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

16And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

17Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.

18Now 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 the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.

19His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.

20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

21Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.

22But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

23And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

24And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.

25But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

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Historical context

The captors are the captains of the king of Assyria, and the destination is Babylon; the text states both without comment. The phrase among the thorns is the text's own description of his capture. Manasseh's prayer is mentioned three times but never quoted; the chapter refers the reader to the book of the kings of Israel and the sayings of the seers, and it also mentions seers who spoke to him without naming them. The divine words to David and Solomon quoted in the middle of the sin list are conditional on keeping the law given by Moses. The chapter does not date the captivity or the return within the fifty-five years, and it does not say how long the reforms lasted. The people's continued use of the high places is qualified: to the Lord only. Manasseh is buried in his own house, and Amon is killed in his own house. Amon is measured against his father twice, in the sins he repeats and in the humbling he does not. The people of the land act twice at the end, killing the conspirators and making Josiah king, and the chapter gives no motive for the servants' conspiracy.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 33:11, 2 Chronicles 33:18, 2 Chronicles 33:19, 2 Chronicles 33:8, 2 Chronicles 33:1, 2 Chronicles 33:17, 2 Chronicles 33:20, 2 Chronicles 33:24, 2 Chronicles 33:22, 2 Chronicles 33:23, 2 Chronicles 33:25

Literary context

The chapter is built as a reversal. A long catalogue of what Manasseh built and did is interrupted by the quoted promise about the house and the land, so the reader is told what is at stake before the punishment. Then the Lord speaks, no one listens, and the fetters follow. The turning point is stated in one sentence, that Manasseh knew the Lord was God, and the reforms that follow undo his own works item by item: the idol out of the house, the altars he had built cast out, the altar of the Lord repaired. Even so the narrator adds a nevertheless about the high places, so the recovery is partial. The prayer at the center is pointed to three times and withheld, which makes the reader depend on the narrator's report of its effect. Amon's two years are told as Manasseh's story with the middle cut out: the same images, no humbling, and a death in his own house that mirrors his father's burial in his own house.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 33:3, 2 Chronicles 33:7, 2 Chronicles 33:10, 2 Chronicles 33:13, 2 Chronicles 33:15, 2 Chronicles 33:16, 2 Chronicles 33:17, 2 Chronicles 33:19, 2 Chronicles 33:23, 2 Chronicles 33:24, 2 Chronicles 33:20

Key moments

  1. High places rebuilt (2 Chronicles 33:3). Manasseh restores what Hezekiah destroyed and worships the host of heaven.
  2. An idol in the house of God (2 Chronicles 33:7). He sets a carved image in the house where God said his name would dwell.
  3. Taken in fetters to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11). Assyrian captains capture Manasseh and carry him away bound.
  4. Manasseh knows the Lord is God (2 Chronicles 33:13). God hears his prayer and restores him to his kingdom.
  5. The idols removed (2 Chronicles 33:15). Manasseh casts out the strange gods and altars he had made.
  6. Still the high places (2 Chronicles 33:17). The people keep sacrificing at high places, though to the Lord only.
  7. Amon slain, Josiah made king (2 Chronicles 33:25). The people of the land kill Amon's assassins and crown his son.

For reflection

Manasseh's humbling comes when he is in affliction, bound and far from home, and the narrator does not say whether it would have come otherwise. Does the chapter present the fetters as what made the prayer possible, or only as where it happened to occur?

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