2 Chronicles 33:1-20

2 Chronicles 33:1-20

[1] Manasseh  was twelve  years  old  when he began to reign,  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  his father  had broken down,  and he reared up  altars  for Baalim,  and made  groves,  and worshipped  all the host  of heaven,  and served  [4] Also he built  altars  in the house  of 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] 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,  had said  to David  and to Solomon  his son,  In this house,  and in Jerusalem,  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  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.  [11] 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,  him to Babylon.  [12] And when he was in affliction,  he besought  the LORD  his God,  and humbled  himself greatly  before  the God  of his fathers,  [13] And prayed  unto him: and he was intreated  of him, and heard  his supplication,  and brought him again  to Jerusalem  into his kingdom.  Then Manasseh  knew  that the LORD  he was God.  [14] 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,  and compassed  about Ophel,  and raised it up  a very great height,  and put  captains  of war  in all the fenced  cities  of Judah.  [15] And he took away  the strange  gods,  and the idol  out of the house  of the LORD,  and all the altars  that he had built  in the mount  of the house  of the LORD,  and in Jerusalem,  and cast  them out  of the city.  [16] the altar  of the LORD,  and sacrificed  thereon peace  offerings  and thank offerings,  and commanded  Judah  to serve  the LORD  God  of Israel.  [17] Nevertheless  the people  did sacrifice  still in the high places,  yet unto the LORD  their God  [18] Now the rest  of the acts  of Manasseh,  and his prayer  unto his God,  and the words  of the seers  that spake  to him in the name  of the LORD  God  of Israel,  behold, they are written in the book  of the kings  of Israel.  [19] His prayer  also, and how God was intreated  of him, and all his sin,  and his trespass,  and the places  wherein he built  high places,  and set up  groves  and graven images,  before  he was humbled:  behold, they are written  among the sayings  [20] So Manasseh  slept  with his fathers,  and they buried  him in his own house:  and Amon  his son  reigned  in his stead.

What does 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

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." [1]
"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." [2]
The Babylonians captured Manasseh but released him after he turned back to Yahweh. The Assyrian king in view ( 2 Chronicles 33:11) was Ashurbanipal. [3]
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." [4]
On a larger scale, the reigns of Ahaz (ch28) and Hezekiah (chs29-32) 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." [3]
"The Chronicler is as concerned as his predecessor [6] 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 [7], as he is taken by Assyrian forces "with hooks ... and fetters of bronze" to Babylon ( 2 Chronicles 33:11-12)." [8]
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." [9]