A verse by verse commentary on 2 Chronicles 33 dealing with Manasseh King of Judah and Amon King of Judah.

1. 2 CHRO ICLES 33 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Manasseh King of Judah
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became
king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
BAR ES, "Compare references and notes. The author of Chronicles differs chiefly
from Kings in additions (see the 2Ki_21:17 note). The central part of this chapter (2Ch_
33:11-19) is almost entirely new matter.
CLARKE, "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?
GILL 1-9, "Manasseh was twelve years old,.... From hence to the end of 2Ch_33:9
the same things are recorded, almost word for word, as in 2Ki_21:1, see the notes there.
See Gill on 2Ki_21:1.
HE RY 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 2Ki_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 (2Ch_33:2), ruined the established religion, unravelled his
father's glorious reformation (2Ch_33:3), profaned the house of God with his idolatry
(2Ch_33:4, 2Ch_33:5), dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the devil's lying
oracles his guides and his counsellors, 2Ch_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 (2Ch_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 (2Ch_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, 2Ch_
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

2. 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.
JAMISO , "2Ch_33:1-10. Manasseh’s wicked reign.
Manasseh ... did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord — (See on 2Ki_
21:1-16).
K&D 1-9, "The reign of Manasseh; cf. 2 Kings 21:1-18. - The characteristics of this
king's reign, and of the idolatry which he again introduced, and increased in a measure
surpassing all his predecessors (2Ch_33:1-9), agrees almost verbally with 2Ki_21:1-9.
Here and there an expression is rhetorically generalized and intensified, e.g., by the
plurals ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ ַ‫ל‬ and ‫ּות‬‫ר‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ (2Ch_33:3) instead of the sing. ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ַ ַ‫ל‬ and ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ (Kings), and ‫ין‬ָ‫נ‬ ָ
(2Ch_33:6) instead of ‫ּו‬‫נ‬ ְ (see on 2Ch_28:3); by the addition of ‫ף‬ ֵ ִ‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ to ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ח‬ִ‫נ‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ן‬ֵ‫ּונ‬‫ע‬, and of
the name the Vale of Hinnom, 2Ch_33:6 (see on Jos_15:18, ‫י‬ֵ for ‫יא‬ֵ); by heaping up
words for the law and its commandments (2Ch_33:8); and other small deviations, of
which ‫ל‬ ֶ‫מ‬ ֶ ַ‫ה‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ס‬ ֶ (2Ch_33:7) instead of ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ס‬ ֶ (Kings) is the most important. The
word ‫ל‬ ֶ‫מ‬ ֶ‫,ס‬ sculpture or statue, is derived from Deu_4:16, but has perhaps been taken by
the author of the Chronicle from Eze_8:3, where ‫ל‬ ֶ‫מ‬ ֶ‫ס‬ probably denotes the statue of
Asherah. The form ‫ּום‬‫ל‬‫י‬ ֵ‫ע‬ for ‫ּולם‬‫ע‬ (2Ch_33:7) is not elsewhere met with.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 33:1. Manasseh was twelve years old, &c. — This and the
following verses, to 2 Chronicles 33:11, are taken out of 2 Kings 21:1, &c., where the
reader will find them explained.
COFFMA , "THE WICKED REIG S OF MA ASSEH A D A TO
XIII. MA ASSEH (687-642 B.C.)
All of the material in this chapter is parallel with Second Kings 21, except 2
Chronicles 33:11-17 which relate the conversion of Manasseh. Our comments on
this chapter are found in the parallel passages in our commentary on Second Kings.
Here we shall focus attention upon the material peculiar to this chapter.
The date for Manasseh's reign given above indicates that a part of the fifty-five year
reign mentioned in the text was probably as a co-regency under his father. We have

3. often noted the difficulties in the chronology of Israel's kings.
ELLICOTT, "THE REIG S OF MA ASSEH A D AMO .
(1-20) The history of Manasseh. Duration and character of the reign. Restoration of
idolatry (2 Chronicles 33:1-10). This section is closely parallel with 2 Kings 21:1-10.
2 Chronicles 33:1-2; 2 Chronicles 33:5 are word for word the same in both.
PARKER, "Hezekiah"s Successors
2 Chronicles 33
HOW will the history now run? Surely it has reached a level from which it cannot
drop. We shall hear no more of bad kings of Judah. So we should say, but this
chapter corrects our impressions:—
"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and
five years in Jerusalem: but 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" ( 2 Chronicles 33:1-2).
"For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down,
and he reared up altars for Baalim [the plural again], and made groves, and
worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house
of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the
Lord" ( 2 Chronicles 33:3-5).
PULPIT, "The first twenty verses of this chapter are taken up with the account of
Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah and Hephzibah, who, beginning to reign at the early
age of twelve years, reigned in all fifty-five years; the remaining five verses with the
account of the reign of his son Amon. The parallel to this chapter is 2 Kings 21:1-26.
The repeated references in this chapter to Manasseh's neglect, and to his people's
neglect, after his example, of injunction, promise, and threat of the Word of the
Lord and of the Law, make it a prominent instance of the spirit of the compiler, and
an indication of one of the main objects he had in view, and kept in view in writing
these chronicles.
2 Chronicles 33:1
The parallel adds the name of Manasseh's mother, the well-omened name
Hephzibah, "My delight is in her" (Isaiah 62:4).
EBC, "MA ASSEH: REPE TA CE A D FORGIVE ESS

4. 2 Chronicles 33:1-25
In telling the melancholy story of the wickedness of Manasseh in the first period of
his reign, the chronicler reproduces the book of Kings, with one or two omissions
and other slight alterations. He omits the name of Manasseh’s mother; she was
called Hephzi-bah-"My pleasure is in her." In any case, when the son of a godly
father turns out badly, and nothing is known about the mother, uncharitable people
might credit her with his wickedness. But the chronicler’s readers were familiar
with the great influence of the queen-mother in Oriental states. When they read that
the son of Hezekiah came to the throne at the age of twelve and afterwards gave
himself up to every form of idolatry, they would naturally ascribe his departure
from his father’s ways to the suggestions of his mother. The chronicler is not willing
that the pious Hezekiah should lie under the imputation of having taken delight in
an ungodly woman, and so her name is omitted.
The contents of 2 Kings 21:10-16 are also omitted; they consist of a prophetic
utterance and further particulars as to the sins of Manasseh; they are virtually
replaced by the additional information in Chronicles.
From the point of view of the chronicler, the history of Manasseh in the book of
Kings was far from satisfactory. The earlier writer had not only failed to provide
materials from which a suitable moral could be deduced, but he had also told the
story so that undesirable conclusions might be drawn. Manasseh sinned more
wickedly than any other king of Judah: Ahaz merely polluted and closed the
Temple, but Manasseh "built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of
the Temple," and set up in it an idol. And yet in the earlier narrative this most
wicked king escaped without any personal punishment at all. Moreover, length of
days was one of the rewards which Jehovah was wont to bestow upon the righteous;
but while Ahaz was cut off at thirty-six, in the prime of manhood, Manasseh
survived to the mature age of sixty-seven, and reigned fifty-five years.
However, the history reached the chronicler in a more satisfactory form. Manasseh
was duly punished, and his long reign fully accounted for. When, in spite of Divine
warning, Manasseh and his people persisted in their sin, Jehovah sent against them
"the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains, and
bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon."
The Assyrian invasion referred to here is partially confirmed by the fact that the
name of Manasseh occurs amongst the tributaries of Esarhaddon and his successor,
Assurbanipal. The mention of Babylon as his place of captivity rather than ineveh
may be accounted for by supposing that Manasseh was taken prisoner in the reign
of Esarhaddon. This king of Assyria rebuilt Babylon, and spent much of his time
there. He is said to have been of a kindly disposition, and to have exercised towards
other royal captives the same clemency which he extended to Manasseh. For the
Jewish king’s misfortunes led him to repentance: "When he was in trouble, he
besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his

5. fathers, and prayed unto him." Amongst the Greek Apocrypha is found a "Prayer
of Manasses," doubtless intended by its author to represent the prayer referred to in
Chronicles. In it Manasseh celebrates the Divine glory, confesses his great
wickedness, and asks that his penitence may be accepted and that he may obtain
deliverance.
If these were the terms of Manasseh’s prayers, they were heard and answered; and
the captive king returned to Jerusalem a devout worshipper and faithful servant of
Jehovah. He at once set to work to undo the evil he had wrought in the former
period of his reign. He took away the idol and the heathen altars from the Temple,
restored the altar of Jehovah, and reestablished the Temple services. In earlier days
he had led the people into idolatry; now he commanded them to serve Jehovah, and
the people obediently followed the king’s example. Apparently he found it
impracticable to interfere with the high places; but they were so far purified from
corruption that, though the people still sacrificed at these illegal sanctuaries, they
worshipped exclusively Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Like most of the pious kings, his prosperity was partly shown by his extensive
building operations. Following in the footsteps of Jotham, he strengthened or
repaired the fortifications of Jerusalem, especially about Ophel. He further
provided for the safety of his dominions by placing captains, and doubtless also
garrisons, in the fenced cities of Judah. The interest taken by the Jews of the second
Temple in the history of Manasseh is shown by the fact that the chronicler is able to
mention, not only the "Acts of the Kings of Israel," but a second authority: "The
History of the Seers." The imagination of the Targumists and other later writers
embellished the history of Manasseh’s captivity and release with many striking and
romantic circumstances.
The life of Manasseh practically completes the chronicler’s series of object-lessons in
the doctrine of retribution; the history of the later kings only provides illustrations
similar to those already given. These object-lessons are closely connected with the
teaching of Ezekiel. In dealing with the question of heredity in guilt, the prophet is
led to set forth the character and fortunes of four different classes of men. First
[Ezekiel 18:20] we have two simple cases: the righteousness of the righteous shall be
upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. These have been
respectively illustrated by the prosperity of Solomon and Jotham and the
misfortunes of Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Ahaz. Again, departing somewhat
from the order of Ezekiel-"When the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations
of the wicked man, shall he live? one of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall
be remembered; in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath
sinned he shall die"-here we have the principle that in Chronicles governs the
Divine dealings with the kings who began to reign well and then fell away into sin:
Asa, Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah.
We reached this point in our discussion of the doctrine of retribution in connection
with Asa. So far the lessons taught were salutary: they might deter from sin; but

6. they were gloomy and depressing: they gave little encouragement to hope for success
in the struggle after righteousness, and suggested that few would escape terrible
penalties of failure. David and Solomon formed a class by themselves; an ordinary
man could not aspire to their almost supernatural virtue. In his later history the
chronicler is chiefly bent on illustrating the frailty of man and the wrath of God.
The ew Testament teaches a similar lesson when it asks, "If the righteous is
scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" [1 Peter 4:18] But in
Chronicles not even the righteous is saved. Again and again we are told at a king’s
accession that he "did that which was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah"; and
yet before the reign closes he forfeits the Divine favor, and at last dies ruined and
disgraced.
But this somber picture is relieved by occasional gleams of light. Ezekiel furnishes a
fourth type of religious experience: "If the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall
live; he shall not die. one of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be
remembered against him; in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I
any pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the Lord Jehovah, and not rather that
he should return from his way and live?" [Ezekiel 18:21-23] The one striking and
complete example of this principle is the history of Manasseh. It is true that
Rehoboam also repented, but the chronicler does not make it clear that his
repentance was permanent. Manasseh is unique alike in extreme wickedness, sincere
penitence, and thorough reformation. The reformation of Julius Caesar or of our
Henry V, or, to take a different class of instance, the conversion of St. Paul, was
nothing compared to the conversion of Manasseh. It was as though Herod the Great
or Caesar Borgia had been checked midway in a career of cruelty and vice, and had
thenceforward lived pure and holy lives, glorifying God by ministering to their
fellow-men. Such a repentance gives us hope for the most abandoned. In the
forgiveness of Manasseh the penitent sinner receives assurance that God will forgive
even the most guilty. The account of his closing years shows that even a career of
desperate wickedness in the past need not hinder the penitent from rendering
acceptable service to God and ending his life in the enjoyment of Divine favor and
blessing. Manasseh becomes in the Old Testament what the Prodigal Son is in the
ew: the one great symbol of the possibilities of human nature and the infinite
mercy of God.
The chronicler’s theology is as simple and straightforward as that of Ezekiel.
Manasseh repents, submits himself, and is forgiven. His captivity apparently had
expiated his guilt, as far as expiation was necessary. either prophet nor chronicler
was conscious of the moral difficulties that have been found in so simple a plan of
salvation. The problems of an objective atonement had not yet risen above their
horizon.
These incidents afford another illustration of the necessary limitations of ritual. In
the great crisis of Manasseh’s spiritual life, the Levitical ordinances played no part;
they moved on a lower level, and ministered to less urgent needs. Probably the
worship of Jehovah was still suspended during Manasseh’s captivity; none the less

7. Manasseh was able to make his peace with God. Even if they were punctually
observed, of what use were services at the Temple in Jerusalem to a penitent sinner
at Babylon? When Manasseh returned to Jerusalem, he restored the Temple
worship, and offered sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving; nothing is
said about sin-offerings. His sacrifices were not the condition of his pardon, but the
seal and token of a reconciliation already effected. The experience of Manasseh
anticipated that of the Jews of the Captivity: he discovered the possibility of
fellowship with Jehovah, far away from the Holy Land, without temple, priest, or
sacrifice. The chronicler, perhaps unconsciously, already foreshadows the coming of
the hour when men should worship the Father neither in the holy mountain of
Samaria nor yet in Jerusalem.
Before relating the outward acts which testified the sincerity of Manasseh’s
repentance, the chronicler devotes a single sentence to the happy influence of
forgiveness and deliverance upon Manasseh himself. When his prayer had been
heard, and his exile was at an end, then Manasseh knew and acknowledged that
Jehovah was God. Men first begin to know God when they have been forgiven. The
alienated and disobedient, if they think of Him at all, merely have glimpses of His
vengeance and try to persuade themselves that He is a stern Tyrant. By the penitent
not yet assured of the possibility of reconciliation God is chiefly thought of as a
righteous Judge. What did the Prodigal Son know about his father when he asked
for the portion of goods that fell to him or while he was wasting his substance in
riotous living? Even when he came to himself, he thought of the father’s house as a
place where there was bread enough and to spare; and he supposed that his father
might endure to see him living at home in permanent disgrace, on the footing of a
hired servant. When he reached home, after he had been met a great way off with
compassion and been welcomed with an embrace, he began for the first time to
understand his father’s character. So the knowledge of God’s love dawns upon the
soul in the blessed experience of forgiveness; and because love and forgiveness are
more strange and unearthly than rebuke and chastisement, the sinner is humbled by
pardon far more than by punishment; and his trembling submission to the righteous
Judge deepens into profounder reverence and awe for the God who can forgive, who
is superior to all vindictiveness, whose infinite resources enable Him to blot out the
guilt, to cancel the penalty, and annul the consequences of sin.
"There is forgiveness with Thee, That Thou mayest be feared."
The words that stand in the forefront of the Lord’s Prayer, "Hallowed be Thy
name," are virtually a petition that sinners may repent, and be converted, and
obtain forgiveness.
In seeking for a Christian parallel to the doctrine expounded by Ezekiel and
illustrated by Chronicles, we have to remember that the permanent elements in
primitive doctrine are often to be found by removing the limitations which
imperfect faith has imposed on the possibilities of human nature and Divine mercy.
We have already suggested that the chronicler’s somewhat rigid doctrine of
temporal rewards and punishments symbolizes the inevitable influence of conduct

8. on the development of character. The doctrine of God’s attitude towards
backsliding and repentance seems somewhat arbitrary as set forth by Ezekiel and
Chronicles. A man apparently is not to be judged by his whole life, but only by the
moral period that is closed by his death. If his last years be pious, his former
transgressions are forgotten; if his last years be evil, his righteous deeds are equally
forgotten. While we gratefully accept the forgiveness of sinners, such teaching as to
backsliders seems a little cynical; and though, by God’s grace and discipline, a man
may be led through and out of sin into righteousness, we are naturally suspicious of
a life of "righteous deeds" which towards its close lapses into gross and open sin.
" emo repente turpissimus fit." We are inclined to believe that the final lapse
reveals the true bias of the whole character. But the chronicler suggests more than
this: by his history of the almost uniform failure of the pious kings to persevere to
the end, he seems to teach that the piety of early and mature life is either unreal or
else is unable to survive as body and mind wear out. This doctrine has sometimes,
inconsiderately no doubt, been taught from Christian pulpits; and yet the truth of
which the doctrine is a misrepresentation supplies a correction of the former
principle that a life is to be judged by its close. Putting aside any question of positive
sin, a man’s closing years sometimes seem cold, narrow, and selfish when once he
was full of tender and considerate sympathy; and yet the man is no Asa or Amaziah
who has deserted the living God for idols of wood and stone. The man has not
changed, only our impression of him. Unconsciously we are influenced by the
contrast between his present state and the splendid energy and devotion or self-
sacrifice that marked his prime; we forget that inaction is his misfortune, and not
his fault; we overrate his ardor in the days when vigorous action was a delight for
its own sake; and we overlook the quiet heroism with which remnants of strength
are still utilized in the Lord’s service, and do not consider that moments of
fretfulness are due to decay and disease that at once increase the need of patience
and diminish the powers of endurance. Muscles and nerves slowly become less and
less efficient; they fail to carry to the soul full and clear reports of the outside world;
they are no longer satisfactory instruments by which the soul can express its feelings
or execute its will. We are less able than ever to estimate the inner life of such by
that which we see and hear. While we are thankful for the sweet serenity and loving
sympathy which often make the hoary head a crown of glory, we are also entitled to
judge some of God’s more militant children by their years of arduous service, and
not by their impatience of enforced inactivity.
If our author’s statement of these truths seem unsatisfactory, we must remember
that his lack of a doctrine of the future life placed him at a serious disadvantage. He
wished to exhibit a complete picture of God’s dealings with the characters of his
history, so that their lives should furnish exact illustrations of the working of sin
and righteousness. He was controlled and hampered by the idea that underlies many
discussions in the Old Testament: that God’s righteous judgment upon a man’s
actions is completely manifested during his earthly life. It may be possible to assert
an eternal providence; but conscience and heart have long since revolted against the
doctrine that God’s justice, to say nothing of His love, is declared by the misery of
lives that might have been innocent, if they had ever had the opportunity of
knowing what innocence meant. The chronicler worked on too small a scale for his

9. subject. The entire Divine economy of Him with whom a thousand years are as one
day cannot be even outlined for a single soul in the history of its earthly existence.
These narratives of Jewish kings are only imperfect symbols of the infinite
possibilities of the eternal providence. The moral of Chronicles is very much that of
the Greek sage, "Call no man happy till he is dead"; but since Christ has brought
life and immortality to light through the Gospel, we no longer pass final judgment
upon either the man or his happiness by what we know of his life here. The decisive
revelation of character, the final judgment upon conduct, the due adjustment of the
gifts and discipline of God, are deferred to a future life. When these are completed,
and the soul has attained to good or evil beyond all reversal, then we shall feel, with
Ezekiel and the chronicler, that there is no further need to remember either the
righteous deeds or the transgressions of earlier stages of its history.
GUZIK, "A. The reign of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah.
1. (2 Chronicles 33:1-2) A summary of the reign of Manasseh, a 55 year rule of evil.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years
in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the
abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of
Israel.
a. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king: This means that he was
born in the last fifteen years of Hezekiah’s life, the additional fifteen years that
Hezekiah prayed for (2 Kings 20:6). Those additional fifteen years brought Judah
one of its worst kings.
i. “Had this good king been able to foresee the wickedness of his unworthy son, he
would doubtless have no desire to recover from his sickness. Better by far die
childless than beget a son such as Manasseh proved to be.” (Knapp)
b. And he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: This was both a remarkably long
and a remarkably evil reign. A long career or longevity is not necessarily evidence of
the blessing and approval of God.
i. “He was a son of David, but he was the very reverse of that king, who was always
faithful in his loyalty to the one only God of Israel. David’s blood was in his veins,
but David’s ways were not in his heart. He was a wild, degenerate shoot of a noble
vine.” (Sprugeon)
c. According to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out
before: Manasseh imitated the sins of both the Canaanites and the Israelites of the
northern kingdom (2 Kings 16:3). Since God brought judgment on these groups for
their sin, casting them out of their land, then similar judgment against and
unrepentant Judah should be expected.

10. BI, "Manasseh was twelve years old.
Manasseh; or, the material and the moral in human life
There are two great mistakes prevalent amongst men, one is an over-estimation of the
secular, the other a depreciation of the spiritual. Man is one, and all his duties and
interests are concurrent and harmonious; the end of Christianity is to make men happy
body and soul, here and hereafter.
I. The elevation of the secular and the degradation of the spiritual. Here is a man at the
height of secular elevation. He is raised to a throne, called to sway his sceptre over a
people the most enlightened, and in a country the most fertile and lovely on the face of
the earth. In the person of this Manasseh, you have secular greatness in its highest
altitude and most attractive position. But in connection with this you have spiritual
degradation. Penetrate the gaudy trappings of royalty, look within, and what see you? A
low, wretched, infamous spirit, a spirit debased almost to the lowest point in morals.
1. Look at him socially. How acted he as a son? His father, Hezekiah, was a man of
undoubted piety—a monarch of distinguished worth. His sire was scarcely cold in his
grave, before the son commenced undoing in the kingdom all that his pious father
had for years endeavoured to accomplish. “He built up again the high place which
Hezekiah his father had destroyed,” etc. How did he act as a parent? Was he anxious
for the virtue and happiness of his children? No, “he caused his children to pass
through the fire of the son of Hinnom.”
2. Look at him religiously—dupe of the most stupid imposture. “He observed times
and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and
with wizards.”
3. Look at him politically ruining his country, provoking the indignation of heaven.”
So 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.” This
elevation of the secular, and the degradation of the spiritual, so manifest in the life of
this monarch, and so manifest, alas, in all times and lands, is not destitute of many
grave and startling suggestions. First: It shows the moral disorganisation of the
human world. This state of things can never be, according to the original plan of the
creation. A terrible convulsion has happened to the human world; a convulsion that
has thrown every part in disorder. “All the foundations of the earth are out of
course.” The social world is in a moral chaos. The Bible traces the cause, and
propounds the remedy of this terrible disorganisation. Secondly: It shows the
perverting capability of the soul. The greater the amount of worldly good a man
possesses, the stronger is the appeal of the Creator for his gratitude and devotion.
Moreover, the larger the amount of worldly wealth and power, the greater the
facilities as well as the obligations to a life of spiritual intelligence, holiness, and
piety. The perverting capability of the soul within us, may well fill us with
amazement and alarm. Thirdly: It shows the high probability of a judgment. Under
the government of a righteous monarch, will vice always have its banquets, its
purple, and its crown? Will the great Lord allow His stewards to misappropriate His
substance, and never call them to account?
II. The degradation of the secular, and the elevation of the spiritual. The judgment of
God, which must ever follow sin, at length overtook the wicked monarch. The Assyrian
army, under the direction of Esarhaddon, invaded the country, and carried all before it.

11. The miserable monarch quits his palace and his throne, flies in terror of his life, and
conceals himself in a thorn brake. Here he is discovered. He is bound in chains,
transported to Babylon, and there cast into prison. Here is secular degradation. First:
That man’s circumstances are no necessary hindrances to conversion. If the question
were asked, What circumstances are the most inimical to the cultivation of piety? I
should unhesitatingly answer—Adversity. I am well aware indeed that adversity, as in
the case before us, often succeeds in inducing religious thoughtfulness and penitence
when prosperity has failed. But, notwithstanding this, I cannot regard adversity itself as
the most suited to the cultivation of the religious character. Sufferings are inimical to
that grateful feeling and spiritual effort which religious culture requires. It is when the
system bounds with health, when Providence smiles on the path, that men are in the
best position to discipline themselves into a godly life. But here we find a man in the
most unfavourable circumstances—away from religions institutions, and friends, and
books, an ironbound exile in a pagan land—beginning to think of his ways, and directing
his feet into the paths of holiness. Such a case as this meets all the excuses which men
offer for their want of religion. It is often said, “Were we in such and such circumstances,
we would be religious.” The rich man says, “Were I in humble life, more free from the
anxieties, cares, responsibilities, and associations of my position, I would live a godly
life; whilst the poor, on the other hand, says, with far more reason, “Were my spirit not
pressed down by the crushing forces of poverty; had I sufficient of worldly goods to
remove me from all necessary anxiety, I would give my mind to religion, and serve my
God.” The man in the midst of excitement and bustle of commercial life, says, “Were I in
a more retired situation, in some moral region away from the eternal din of business—
away in quiet fields, and under clear skies, amidst the music of birds and brooks, I would
serve my Maker.” The fact, after all, is that circumstances are no necessary hindrances or
helps to a religious life. Secondly: That heaven’s mercy is greater than man’s iniquities.
III. The concurrent elevation both of the spiritual and the secular. The Almighty hears
his prayer. He is emancipated from his bondage, brought back to his own country, and
restored to the throne of Israel. There he is now with a true heart, in a noble position—a
real great man occupying a great office. This is a rare scene; and yet the only scene in
accordance with the real constitution of things and the will of God. It seems to me that if
man had remained in innocence, his outward position would always have been the
product and type of his inner soul. Manasseh’s restoration to the throne, and the work of
reformation to which he sets himself, suggests two subjects for thought. First: The
tendency of godliness to promote man’s secular elevation. The monarch comes back in
spirit to God, and God brings him back to his throne. As the material condition of men
depends upon their moral, improve the latter, and you improve the former. As the world
gets spiritually holier, it will get secularly happier. Secondly: The tendency of penitence
to make restitution. Concerning Manasseh it is thus written: “Now, 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,” etc. Here is restitution, and an earnest endeavour to undo
the mischief which he had wrought. Thus Zaceheus acted, and thus all true penitents
have ever acted and will ever act. True penitence has a restitutionary instinct. But how
little, alas! of the mischief done can be undone! (Homilist.)

12. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the
detestable practices of the nations the Lord had
driven out before the Israelites.
3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah
had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals
and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all
the starry hosts and worshiped them.
CLARKE, "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.
ELLICOTT, "(3) For.—And. (See margin.)
Broken down.—2 Chronicles 23:17; 2 Chronicles 31:1 (“threw down”). Kings has
“destroyed” (‘ibbad).
Baalim.—The Baals—i.e., the different images of Baal. Kings has the singular, both
here and in the next word, “groves,” or rather Asheras (‘Ashçrôth; Kings,
‘Ashçrah). The latter plural is rhetorical: Manasseh made such things as Asheras.
(Comp. also the use of the plural in 2 Chronicles 32:31, and the passages there
referred to.) Kings adds: “as Ahab king of Israel made.”
GUZIK, "2. (2 Chronicles 33:3-9) The specific sins of Manasseh.
For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he
raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the
host of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of
which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” And he built
altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. Also he
caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he
practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and
spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. He
even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which

13. God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem,
which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; and I
will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for
your fathers; only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them,
according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of
Moses.” So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more
evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
a. He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down: Manasseh
opposed the reforms of his father Hezekiah and he brought Judah back into terrible
idolatry.
i. This shows us that repentance and reform and revival are not permanent standing
conditions. What is accomplished at one time can be opposed and turned back at
another time.
b. He raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images: Manasseh did not
want to imitate his godly father. Instead, he imitated one of the very worst kings of
Israel: Ahab. He embraced the same state-sponsored worship of Baal and Asherah
(honored with a wooden image) that marked the reign of Ahab.
c. He also built altars in the house of the LORD: It was bad enough for Manasseh to
allow this idol worship into Judah. Worse, he corrupted the worship of the true God
at the temple, and made the temple a place of idol altars, including those dedicated
to his cult of astrological worship (he built altars for all the host of heaven).
d. He built altars for the host of heaven in the courts of the house of the LORD:
Manasseh did not only bring back old forms of idolatry; he also brought new forms
of idolatry to Judah. At this time the Babylonian Empire was rising in influence,
and they had a special attraction to astrological worship. Manasseh probably
imitated this.
i. “The king’s apostate worship of ‘the starry host’ had evil precedents going as far
back as the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 4:19; Acts 7:42), but such practices were a
particular sin of Assyro-Babylonians, with their addiction to astrology.” (Payne)
ii. “But this Manasseh sought out for himself unusual and outlandish sins. Bad as
Ahab was, he had not worshipped the host of heaven. That was an Assyrian
worship, and this man must needs import from Assyria and Babylonia worship that
was quite new.” (Spurgeon)
e. He caused his sons to son pass through the fire: Manasseh sacrificed his own son
to the Canaanite god Molech, who was worshipped with the burning of children.
f. Practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and
spiritists: Manasseh invited direct Satanic influence by his approval and
introduction of these occult arts.

14. i. “The Hebrew word for ‘spiritists’ is yiddeoni, by etymology, ‘a knowing one.’ It
referred originally to ghosts, who were supposed to possess superhuman knowledge;
but it came to be applied to those who claimed power to summon them forth, i.e., to
witches.” (Payne)
g. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God: The
Chronicler seems too polite to say it, but 2 Kings 21:7 tells us that this idol was
Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of fertility. This god was worshipped through ritual
prostitution. This means that Manasseh made the temple into an idolatrous brothel,
dedicated to Asherah.
i. “From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of
whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes.”
(Clarke)
ii. “Manasseh repeated these sins and exaggerated them each time. After one
forbidden idol had been enshrined, he set up another yet more foul, and after
building altars in the courts of the temple, he ventured further . . . Thus he piled up
his transgressions and multiplied his provocations.” (Spurgeon)
h. Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than
the nations whom the LORD had destroyed: 1 Kings 21:9 tells us what the attitude
of the people was: they paid no attention. This described the basic attitude of the
people of Judah during the 55-year reign of Manasseh. They paid no attention to the
generous promises of God, promising protection to His obedient people. In addition,
they were willingly seduced by Manasseh’s wickedness and were attracted to do
more evil.
i. “He did all he could to pervert the national character, and totally destroy the
worship of the true God; and he succeeded.” (Clarke)
ii. “How superficial had been the nation’s compliance with Hezekiah’s reforms!
Without a strong spiritual leader, the sinful people quickly turned to their own evil
machinations. The judgment of God could not be far away.” (Patterson and Austel)
iii. This was a transformation of the culture from something generally God honoring
to a culture that glorified idolatry and immorality. In general we can say this
happened because the people wanted it to happen. They didn’t care about the
direction of their culture.
PULPIT, "He built again; literally, returned and built—the ordinary Hebrew idiom
for "took again to building," etc. Made groves; i.e. as often before the stocks that set
forth Ashtoreth (Deuteronomy 16:21). The parallel gives prominence to the one
Asherah, ten times offensive, as set up in the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:7
there). The mention of his pantheon of the host of heaven is an addition to the

15. wickedness of former wicked kings. It is also noted in the parallel.
4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of
which the Lord had said, “My ame will remain
in Jerusalem forever.”
ELLICOTT, "(4) Also he built . . . In Jerusalem.—Literally as Kings. Manasseh
built altars in the Temple, as Ahaz had done (2 Kings 16:10, seq.).
Shall my name be for ever.—A heightening of the phrase in Kings, “I will set mv
name.”
PULPIT, "In Jerusalem (so 2 Chronicles 6:6; 2 Chronicles 7:16). The quotation is
from Deuteronomy 12:11.
5 In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built
altars to all the starry hosts.
CLARKE, "He built altars - See the principal facts in this chapter explained in the
notes on 2 Kings 21:1-17 (note).
6 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the
Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and
witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums

16. and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the
Lord, arousing his anger.
ELLICOTT, "(6) He.—Emphatic. ot in Kings.
Caused his children . . . fire.—The plural, as in 2 Chronicles 28:3, is rhetorical.
Kings, “his son.”
In the valley of the son of Hinnom.—Explanatory addition by the chronicler.
Also he observed times, and used enchantments.—And he practised augury and
divination. Forbidden, Leviticus 19:26. The first words seem strictly to mean
“observed clouds; “the second, “observed serpents.”
And used witchcraft.—And muttered spells or charms. This word does not occur in
the parallel place, but all the offences here ascribed to Manasseh are forbidden in
Deuteronomy 18:10-11.
And dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards.—And appointed a necromancer
and a wizard. Kings has wizards. The source of all these modes of soothsaying was
Babylon. Like the first king of Israel, Manasseh appears to have despaired of help
or counsel from Jehovah. (Comp. Jeremiah 44:17-18.) The heavy yoke of Assyria
again weighed the nation down, and the great deliverance under Hezekiah was
almost forgotten. “To all the Palestinian nations the Assyrian crisis had made
careless confidence in the help of their national deities a thing impossible. As life
was embittered by foreign bondage, the darker aspects of heathenism became
dominant. The wrath of the gods seemed more real than their favour; atoning
ordinances were multiplied, human sacrifices became more frequent, the terror
which hung over all the nations that groaned under the Assyrian yoke found
habitual expression in the ordinances of worship; and it was this aspect of
heathenism that came to the front in Manasseh’s imitations of foreign religion”
(Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel, p. 366).
He wrought much evil.—Literally, he multiplied doing the evil. He was worse than
his evil predecessors
PULPIT, "Caused his children. Parallel (2 Kings 21:6), "his son," in the singular
number (see also 2 Kings 16:3 compared with our 2 Chronicles 28:3). There can be
no doubt that this worst of cruel abominations, learned from Ammon and Moab,
amounted to nothing less than the sacrifice of the child in the fire. It is, perhaps,

17. something remarkable that we do not encounter anywhere any description of the
exact manner of administration of this cruelty, and of its taking effect on the pitiable
victim. The solemn commands of Le 2 Chronicles 18:21 and Deuteronomy 18:10
bespeak sufficiently distinctly the prevision and earnest precaution of the Divine
Ruler of Israel, through Moses, on behalf of his people. The following references all
bear on the subject, and will be studied with advantage in order given: 2 Kings 3:27;
2 Kings 17:17; Ezekiel 20:26; Micah 6:7; Amos 5:26; Jeremiah 7:32; Jeremiah 19:4;
Ezekiel 16:20; Ezekiel 20:26. In the valley of the son of Hinnom (Joshua 15:8;
Joshua 18:16). On an elevation at the eastern extremity of this valley it was that
Solomon erected "high places" to Moloch, entailing on himself a long and dire
responsibility (1 Kings 11:7). Consult also our 2 Chronicles 28:3 and note there;
with added reference, Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 172, 482. Also he observed
times; Revised Version, and he practised augury. The Hebrew word is ‫ֵן‬‫נ‬‫ְוֹ‬‫ע‬‫ו‬ . This
root is found once in piel infinitive (Genesis 9:14), and is rendered (Authorized
Version), "when I bring a cloud," etc.; beside, it is found in all ten times, always in
poel, in preterite twice (the present passage and parallel), future once (Le 19:26),
participle seven times, in which six places it is rendered (Authorized Version)
"observing times," once in Isaiah and Micah with rendering "soothsayers," again in
Isaiah "sorcerers," and in Jeremiah "enchanter." There is difficulty in fixing its
exact meaning, though its general meaning may be embraced in the words of the
Revised Version. A likely meaning, judging from derivation, may be the practising
augury from observing of the clouds. The passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy
are those that of old solemnly prohibited it. And used enchantments; Hebrew, ‫ֵשׁ‬‫ח‬ִ‫נ‬ְ‫ו‬ ;
the root is the familiar word for "serpent." The verb occurs eleven times, always in
piel. The prohibition to practise such "enchantment" or divination is found in Le
19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10; the five occasions of the use of the word in Genesis,
however (Genesis 30:27; Genesis 44:5, Genesis 44:15), argue that it was not a thing
intrinsically bad, but bad probably from certain, so to say, simoniacal possibilities to
which it lent itself. There lay in it some assumption, no doubt, of superhuman help,
and the wickedness may have consisted in assuming it where it was not real. And
used witchcraft; Hebrew, ‫ף‬ֵ‫ִשּׁ‬‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ ; Revised Version, and practised sorcery. The word
is found six times in piel. The prohibition is found in Deuteronomy 18:10; the
rendering of the word (Authorized Version) is by the term "sorcery" three times,
and "witch" or "witchcraft" the other three times. Dealt with a familiar Spirit, and
with wizards. The prohibitions are in Le 19:31; Deuteronomy 20:6, 27;
Deuteronomy 18:11. See as illustrations 1 Samuel 28:3-21; and notice the language
of Isaiah 8:19, "that chirp and mutter;" and Isaiah 19:3.
2 Chronicles 33:7, 2 Chronicles 33:8
(Comp. Psalms 132:13, Psalms 132:14; 2 Samuel 7:10.)

18. 7 He took the image he had made and put it in
God’s temple, of which God had said to David and
to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in
Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel, I will put my ame forever.
BAR ES, "The idol - i. e. the Asherah (2Ki_21:7 note), which receives here (and in
Eze_8:3, Eze_8:5) the somewhat unusual name of semel, which some regard as a proper
name, and compare with the Greek Σεµέλη Semelē.
CLARKE, "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.
ELLICOTT, "(7) And he set . . . had made.—And he set the carven image of the idol
which he had made. “Idol” (sèmel) explains “Asherah,” the term used in Kings.
Both “carven image “and “idol” (Authorised Version, figure) occur in Deuteronomy
4:16.
The house of God.—Chronicles has added, of God, by way of explanation. The
Temple proper is meant, as distinct from the courts.
Before all.—Out of all.
For ever.—Le’êlum, a form only found here (equivalent to le’ólâm).
PARKER, "We shall now see what a man may be in the matter of idolatry.
"He set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God" ( 2
Chronicles 33:7).
This is a mournful episode in the history of depravity; not only did the man make
the idol, but he set it up in God"s house as if it were there of right. How few men
simply plunge into evil; how the most of us approach the pit gradually, almost
indeed imperceptibly. But the sin is in the thought. God knoweth our thought afar
off, in its very protoplasm, its earliest inception, ere yet it is patent to the mind of its
own creator. We sin, then, still in thought a little more; the faint outline becomes a
semi-visible spectre; we encourage it to return tomorrow, and the following night,

19. and it enlarges upon our vision, and we feel the magic of familiarity; then we turn
the thought into words, and start at our own voice; we try the repetition and feel a
little stronger; we renew the exercise, and become familiar with all its wicked play;
then we become audacious, still confining the action largely within ourselves;
afterwards we seek collateral development, and thus there comes round about us a
strange interlineation of actions, ministries, suggestions, supports, until we find
ourselves setting up our idol in God"s own house. To such lengths may we go! The
young man never supposed he would die a drunkard when he finished his mother"s
glass of wine; in that sip was hell, and he knew it not. Men may come not to idol-
making only, so that in their own houses they may have a place for household gods,
but they may grow so bold in iniquity as to use the sanctuary of God itself for the
worship of evil spirits. Thus we should be careful about the spirit of veneration.
Loss of reverence is loss of spiritual quality. Better have a little tinge of superstition
than be altogether devoid of veneration. To have any spiritual relation is to be in a
happy condition compared with the soul that has nothing but matter, and that has
gone in its foolish imagining to make matter of itself. Better peasant housewife with
her sprig of rosemary or rowan tree laid away to affright the ghosts, than the house
in which there is no recognition of spirit, angel, futurity, immortality, God; from the
one house there may be a way into a larger morning than yet has dawned on time,
but from the other house there could only be some back way into some deeper
darkness.
PULPIT, "A carved image, the idol; translate, a carved image of the idol; i.e. the
Asherah; for see the parallel (2 Kings 21:7). The idol; Hebrew, ‫ל‬ֶ‫מ‬ֶ‫ס‬ . This name is
found here and in 2 Chronicles 33:15; in Deuteronomy 4:16, translated (Authorized
Version) "figure;" and Ezekiel 8:3, Ezekiel 8:5, translated (Authorized Version)
"image."
8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites
leave the land I assigned to your ancestors, if only
they will be careful to do everything I commanded
them concerning all the laws, decrees and
regulations given through Moses.”
ELLICOTT, "(8) Remove.—Kings has a less common expression, “cause to

20. wander.”
From out of (upon) the land (ground) which I have appointed.—Kings, with which
the versions agree, has the certainly original “from the ground which I gave.”
So that.—If only.
And the statutes and the ordinances.—An explanatory addition. Kings has, “And
according to all the Torah that Moses my servant commanded them.”
By the hand.—By the ministry or instrumentality. The phrase is a characteristic
interpretation of what we read in 2 Kings 21:8; for it carefully notes that the
authority of the Lawgiver was not primary but derived.
9 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of
Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than
the nations the Lord had destroyed before the
Israelites.
ELLICOTT, "(9) So Manasseh . . . heathen.—Literally, And Manasseh led Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do evil more than the nations. Thenius
thinks that the words and Manasseh. . . . astray, followed in the primary document
immediately upon and he set the graven image in the house; the intermediate words
being an addition by the editor of Kings.
ISBET, "GODLESS A D GODLY
‘Worse than the heathen.’ ‘In affliction he besought the Lord his God.’
2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Chronicles 33:12
I. It is fearful to think into what depths of wickedness it is possible to fall.—The
story of Manasseh frightens us. He had a good father and was brought up amid holy
influences. Yet when he became king he turned away from all that was good and
beautiful and sank into the worst sins. As we read about the things he did we see the
terrible danger of departing from God. We cannot know where our departure will
end.
II. One of the worst things about a bad life is that it leads others also into evil.—

21. Manasseh was a king and he led a whole nation astray. A father or mother who does
wrong takes a whole family away from God. But every one has influence over
others. Every young person who lives wickedly draws companions or friends in the
evil course. We ought to think of this when we are tempted. Our sin does not destroy
ourselves only.
III. Sin always brings trouble.—Even if one is not punished at once, doing wrong
draws a curse after it some time. Manasseh’s wickedness brought enemies upon him
and he was carried away as a captive. He was treated shamefully. Chains were put
upon him and he was cruelly used. But it is thus that sin always uses those who
become its slaves. People fancy sometimes that it is hard to be a Christian, but it is
far harder to live in sin. However pleasant it may be at the time we do wrong, it
brings bitterness in the end.
IV. The worst may repent and be saved.—Manasseh had grown into terrible
wickedness, but when he turned his heart to God and called for mercy he was
forgiven and restored. The trouble that his sin brought upon him was God’s way of
bringing him to see the evil of his course and of leading him to repentance. Then not
only was Manasseh forgiven—he was also restored to his place as king, that he
might build up again what he had destroyed. So we see him pulling down the idols
and idol temples he had set up and repairing and restoring the Temple of God
which he had violated. God is very merciful, and there is joy in heaven when a
sinner repents. Manasseh’s repentance caused joy.
Illustrations
(1) ‘After a Hezekiah comes a Manasseh, who entirely changed his policy, and undid
the work of reform, and the men of Judah and Jerusalem followed him into more
evil than did the nations of Canaan. How frail and changeable we are! There is no
stability in human virtue. As a garden will return to a wilderness if it be not
constantly tended, so would all goodness soon die out of the world if it were not for
the grace of the Holy Spirit. The very existence of lovely and noble life among us is a
perpetual witness to His being and energy.’
(2) ‘This repentance of Manasseh was evidently the chief subject in the mind of the
chronicler, and while his sins are painted faithfully, and revealed in all their
hideousness, all this becomes but background, which flings into relief the genuine
penitence and the ready and gracious response of God. It is a wonderful picture in
the midst of the prevailing darkness and persistent wickedness, this revelation of the
readiness of God to pardon. It is always so if men will have it so. Far better to walk
with a perfect heart before God through life; but where this has not been so, if there
be genuine repentance, all the failures but serve to reveal in a clearer light the love
of God. There is a solemn warning in the history of Amon, who, on coming to the
throne, followed the earlier example of his father, and was so utterly corrupt that
his own servants conspired against him and slew him. While personal sin repented
of brings ready forgiveness, the influence of the sinning days is terribly likely to
abide.’

22. MACLARE 9-16, "MANASSEH'S SIN AND REPENTANCE
The story of Manasseh’s sin and repentance may stand as a typical example. Its historical
authenticity is denied on the ground that it appears only in this Book of Chronicles. I
must leave others to discuss that matter; my purpose is to bring out the teaching
contained in the story.
The first point in it is the stern indictment against Manasseh and his people. The
experience which has saddened many a humbler home was repeated in the royal house,
where a Hezekiah was followed by a Manasseh, who scorned all that his father had
worshipped, and worshipped all that his father had loathed. Happily the father’s eyes
were closed long before the idolatrous bias of his son could have disclosed itself.
Succeeding to the throne at twelve years of age, he could not have begun his evil ways at
once, and probably would have been preserved from them if his father had lived long
enough to mould his character. A child of twelve, flung on to a throne, was likely to catch
the infection of any sin that was in the atmosphere. The narrative specifies two points in
which, as he matured in years, and was confirmed in his course of conduct, he went
wrong: first, in his idolatry; and second, in his contempt of remonstrances and warnings.
As to the former, the preceding context gives a terrible picture. He was smitten with a
very delirium of idolatry, and wallowed in any and every sort of false worship. No matter
what strange god was presented, there were hospitality, an altar, and an offering for him.
Baal, Moloch, ‘the host of heaven,’ wizards, enchanters, anybody who pretended to have
any sort of black art, all were welcome, and the more the better. No doubt, this eager
acceptance of a miscellaneous multitude of deities was partly reaction from the
monotheism of the former reign, but also it was the natural result of being surrounded
by the worshippers of these various gods; and it was an unconscious confession of the
insufficiency of each and all of them to fill the void in the heart, and satisfy the needs of
the spirit. There are ‘gods many, and lords many,’ because they are insufficient; ‘the Lord
our God is one Lord,’ because He, in His single Self, is more than all these, and is enough
for any and every man.
We may note, too, that at the beginning of the chapter Manasseh is said to have done
‘like unto the abominations of the heathen,’ while in 2Ch_33:9 he is said to have done
‘evil more than did the nations.’ When a worshipper of Jehovah does like the heathen, he
does worse than they. An apostate Christian is more guilty than one who has never
‘tasted the good word of God,’ and is likely to push his sins to a more flagrant
wickedness. ‘The corruption of the best is the worst.’ We cannot do what the world does
without being more deeply guilty than they.
The narrative lays stress on the fact that the king’s inclination to idolatry was agreeable
to the people. The kings, who fought against it, had to resist the popular current, but at
the least encouragement from those in high places the nation was ready to slide back.
Rulers who wish to lower the standard of morality or religion have an easy task; but the
people who follow their lead are not free from guilt, though they can plead that they only
followed. The second count in the indictment is the refusal of king and people to listen to
God’s remonstrances. 2Ki_21:1-26, gives the prophets’ warnings at greater length. ‘They
would not hearken’-can anything madder and sadder be said of any of us than that? Is it
not the very sin of sins, and the climax of suicidal folly, that God should call and men
stop their ears? And yet how many of us pay no more regard to His voice, in His
providences, in our own consciences, in history, in Scripture, and, most penetrating and

23. beseeching of all, in Christ, than to idle wind whistling through an archway! Our own
evil deeds stop our ears, and the stopped ears make further evil deeds more easy.
The second step in this typical story is merciful chastisement, meant to secure a hearing
for God’s voice. 2 Kings tells the threat, but not the fulfilment; Chronicles tells the
fulfilment, but not the threat. We note how emphatically God’s hand is recognised
behind the political complications which brought the Assyrians to Jerusalem, and how
particularly it is stated that the invasion was not headed by Esarhaddon, but by his
generals. The place of Manasseh’s captivity also is specified, not as Nineveh, as might
have been expected, but as Babylon. These details, especially the last, look like genuine
history. It is history which carries a lesson. Here is one conspicuous instance of the
divine method, which is working to-day as it did then. God’s hand is behind the
secondary causes of events. Our sorrows and ‘misfortunes’ are sent to us by Him, not
hurled at us by human hands only, or occurring by the working of impersonal laws. They
are meant to make us bethink ourselves, and drop evil things from our hands and hearts.
It is best to be guided by His eye, and not need ‘bit and bridle’; but if we make ourselves
stubborn as ‘the mule, which has no understanding,’ it is second best that we should
taste the whip, that it may bring us to run in harness on the road which He wills. If we
habitually looked at calamities as His loving chastisement, intended to draw us to
Himself, we should not have to stand perplexed so often at what we call the mysteries of
His providence.
The next step in the story is the yielding of the sinful heart when smitten. The worst
affliction is an affliction wasted, which does us no good. And God has often to lament, ‘In
vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction.’ Sorrow has in itself no
power to effect the purpose for which it is sent; but all depends on how we take it. It
sometimes makes us hard, bitter, obstinate in clinging to evil. A heart that has been
disciplined by it, and still is undisciplined, is like iron hammered on an anvil, and made
the more close-grained thereby. But this king took his chastisement wisely. An accepted
sorrow is an angel in disguise, and nothing which drives us to God is a calamity.
Manasseh praying was freer in his chains than ever he had been in his prosperity.
Manasseh humbling himself greatly before God was higher than when, in the pride of his
heart, he shut God out from it.
Affliction should clear our sight, that we may see ourselves as we are; and, if we do, there
will be an end of high looks, and we shall ‘take the lowest room.’ Thus humbled, we shall
pray as the self-confident and outwardly prosperous cannot do. Sorrow has done its best
on us when, like some strong hand on our shoulders, it has brought us to our knees. No
affliction has yielded its full blessing to us unless it has thus set us by Manasseh’s side.
The next step in the story is the loving answer to the humbled heart, and the restoration
to the kingdom. ‘He was entreated of him.’ No doubt, political circumstances brought
about Manasseh’s reinstatement, as they had brought about his captivity, but it was God
that ‘brought him again to his kingdom.’ We may not receive again lost good things, but
we may be quite sure that God never fails to hear the cry of the humble, and that, if there
is one voice that more surely reaches His ear and moves His heart than another, it is the
voice of His chastened children, who cry to Him out of the depths, and there have
learned their own sin and sore need. He will be entreated of them, and, whether He gives
back lost good or not, He will give Himself, in whom all good is comprehended.
Manasseh’s experience may be repeated in us.
And the best part of it was, not that he received back his kingdom, but that ‘then
Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.’ The name had been but a name to him, but
now it had become a reality. Our traditional, second-hand belief in God is superficial and

24. largely unreal till it is deepened and vivified by experience. If we have cried to Him, and
been lightened, then we have a ground of conviction that cannot be shaken. Formerly we
could at most say, ‘I believe in God,’ or, ‘I think there is a God,’ but now we can say, ‘I
know,’ and no criticism nor contradiction can shake that. Such knowledge is not the
knowledge won by the understanding alone, but it is acquaintance with a living Person,
like the knowledge which loving souls have of each other; and he who has that
knowledge as the issue of his own experience may smile at doubts and questionings, and
say with the Apostle of Love, ‘We know that we are of God, . . . and we know that the Son
of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true.’
Then, if we have that knowledge, we shall listen to the same Apostle’s commandment,
‘Keep yourselves from idols,’ even as the issue of Manasseh’s knowledge of God was that
‘he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord.’
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people,
but they paid no attention.
GILL, "And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people,.... By his servants
the prophets, see 2Ki_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.
K&D, "At 2Ch_33:10, the account in the Chronicle diverges from that in 2 Kings. In
2Ki_21:10-16 it is related how the Lord caused it to be proclaimed by the prophets, that
in punishment of Manasseh's sins Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the people given
into the power of their enemies, and how Manasseh filled Jerusalem with the shedding
of innocent blood. Instead of this, in 2Ch_33:10 of the Chronicle it is only briefly said
that the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken; and
then in 2Ch_33:11-17 it is narrated that Manasseh was led away to Babylon by the king
of Assyria's captains of the host; in his trouble turned to the Lord his God, and prayed;
was thereupon brought by God back to Jerusalem; after his return, fortified Jerusalem
with a new wall; set commanders over all the fenced cities of Judah; abolished the
idolatry in the temple and the city, and restored the worship of Jahve.
ELLICOTT, "(10) And the Lord spake to Manasseh.—“By the hand of his servants
the prophets.” See
2 Kings 21:10-15, where the substance of the prophetic message is given; and it is

25. added (2 Chronicles 33:16) that Manasseh also shed very much innocent blood, “till
he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other.” The reaction against the reforms
of Hezekiah ended in a bloody struggle, in which the party of reform was fiercely
suppressed.
PARKER, ""And the Lord spake to Prayer of Manasseh , and to his people: but
they would not hearken" ( 2 Chronicles 33:10).
These are what we call remonstrances. Sometimes the expostulation is addressed to
the heart in a sweet tone; it comes through the ministry of father, mother, pastor,
friend, nearest and dearest one; sometimes it is lowered to a whisper; then it
becomes poignant as a cry, then it becomes importunate as shower upon shower of
gracious rain; then there comes into it an indication of heaven"s pain and torment,
because so much is despised and rejected that is evidently of God. "My Spirit shall
not always strive with man." Is it possible for God to speak and man not to
hearken? We should dispute it as a theory—we are bound to own it as a fact. A
child can shut out the midday sun. There is no summer that ever warmed the earth
that can get into a house if the owner of that house determine to block out the genial
blessing. We can keep Christ standing outside, knocking at the door; we can say in
bitterness of soul, Let him stand there, though his locks be heavy with the dew of
night. We can multiply impiety towards God.
GUZIK, "B. Manasseh’s repentance.
1. (2 Chronicles 33:10-11) God chastises of Manasseh.
And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.
Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of
Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and
carried him off to Babylon.
a. And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people: This was the great mercy of
God. He was under no obligation to warn or correct them; God would have been
completely justified to bring judgment immediately. Instead, the LORD spoke to
Manasseh and his people.
i. 2 Kings 21:10-15 tells more about these specific warnings of the prophets.
b. But they would not listen: Despite God’s gracious warnings, neither the king nor
the people would listen. God found more compelling ways to speak to the rulers and
people of Judah.
i. 2 Kings 21:16 tells us of the terrible extent of Manasseh’s sin: Moreover Manasseh
shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another,
besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

26. ii. “We cannot vouch for the tradition that the prophet Isaiah was put to death by
him by being sawn in sunder, but terrible as is the legend, it is not at all
improbable.” (Spurgeon)
c. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of
Assyria: God allowed Manasseh to be taken and carried away as a captive, after the
pattern of his own sinful bondage.
i. “God sent him into the dungeon to repent; as he did David into the depths, and
Jonah into the whale’s belly to pray. Adversity hath whipt many a soul to heaven,
which otherwise prosperity had coached to hell.” (Trapp)
ii. “ o mention is made of Manasseh’s exile in Assyrian sources, even though
Manasseh appears in the annals of Esarhaddon (680-669 B.C.) and Ahsurbanipal
(668-626 B.C.) as a rather unwilling vassal forced to provide supplies for Assyria’s
building and military enterprises. It is quite possible that he rebelled against these
impositions at some point.” (Selman)
iii. “Manasseh’s presence in Babylon is not surprising, since Assyria had had a long
interest in Babylon, which was under the direct control for the whole of
Esarhaddon’s reign and after Shamash-shum-unkin’s demise.” (Selman)
SIMEO , "MA ASSEH’S REPE TA CE
2 Chronicles 33:10-13. And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they
would not hearken. Wherefore 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. And when he was in affliction, he besought the
Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and
prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and
brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the
Lord he was God.
I histories written by men, our attention is continually directed to second causes;
but in the inspired records we see every event traced up to the first Great Cause of
all. The rise and fall of empires or of individuals are equally appointed of God for
the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes, and for the manifestation of his
own glory: and, however casual or contingent any circumstances may appear to be,
they are as much under his control, and as certainly fulfil his will, as the stated
courses of the heavenly bodies.
In confirmation of this, we need go no further than to the words before us; in which
we see,
I. The means by which Manasseh was brought to repentance—

27. [King Manasseh was perhaps the most wicked of the human race: he was piously
educated; yet he totally eradicated from his own mind, and from the breasts of his
people, all remembrance of the instructions which his father Hezekiah had given
them. He consulted wizards, set up idols even in the house of God itself, made his
children pass through fire to Moloch, and filled Jerusalem with the blood of
innocents from one end to another. He acted himself, and caused all his people to
act, worse than the heathen whom God had cast out for their impieties [ ote:
Compare 2 Kings 21 with the preceding part of this chapter.].
To reclaim him God had sent many holy men and prophets to warn and exhort him:
but “neither he nor his people would hearken unto them.”
At last, determined to overcome him, and to make him an everlasting monument of
grace and mercy. God stirred up the king of Assyria against him [ ote: The king of
Babylon, who on account of his having added Assyria to his dominions is called the
king of Assyria, is said to have been “brought upon” Manasseh by God himself.
And, however he might be actuated by ambition or avarice, he was certainly no
more than an instrument by whom God himself acted. Compare Psalms 17:13 and
Isaiah 10:5-6; Isaiah 10:15. with 2 Kings 24:2-4.]; and caused Manasseh to be
vanquished, to be dragged from the thicket where he had secreted himself [ ote: 1
Samuel 13:6.], and to be carried a poor miserable captive in fetters to Babylon.
This prevailed, when all other means had been used in vain. And is it not by these
means that God has often subdued, and yet subdues many stout-hearted sinners to
himself [ ote: 2 Samuel 24:10; 2 Samuel 24:17.]? How many perhaps amongst us
must say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; for before I was afflicted I
went astray; but now have I kept thy word [ ote: Psalms 119:67; Psalms 119:71.].”]
We are further informed concerning,
II. The way in which his repentance shewed itself—
[Affliction does not necessarily produce repentance. Ahaz trespassed yet more in his
distress [ ote: 2 Chronicles 28:22.]; and the wicked in hell, so far from being
softened by their pains, blaspheme their God while they gnaw their tongues for
anguish [ ote: Revelation 16:10.]. But in him it was effectual, through the grace of
God, to bring him to repentance. In his prosperity he was hardened [ ote: Jeremiah
22:21.], and would not hear [ ote: Zechariah 7:11-12. Jeremiah 5:3.]; but “in his
affliction he besought the Lord.”
Two things more especially are noticed: “he humbled himself greatly;” and “he
prayed unto God” earnestly. He called his ways to remembrance and confessed his
guilt, and justified God in all that had come upon him, and in all that ever should
come upon him, declaring it was far “less than his iniquities deserved.” Then he
poured out his soul in fervent prayer, “offering his supplications with strong crying
and tears,” and wrestling, as it were, with God, to obtain a blessing [ ote: His
prayer is repeatedly noticed, ver. 18, 19. doubtless on account of its fervour.].

28. Thus will repentance shew itself, wherever it is found: whether we be brought to it
by afflictions, or not; yea, whether we have committed such wickedness as
Manasseh, or not; these will be the leading features of our experience, if we be truly
penitent. The first mark of Paul’s repentance was, “Behold, he prayeth!” and what
his thoughts of himself were, we may judge from his calling himself “the chief of
sinners.” Inquire then, beloved Brethren, whether you have ever been brought to
humble yourselves before God; and that not a little, but “greatly?” Inquire, whether
your cries to God are humble, fervent, constant, believing? Consider, “that without
repentance you must all perish;” and that this alone will warrant you to conclude
your repentance genuine and “saving.”]
Its efficacy will appear from,
III. The blessed issue of it—
[Horrible as his iniquities had been, they did not prevent his prayers from coming
up with acceptance before God.
Behold the issue of this repentance, first, in respect to his temporal comfort! God
restored him again to the possession of his kingdom. And it is certain that
innumerable judgments would be removed from men, provided the offenders were
duly humbled by means of them. We say not indeed that God will always remove the
afflictions he has sent, even though we should be ever so much humbled under
them; because he may see that the continuance of them is as necessary for our
welfare as the first sending of them was: but he will convert them into blessings, and
make them subservient to our best interests.
ext, observe the issue of his repentance in respect to his spiritual advantage. He
neither knew God, nor concerned himself about him in the day of his prosperity:
but now he “knew that Jehovah was God.” He saw that he was a just and holy God,
yea, a God of truth also, who sooner or later would punish sin. He felt that he was a
powerful God, “able to abase those who walk in pride,” and able also to deliver
those whose situation was most desperate. Above all, he knew experimentally that
God was a God of infinite mercy and compassion, since he had attended to his
prayer, and vouchsafed mercy to his guilty soul. Under this conviction he strove, to
the latest hour of his life, to remedy all the evil he had ever done, and to glorify his
God as much as he had before dishonoured him.
And did ever any one repent, and not find his repentance issue in clearer
manifestations of God’s love to his soul, and in a richer experience of his power and
grace? o: as long as the world stands, “God will comfort all that mourn in Zion,
and give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness.”]
We may learn then from hence,

29. 1. The importance of improving ordinances—
[The contempt poured on God’s messages was one principal mean of bringing down
those judgments on Manasseh. And does not God speak to us by his ministers; and
notice how we receive the word? And will not that “word be a savour of death unto
us, if it be not a savour of life unto life?” Lay this to heart, all ye who have heard the
word in vain: and know that if you slight the message which God sends you by his
ministers, he will consider you as pouring contempt upon himself [ ote: 1
Thessalonians 4:8.].]
2. The use and benefit of afflictions—
[Afflictions, of whatever kind they be, proceed from God; and are intended for our
good [ ote: Hosea 5:15. Hebrews 12:10.]. They have a voice, no less than his
ministers; and it is our duty to “hear the rod, and Him that appointed it [ ote:
Micah 6:9.].” Quarrel not then with any afflictions that may be sent you; but receive
them as tokens of God’s love, and as messengers of his mercy. What reason had
Manasseh to adore his God for the loss of an empire, yea, for cruel captivity, for
galling fetters, and a loathsome dungeon! Without them he had been now in chains
of darkness and the prison of hell. Thy trials probably are no less necessary for
thine eternal welfare. Improve them then for the humbling of thy soul, and for the
furtherance of thine everlasting salvation.]
3. The wonderful mercy of our God—
[Who would have thought that such a sinner as Manasseh could ever have obtained
mercy? Yet God has pardoned him, and set him forth as a pattern, in order to
magnify the exceeding riches of his own grace. Let none then despair. If we were as
vile as Manasseh himself, we should go to God with an assurance that he would not
cast us out, provided we were truly contrite, and sought for mercy through the
blood of Jesus. On the other hand, let us not presume upon this mercy, and go on in
sin under the hope that we shall at last repent and be saved. To-day God calls us; to-
morrow the door of mercy may be shut. The Lord grant that we may now repent
like Manasseh, and henceforth like him devote ourselves entirely to the service of
our God!]
BI 10-11, "And bound him with fetters.
Divine discipline
The proper way for a sinner to be brought to God is for God to speak to him, and for him
to hear. Manasseh would not come that way, so God fetched him back by a rougher road.
I. The Lord often allows temporal trials to take men captive.
1. Business disasters.
2. Want of employment.

30. 3. Extraordinary troubles.
4. Bodily affliction.
5. The loss of dear friends.
II. The lord sometimes allows men to be bound by mental trials; “ bound with fetters.”
Such as—
1. When sin ceases to afford pleasure. The very things that once made him all aglow
with delight do not affect him now, nor cast a single ray of light on his path.
2. The daily avocation becomes distasteful.
3. There is great inability in prayer.
4. Your old sins come out of their hiding-places.
5. A great want of power to grasp the promises.
6. A fear of death and dread of judgment.
Conclusion: In order to your comfort and peace—
1. Know that the Lord is God.
2. Humble yourself before Him.
3. Begin to pray.
4. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
11 So the Lord brought against them the army
commanders of the king of Assyria, who took
Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound
him with bronze shackles and took him to
Babylon.
BAR ES, "The Assyrian monuments contain no record of this expedition; but there
can be little doubt that it fell into the reign of Esarhaddon (2Ki_19:37 note), who reigned
at least thirteen years. Esarhaddon mentions Manasseh among his tributaries; and he
was the only king of Assyria who, from time to time, held his court at Babylon.
Among the thorns - Translate - “ with rings;” and see 2Ki_19:28 note.

31. GILL, "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, 2Ki_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.
HE RY, "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, 2Ch_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, 2Ki_20:17, 2Ki_
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.
JAMISON, "2Ch_33:11-19. He is carried unto Babylon, where he humbles himself

32. before God, and is restored to his kingdom.
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 dispatched 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 (1Sa_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
K&D, "As Manasseh would not hear the words of the prophets, the Lord brought upon
him the captains of the host of the king of Assyria. These “took him with hooks, and
bound him with double chains of brass, and brought him to Babylon.” ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּוח‬‫ח‬ ַ‫ב‬ ‫דוּ‬ ְⅴ ְ‫ל‬ִ‫י‬
signifies neither, they took him prisoner in thorns (hid in the thorns), nor in a place
called Chochim (which is not elsewhere found), but they took him with hooks. ַ‫ּוח‬‫ח‬
denotes the hook or ring which was drawn through the gills of large fish when taken
(Job_41:2), and is synonymous with ‫ח‬ ַ‫ח‬ (2Ki_19:28; Eze_19:4), a ring which was
passed through the noses of wild beasts to subdue and lead them. The expression is
figurative, as in the passages quoted from the prophets. Manasseh is represented as an
unmanageable beast, which the Assyrian generals took and subdued by a ring in the
nose. The figurative expression is explained by the succeeding clause: they bound him
with double chains. ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ַ ְ‫שׁ‬ ֻ‫ח‬ְ‫נ‬ are double fetters of brass, with which the feet of prisoners

33. were bound (2Sa_3:34; Jdg_16:21; 2Ch_36:6, etc.).
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 33:11. The Lord brought upon them the captains of the
host of the king of Assyria — Some suppose that Esar-haddon, the successor of
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is here meant, and that, in consequence of the royal
family failing in Babylon, he found means to bring that kingdom under his yoke
again; or that, by force of arms, or some other means, he recovered it from
Merodach-Baladan. They say that he held it thirteen years, and that it was during
this time that Manasseh was taken and carried captive to Babylon. Others think it
more probable that the king of Babylon is here called the king of Assyria, because
he had added Assyria to his empire, and that having been informed by his
ambassadors of the great riches which were in Hezekiah’s treasures at Jerusalem,
and being assured of Manasseh’s degeneracy from the piety of his father, and from
that God whose power alone made Hezekiah formidable, he thought this a fit season
to invade Manasseh’s kingdom, which the Jews say he did, in the twenty- second
year of his reign. Which took Manasseh among the thorns — In some thicket where
he thought to have hid himself from the Assyrians till he could make an escape: or,
as the Hebrew ‫,בחוחים‬ bachochim, may be rendered, with hooks, metaphorically
speaking; or, in his forts, that is, in one of them.
COFFMA , "This, of course, is information found nowhere else in the
Bible; and it was was once common among critics to reject this episode
as unhistorical. Fortunately, wiser scholars now accept what is
recorded here as authentic history. The Chronicler does not give us the
date in Manasseh's reign when this happened; but Ellison placed the
event very late in Manasseh's reign. "This explains why Manasseh's
repentance and reformation (2 Chronicles 33:12-17) are not mentioned
in Kings, and why they left no lasting impression."[1] This also explains
why the altars of the host of heaven were apparently not removed by
Manasseh. He was a vassal of Assyria and would have been afraid to
remove them. Such subservience of Manasseh to the Assyrian overlords
has been proved by the Babylonian inscriptions.[2]
In the light of all the facts, there is no reason whatever to doubt a single
word of what is recorded here. Jacob M. Myers also found nothing at
all improbable about what is written here.[3] "It may be taken for
granted that vassal kings were allowed to return to their countries after
being put under the threat of divine retribution with its terrible
consequences."[4]

34. J Barton Payne in Wycliffe Bible Commentary also dated this period of
Manasseh's conversion during the last six years of his reign. "It was
perhaps in 648 B.C., when Ashurbanipal overcame a four-year revolt
led by his brother in Babylon. Egypt took that opportunity to throw off
the Assyrian yoke, and Manasseh might have attempted the same thing
with less success. It was in that affliction that Manasseh humbled
himself. God sometimes has to drive men to their conversion."[5]
ELLICOTT, "(11) Wherefore.—And.
The captains of the host of the king of Assyria.—The generals of
Esarhaddon, or rather, perhaps, of Assurbanipal. The former, who
reigned from 681-668 B.C. , has recorded the fact that Manasseh was
his vassal. He says: “And I assembled the kings of the land of Hatti, and
the marge of the sea, Baal king of Tyre, Me-na-si-e (or Mi-in-si-e) king
of Ya-u-di (i.e., Judah), Qa-us-gabri, king of Edom,” &c. “Altogether,
twenty-two kings of the land of Hatti [Syria], the coast of the sea, and
the middle of the sea, all of them, I caused to hasten,” &c. Assurbanipal
has left a list which is identical with that of Esarhaddon, except that it
gives different names for the kings of Arvad and Ammon. It thus
appears that Manasseh paid tribute to him as well as to his father.
Schrader (K.A.T., p. 367, seq.) thinks that Manasseh was at least
suspected of being implicated along with the other princes of Phoenicia-
Palestine in the revolt of Assurbanipars brother Samar-sum-ukin (circ.
648-647 B.C. ) in which Elam, Gutium, and Meroë also participated;
and that he was carried to Babylon, to clear himself of suspicion, and to
give assurances of his fidelity to the great king.
Which took Manasseh among the thorns.—And they took Manasseh
prisoner with the hooks (ba-ḫôḫîm). The hooks might be such as the
Assyrian kings were wont to pass through the nostrils and lips of their
more distinguished prisoners. Comp. Isaiah 37:29, “I will put my hook
in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips;” and comp. Amos 4:2, “He will
take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks.” Comp.
also Job 41:2, “Canst thou bore his jaw with a hook?” [The LXX.,
Vulg., Targ. render the word “chains.” Syriac confuses the word with
chayyîm, “life,” and renders “took Manasseh in his life.”] Perhaps,
however, the meaning is, and they took Manasseh prisoner at Hohim.
There is no reason why Hohim should not be a local name, as well as

35. Coz (1 Chronicles 4:8).
And bound him with fetters.—With the double chain of bronze, as the
Philistines bound Samson (Judges 16:21). So Sennacherib relates:
“Suzubu king of Babylon, in the battle alive their hands took him; in
fetters of bronze they put him, and to my presence brought him. In the
great gate in the midst of the city of ineveh I bound him fast.” This
happened in 695 B.C., only a few years before the similar captivity of
Manasseh.
And carried him.—Caused him to go, or led him away.
To Babylon.—Where Assurbanipal was holding his court at the time, as
he appears to have done after achieving the overthrow of his brother
the rebellious viceroy, and assuming the title of king of Babylon himself.
PARKER, "What after this?
"Wherefore 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" ( 2 Chronicles 33:11).
The king had his way there. The wicked man is always weak. If this
word rendered "among the thorns" be not a proper name, then it has a
singular significance: the king of Assyria took Manasseh with hooks,
put a hook through his nostril, put a hook through his lip, and carried
him to Babylon. So have we seen an ox carried to the slaughter-house.
The man who was thus treated had despised remonstrance. The Lord
did not leap upon him at once. "He that being often reproved hardeneth
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Observe how the word "suddenly" comes in. It comes in after the
assurance that the reproof has been "often"—that is to say, the reproof
has been repeated in various forms, in various tones, under various
circumstances, and reproof having been driven back the Lord brings in
the punishment which cannot be averted.
POOLE, "Among the thorns; in some thicket where he thought to hide
himself from the Assyrians till he could make an escape, as the

36. Israelites formerly used to do, 1 Samuel 13:6. Or, with hooks; a
metaphorical expression. Or, in his forts, i.e. in one of them.
Carried him to Babylon; either therefore Esar-haddon, Sennacherib’s
successor, had recovered Babylon from Merodach-baladan; or rather,
the king of Babylon is here called
the king of Assyria, because at this time he had added Assyria to his
empire; who having been informed by his ambassadors of the great
riches which were in Hezekiah’s treasures at Jerusalem, which he was
desirous to enjoy; and withal, being assured of Manasseh’s degeneracy
from the piety and virtue of his father, and from that God whose power
alone made Hezekiah formidable, he thought this a fit season to invade
Manasseh’s kingdom; which he did with success.
PULPIT, "The contents of this and the following six verses (to the
seventeenth) are not in the parallel, though their place there is plain.
That parallel, however, supplies in its 2 Chronicles 33:16 a very forcible
narration of the evil conduct of Manasseh in Jerusalem itself, so that he
"filled" it with "innocent blood" from "one end to another." The King
of Assyria; i.e. either Esarhaddon, B.C. 680, or (though it is not
probable) his son, Assur-banipal, B.C. 667-647. Among the thorns; i.e.
with hooks or rings (so 2 Kings 19:28, where the same word is used; as
also in Exodus 35:22; Isaiah 37:29; Ezekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 19:9; Ezekiel
29:4; Ezekiel 38:4).
12 In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord
his God and humbled himself greatly before the
God of his ancestors.