2 Kings 21:1-9. Accession of Manasseh king of Judah. His excessive idolatries (2 Chronicles 33:1-9) 1. _Manasseh_was _twelve years old_ -At last, some three years after his recovery, Hezekiah hath a son: but such a one, as, if he could have foreseen, orbity had been a blessing" (Bp Hall). _fifty a... [ Continue Reading ]
_after the abominations of the heathen_ He followed all the idolatrous practices of the nations of Canaan, but as is said below, in verse 2, it was greater sin in him than in them, because he sinned in spite of knowledge.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he built_up _again the high places_ The R.V. omits -up". On Hezekiah's destruction of the high places, see 2Ch 30:14; 2 Chronicles 31:1. _and he reared up altars for Baal_ The Chronicler says for -the Baalim", by which is most likely intended the various aspects or attributes under which Baal w... [ Continue Reading ]
_he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which_ R.V. WHEREOF &c. It seems most likely that the following verse explains what is meant by this. The altars were in the courts of the temple, not within the temple building. Azariah had intruded himself within the holy place (2 Chronicles 26:16). Ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_the two courts of the house of the Lord_ On the two courts of the temple, spoken of respectively as -the inner" or -higher" court, or -the court of the priests, and -the great court" which must have enclosed the inner, see note on 1 Kings 6:36.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he made his son_ The LXX. represents -sons" here, and the Chronicler has the plural in the parallel passage, -He caused his _children_to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom". Probably the expression in Chronicles only means that he practised this Moloch-worship, and the plu... [ Continue Reading ]
_A graven image of the grave_ R.V. THE GRAVEN IMAGE OF ASHERAH. Though usually of wood, such images were also made of silver and carved in stone. The image in question here would be specially grand in view of the position it was to occupy. _the Lord said to David_ For the words to David cf. 2 Samue... [ Continue Reading ]
_neither will I make_[R.V. CAUSE] _the feet of Israel move_ R.V. TO WANDER. The verb has the notion of a restless unsettled state. It is used (Genesis 4:12; Genesis 4:14) of Cain as a -vagabond". _only if_ R.V. IF ONLY. At the end of this clause there are not two sets of commands spoken of. -That w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than &c._ R.V. TO DO THAT WHICH IS EVIL MORE THAN, &c. The R.V. represents the Hebrew more closely. The phrase in Chronicles is -to err _and_to do worse than the heathen". For Judah sinned against light and knowledge.... [ Continue Reading ]
God's message of punishment (2 Chronicles 33:10) 10. _the Lord spake_ The Chronicler says God's warnings were sent both to the king and to his people but they would not hearken.... [ Continue Reading ]
_all that the Amorites_ The Amorites are put for the inhabitants of Canaan generally, though strictly the Amorites, with the Hittites and the Jebusites, were the mountaineer portion of the people, whilst the Canaanites dwelt by the sea and by the Jordan. See Numbers 13:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
_therefore_ Here again the LXX. translates the Hebrew word by οὐχ οὑτῶς. See note on 2 Kings 1:3. _I_am _bringing_[R.V. I BRING] such _evil_ The R.V. prints -such" in ordinary type. For the expression -the ears shall tingle" cf. 1 Samuel 3:11; Jeremiah 19:3. In both these passages the phrase is use... [ Continue Reading ]
_the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab_ The figures are taken from the occupation of the builder. The builder employs line and plummet that he may carry out his work exactly according to the plan prescribed. But here the pattern is one of utter destruction, which God Himself thre... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will forsake_[R.V. CAST OFF] _the remnant_ -Forsake" need not necessarily imply -a punishment that has been deserved" which is what is here intended. Hence R.V. has substituted -cast off" or -reject" in many instances. Cf. Judges 6:13; Jeremiah 15:16; Jeremiah 23:33; Jeremiah 23:39, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
that _which_was [R.V. IS] _evil_ As the words are God's the present is the more appropriate tense.... [ Continue Reading ]
Other wickedness of Manasseh. His death (2 Chronicles 33:18-20) 16. _Manasseh shed innocent blood very much_ This is alluded to again in 2 Kings 24:4 as the cause of God's continued anger against Judah. It is singular that the Chronicler makes no special mention of this particular offence. Josephus... [ Continue Reading ]
_the rest of the acts of Manasseh_ The compiler of Kings says no word about Manasseh's repentance, which forms a considerable part of his history in Chronicles (2 Chronicles 33:12-19). There we read that in his distress he besought the Lord and the Lord heard him and brought him back out of Babylon.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the garden of his own house_ See note on 2 Kings 20:21 above.... [ Continue Reading ]
Amon king of Judah. His wicked reign and death (2 Chronicles 33:21-25) 19. _Jotbah_ This place is not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. It is generally thought to be the same as _Jotbath_or _Jotbathah_, mentioned (Numbers 33:33; Deuteronomy 10:7) as a station of the Israelites in their wanderings.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as his father Manasseh did_ We can see from the notice of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:17 that his repentance did not undo all the evil he had brought into the nation. -The people did sacrifice still in the high places, _yet_unto the Lord their God only". And on Amon, his son, the reformation of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_served the idols that his father served_ i.e. Making again the same sort of graven images, which we must suppose Manasseh in his repentance had broken in pieces.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and he forsook the Lord God_ The Chronicler says -Amon trespassed more and more.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the servants of Amon conspired against him_ The servants must be the court officers who were close about the king. The place where he was killed, -his own house", shews this, and the present destruction of Amon's murderers by -the people of the land" proves that it was no popular movement against t... [ Continue Reading ]
_in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza_ See above, verse 18. This was evidently a new burial-place contrived for themselves by the kings, in close neighbourhood to the royal palace.... [ Continue Reading ]