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Bible Dictionaries
Manasseh
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or MANASSEH. 1. In MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] and AV [Note: Authorized Version.] of Judges 18:30 Manasseh is a scribal change for dogmatic purposes, the original being Moses (see Gershom, 1). 2. A son of Pahath-moab ( Ezra 10:30 [ 1E Esther 9:31 Manasseas]). 3. Son of Hashum ( Ezra 10:33 ). 4. 5. See next two articles.
MANASSEH. The firstborn son of Joseph, and full brother of Ephraim ( Genesis 41:51 f. [E [Note: Elohist.] ]), by Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On (v. 48 [J [Note: Jahwist.] ]).
The popular etymology makes the name a Pi’çl ptcp. of the verb nâshâh , to forget.’ Josephus ( Ant . II. vi. 1) adopts this without criticism, as do our Hebrew Lexicons. In the Assyrian inscriptions the name appears as Minsç, Menase . In Isaiah 65:11 the god Meni (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘Destiny’) is associated with Gad , the god of Fortune. Some scholars, consequently, equate Manasseh with Men-nasa = ‘the god Men seized.’ ‘Apparently Manasseh succeeded in establishing friendly relations with the Canaanites at an early date. His name points to such influences’ (Niebuhr, Gesch. d. Ebr. Zeit . p. 252; cf. Siegfried, ‘Gad-Meni u. Gad-Manasse’ in Ztschr. f. prot. Theol ., 1875, p. 366 f.). Hogg, who in EBi [Note: Encyclopædia Biblica.] , s.v ., discusses the name at length, appears to favour the participial form, but (following Land) connects it with the Arahic nasâ , ‘to inflict an injury.’ He thus brings it into relation with the story of Jacob’s wrestling with the angel ( Genesis 32:1-32 ). ‘It would appear,’ so runs the conclusion, ‘that in the original story the epithet Manasseh was a fitting title of Jacob himself, which might be borne by his worshippers as in the case of Gad.’ But it is extremely unlikely that Jacob was originally regarded as a deity, as Luther ( ZATW [Note: ATW Zeitschrift far die Alttest. Wissenschaft.] xxi. p. 68 ff.) also holds. The Babylonian form Ya‘qub-ilu found in the contract tablets of the period of Hammurabi (23rd cent. b.c.) and Jacdb-el (or -her ) found on the scarab of an Egyptian king of the Hyksos period, is not to be translated ‘Ya‘kub is god.’ As forms like Yakbar-ilu, Yamlik-ilu , etc., render probable, ilu is subject. Nevertheless, there may have been some original connexion between Manasseh and Jacob. Jacob’s name, we are told, was afterwards changed to Israel, and Manasseh is said to have been the elder brother of Ephraim, the name which later became almost synonymous with Israel, and, finally, in Judges 1:27-28 Manasseh and Israel appear to be used as equivalents. But where no better data are obtainable, we must confess ignorance as frankly as we reject the etymologizing tales of our sources.
In our oldest source bearing upon the early tribal settlement (Judges 5:1-31 ) the name of Manasseh does not appear, though that of Ephraim does. Machir there ( Judges 5:14 ) seems to take the place of Manasseh. In Genesis 50:23 (E [Note: Elohist.] ) he is the only son of Manasseh; so also Numbers 26:29; Numbers 26:34 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ), but in Joshua 17:1 b (perh. J [Note: Jahwist.] ) he is the firstborn of Manasseh. In Numbers 32:39; Numbers 32:41-42 ( Numbers 32:40 is not original) we have an excerpt from JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] added to P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s story of Reuben’s and Gad’s settlement on the East Jordan, which tells us that the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it. Jair, it is said, and Nobah, two other descendants of Manasseh, also look towns in Gilead, to which they gave their own names. But, according to Deuteronomy 3:13 , Moses, after completely exterminating the inhabitants, gave North Gilead, all Bashan, and Argob ‘to the half tribe of Manasseh’; cf. Joshua 13:29 ff. etc. In P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s account of the settlement of Reuben and Gad ( Numbers 32:1-42 ) there was nothing said originally of this half-tribe being associated with them. The whole story is told before the Manassites are brought in in Numbers 32:33 (cf. Joshua 13:21 ff. and ch. 17). The story of their early settlement on the East side is discredited by many scholars, who hold that the East was later conquered from the West. As we have seen in Judges 5:14 , where Machir takes the place of Manasseh, he appears to be in possession on the West; and Machir, the son of Manasseh, is said to have gone to Gilead and taken it ( Numbers 32:39 ), and if so, he must have operated from his original seat. In Joshua 17:14-18 we read of the complaint of the ‘children of Joseph’ to Joshua that he had given them (‘him’) only one lot, despite the fact that he was a great people. Nothing is said about any previous allotment by Moses on the East. Further, in Numbers 32:41 Bashan is conquered by Jair, who, according to Judges 10:3 , was a judge of Israel. The argument is strong but not cogent.
As we have already seen, the tribe on the West was represented by Machir (Judges 5:1-31 ). J [Note: Jahwist.] , the next oldest document, includes Ephraim and Manasseh in the phrase ‘sons of Joseph’ ( Joshua 16:1-4 ), ‘house of Joseph’ ( Joshua 17:17 [‘Ephr. and Man.’ is a gloss] Joshua 18:5 , Judges 1:22-23; Judges 1:25 ). One lot only is consequently assigned to them, the limits of which are roughly sketched in Joshua 16:1-3 , Joshua 17:1-18 gives Gilead and Bashan to Machir (making no mention of Jair and Nobah), and Joshua 17:2 begins to tell of the assignments to the remainder of the Manassite clans, but fails to do so. But the ‘clan’ names, Abiezer, Shechem, and the names of the cities appended show that they were on the West. It is clear from what is said of the cities which were in Issachar and Asher ( Joshua 17:11 ff.) that they were only ideally in Manasseh’s territory, and that the latter was confined on the north to the hill-country. Like the rest of the tribes, they ‘were not able to drive out the Canaanites.’ When they made their complaint to Joshua ( Joshua 17:14-18 ) that they were too cramped in their abode to better themselves, he sententiously replied that being a great people as they boasted, they could clear out the mountain forests and develop in that way, and so ultimately get the upper hand of the Canaanites in the plains. It should be said that the names of the rest of the sons of Manasseh, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, Shemida, as well as the five daughters of Zelophehad, the great-grandson of Machir, are probably all place-names, as some of them certainly are, and not personal names.
Whether Joseph was a tribe has been doubted, because there is no mention of it in Judges 5:1-31 , and the fact that the name Machir appears to be from the root mâchar , ‘to sell,’ has raised the question whether the story of Joseph’s sale into Egypt did not arise in connexion with it.
For the clans see Joshua 17:1-2 (J [Note: Jahwist.] ), Numbers 26:28-34 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ), 1 Chronicles 7:14-19; 1 Chronicles 2:21-23 .
The tribe, owing to its situation, had much to endure during the Syrian wars (Amos 1:3 , 2 Kings 10:33 ), and, according to 1 Chronicles 5:25 , the eastern half was deported (b.c. 743) by Tiglath-pileser iii. (see Gad). See also Tribes of Israel.
James A. Craig.
MANASSEH , son of Hezekiah, reigned longer than any king of his line fifty-five years, according to our sources ( 2 Kings 21:1 ). His reign was remarkable for the religious reaction against the reforms which had been made by Hezekiah. The record ( 2 Kings 21:2-9 ) is that he built again the altars which Hezekiah had destroyed, and erected altars for Baal, and made an ashçrah , as Ahab king of Israel had done, and that he worshipped the host of heaven and served them. In restoring the old altars he doubtless thought he was returning to the early religion of the nation, and the Baal whom he worshipped was probably identified in the minds of the people with the national God Jahweh. The ashçrah was a well-known accompaniment of the altars of Jahweh down to the time of Hezekiah. In all this Manasseh’s measures may be called conservative, while his worship of the ‘host of heaven’ was no doubt a State necessity owing to the Assyrian rule. The sacrifice of his son and the practice of witchcraft and magic, of which he is accused, were also sanctioned by ancient Israelitish custom. The reaction was accompanied by active persecution of the prophetic party, which can hardly surprise us, toleration being an unknown virtue. On account of these sins, Manasseh is represented by later writers as the man who filled the cup of Judah’s iniquity to overflowing, and who thus made the final catastrophe of the nation inevitable.
H. P. Smith.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Manasseh'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/m/manasseh.html. 1909.
