Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 21

Verses 1-26

2 Kings 21:0

Annotated Text

The remainder of the Second Book of Kings so strongly resembles former portions, and refers for amplification of its bare memoranda to the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, that it will be sufficient to present it as thus annotated:

1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign [therefore he was born during Hezekiah's dangerous illness], and reigned fifty and five years [a number confirmed by Josephus] in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah [in whom is my delight].

2. And he [falling under the influence of the chief Jewish nobles] did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

3. For he built up again the high places [where Jehovah was worshipped with idolatrous rites] which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. [Star-worship from this time became a favourite idolatry.]

4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord [not in the temple, but in the outer and inner courts].

6. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times [forbidden by the law ( Lev 19:26 )], and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards [forbidden ( Lev 19:31 )]: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

7. And he set a graven image of the grove [the carved work of the grove] that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said [see 2Sa 7:10-13 ; 1Ki 8:29 ] to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

8. Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

9. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

10. ¶ And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

11. Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

12. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria [I will punish Jerusalem as I punished Samaria, and her kings as the house of Ahab], and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down [a metaphor signifying that Jerusalem was to be wholly swept away].

14. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

15. Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. ["Manasseh's reign has been compared with some justice to that of Mary Tudor. The idolatrous party, which had remained sullen and discontented during the reforms of the preceding reign, came suddenly into power, and, burning with resentment, endeavoured to annihilate their adversaries by a furious persecution.... From end to end of Jerusalem were to be seen traces of the blood of the prophets.... According to tradition, Isaiah was among the first to perish."]

17. ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? [(1) He called his son Amon, or Ammon, after the noted Egyptian god. (2) He not only allowed the establishment of human sacrifices to Molech, but dedicated to the purpose a special place in the valley of Hinnom, known as Tophet. (3) He removed the Ark of the Covenant from the Temple. (4) He destroyed all the copies of the law which he could find.]

18. And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza [the catacomb of David was probably full]: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

19. ¶ Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshulle-meth [friend of God], the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

20. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did.

21. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:

22. And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

23. ¶ And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.

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

25. Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

26. And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.