Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 33:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Chronicles 33:5. He built altars — See the principal facts in this chapter explained in the notes on 2 Kings 21:1-17.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The evil of Manasseh and Amon (33:1-25)

Manasseh receives the full blame for destroying all the good work that his father had done. Over his long reign of fifty-five years he dragged the nation down to its lowest spiritual condition ever. Although he made a brief attempt at reform towards the end of his life, he could not undo the damage of the previous half a century. Nor was any king after him able to reform Judah sufficiently to save it from judgment. Like Israel, Judah would go into captivity because of its wickedness (33:1-20; see notes on 2 Kings 21:1-18). If any trace of Manasseh’s reform remained after his death, Amon soon removed it (21-25; see notes on 2 Kings 21:19-26).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE WICKED REIGNS OF MANASSEH AND ANTON
XIII. MANASSEH (687-642 B.C.)

All of the material in this chapter is parallel with 2 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.

A SUMMARY OF MANASSEH'S EVIL RULE OVER JUDAH

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah 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 Jehovah. He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced augury, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God 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, will I put my name for ever: neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses. And Manasseh seduced Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel. And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed."

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 often noted the difficulties in the chronology of Israel's kings.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 33

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, he reigned for fifty-five years ( 2 Chronicles 33:1 )

One of the longest. His was the longest reign of any king.

He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord ( 2 Chronicles 33:2 ),

Now here you go. Hezekiah had restored the temple, rebuilt the thing, re-established the worship. Things were going good, God was blessing. They really became strong and prosperous again. And here his son takes over now. Twelve years old when he takes over. He does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord.

like to the heathen, that the LORD had cast out of the land before the children of Israel had come in. He built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, he raised up the altars for Baalim, he made the groves, worshipped all the host of heaven, served them. He built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. He built altars for all of the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom ( 2 Chronicles 33:2-6 ):

So the same thing that Ahaz his grandfather had done.

also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger ( 2 Chronicles 33:6 ).

These things that he did, as far as the enchantments, witchcraft, familiar spirits, wizards, these are the things that Isaiah speaks out against when their calamity came, and Isaiah was put to death, actually, by Manasseh. And at the time of Manasseh's doing all these things and the judgment of Babylon was predicted, Isaiah said, "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee" ( Isaiah 47:13 ).

So these are the things that Manasseh did. He started following after his horoscope and astrologers and all of these people. And, of course, it might be good until you're really in trouble and then it's no help at all.

So he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them ( 2 Chronicles 33:7-8 ),

But here he is, disobeying.

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. And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to the people: but they would not hearken ( 2 Chronicles 33:9-10 ).

God spoke; they would not hearken. And, of course, in the thirty-sixth chapter God said, "I sent the messengers and all but they would not hearken." They mocked Him.

Wherefore ( 2 Chronicles 33:11 )

And, of course, Manasseh ordered Isaiah sawed in two. Just stretched him out and took a saw and cut him right in two.

Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, bound him with fetters, 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 he 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 Jehovah was God ( 2 Chronicles 33:11-13 ).

So Manasseh had a conversion experience. It was a tough way. He was taken captive by the king of Assyria who drug him through these thorns, gave him a rough time, brought him as a captive to Babylon. And while he was there, he began to call out upon God. And, of course, God is so good. God was merciful. God heard his prayer and God brought him back again to Jerusalem. And from that time on, Manasseh was a changed man. But he was not able to undo the folly of his earlier years. He did start bringing about spiritual reforms.

He took away the strange gods, and the idols out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and [so forth]. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, unto the LORD their God only ( 2 Chronicles 33:15-17 ).

So there was a partial return unto God. At his death his son Amon began to reign.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, he reigned for only two years. He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, even as his father Manasseh: for he sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them ( 2 Chronicles 33:21-22 );

Which means that Manasseh didn't get rid of them all.

He humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. And his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house ( 2 Chronicles 33:23-24 ).

And so his son Josiah began to reign.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

N. Manasseh 33:1-20

Manasseh was one of the few examples of an evil Judean king who became good. Nevertheless his many years of wickedness made captivity inevitable for Judah (2 Kings 23:26; Jeremiah 15:4).

"Manasseh’s acts are . . . a calculated attempt to throw off the lordship of Yahweh, to claim independence from the Covenant, to drive him from the land which he had given Israel." [Note: McConville, p. 250.]

"If Manasseh had searched the Scriptures for practices that would most anger the Lord and then intentionally committed them, he could not have achieved that result any more effectively than he did." [Note: Thompson, p. 368.]

The Babylonians captured Manasseh but released him after he turned back to Yahweh. The Assyrian king in view (2 Chronicles 33:11) was Ashurbanipal. [Note: Cf. Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, p. 435.]

His experience would have been an encouragement to the returned exiles who first read Chronicles. If God had shown mercy to Manasseh and had reestablished him in the land, He could do the same for them (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14). The writer emphasized the results of the king’s repentance. He magnified the grace of God rather than the rebellion of the sinner.

". . . in terms of the experience of an individual, Manasseh furnishes the most explicit and dramatic example of the efficacy of repentance in the whole of the Chronicler’s work." [Note: Williamson, 1 and 2 . . ., p. 389. ]

On a larger scale, the reigns of Ahaz (ch. 28) and Hezekiah (chs. 29-32) illustrate the same thing: prefiguring exile (Ahaz) and restoration (Hezekiah).

"Manasseh’s sin is repeated, in essence, whenever man uses or manipulates his fellow-men for some supposedly higher good than their own welfare-or, indeed, uses any part of God’s creation for purposes other than those which God intends." [Note: Wilcock, p. 257.]

"The Chronicler is as concerned as his predecessor [the writer of Kings] was to point out the effects of sin. Both historians note the moral consequences of the actions of men. But the Chronicler regularly deals in immediate consequences: ’the soul that sins shall die’ (Ezekiel 18:4; Ezekiel 18:20). Though it is true that one man’s sin can cause others to suffer sixty years after he is dead and gone, this is not the kind of lesson which Chronicles as a whole aims to teach . . . What Manasseh’s sin leads to is not the fall of Jerusalem long after his death, as Samuel/Kings say, but ’distress’ for him himself [sic], as he is taken by Assyrian forces ’with hooks . . . and fetters of bronze’ to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11-12)." [Note: Ibid., p. 258.]

In spite of Manasseh’s repentance, the people still sacrificed at the high places, though only to Yahweh (2 Chronicles 33:17).

"A half century of paganism could not be overcome by a half-dozen years of reform." [Note: Payne, "Second Chronicles," p. 417]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:   2 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.   3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.   4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.   5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.   6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.   7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:   8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.   9 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.   10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

      We have here an account of the great wickedness of Manasseh. It is the same almost word for word with that which we had 2 Kings 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 (2 Chronicles 33:2; 2 Chronicles 33:2), ruined the established religion, unravelled his father's glorious reformation (2 Chronicles 33:3; 2 Chronicles 33:3), profaned the house of God with his idolatry (2 Chronicles 33:4; 2 Chronicles 33:5), dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the devil's lying oracles his guides and his counsellors, 2 Chronicles 33:6; 2 Chronicles 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 (2 Chronicles 33:8; 2 Chronicles 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 (2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Chronicles 33:9); for, if the uncle an 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,2 Chronicles 33:10; 2 Chronicles 33:10. We may here admire the grace of God in speaking to them, and their obstinacy in turning a deaf ear to him, that either their badness did not quite turn away his goodness, but still he waited to be gracious, or that his goodness did not turn them from their badness, but still they hated to be reformed. Now from this let us learn, 1. That it is no new thing, but a very sad thing, for the children of godly parents to turn aside from that good way of God in which they have been trained. Parents may give many good things to their children, but they cannot give them grace. 2. Corruptions in worship are such diseases of the church as it is very apt to relapse into again even when they seem to be cured. 3. The god of this world has strangely blinded men's minds, and has a wonderful power over those that are led captive by him; else he could not draw them from God, their best friend, to depend upon their sworn enemy.