Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven. Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever. I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to leave the land that I assigned to your fathers, if only they are careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses—all the laws, statutes, and judgments.” So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God. After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, along with all the altars he had built on the temple mount and in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and he told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God. As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, they are indeed written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers. And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried at his palace. And his son Amon reigned in his place.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven. Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My Name." In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever. I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites. And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’” Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD. As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.
Significance
These parallel accounts present the most dramatically divergent portrayal of any king. In Kings, Manasseh is unredeemed evil — he "shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end" (2 Kgs 21:16), and his sins are cited as the ultimate cause of Judah's exile (2 Kgs 23:26-27). The Chronicler preserves the same catalogue of sins but adds a stunning reversal: the Assyrians captured Manasseh, "put a hook in his nose" (בַּחֹחִים, bachochim), took him to Babylon, where "in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself" (2 Chr 33:12). God heard his prayer and restored him. This addition — absent from Kings — makes Manasseh a paradigm of repentance, showing that even the worst sinner can find mercy.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression + Contrast — Chronicles reproduces Kings' catalogue of Manasseh's sins almost clause for clause (rebuilt high places, Baal altars, Asherah, host of heaven in the temple courts, child sacrifice, sorcery: 2 Kings 21:2-9 // 2 Chronicles 33:2-9), then advances the history for the post-exilic reader by adding what Kings never records — captivity in Babylon, earnest self-humbling, and restoration to Jerusalem (33:11-13) — setting this repentance-and-return account in deliberate contrast to Kings' unrelieved condemnation that ends only in the promise of exile (21:12-16).
Suggest a correction or idea
Spotted a broken link, a typo, a wrong reference — or have an idea that would help? Tell us. Keeping the web of Scripture accurate is a shared work.
