_A.M. 3306. B.C. 698._ The wicked reign of Manasseh, 2 Chronicles 33:1. His captivity, prayer, and reformation, 2 Chronicles 33:11. The conclusion of his reign, 2 Chronicles 33:18. The wicked reign and death of Amon, 2 Chronicles 33:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Manasseh was twelve years old_, &c. This and the following verses, to 2 Chronicles 33:11, are taken out of 2 Kings 21:1, &c., where the reader will find them explained.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria_ Some suppose that Esar-haddon, the successor of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is here meant, and that, in consequence of the royal family failing in Babylon, he found means to bring that kingdom under his yoke again; or tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God_ Being “deprived of his authority and liberty, and secluded from his evil counsellors and companions, and from all his pleasures, in chains, and in a prison, without any other prospect than of ending his days in that wretched situation, he had... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God_ He was convinced, by his own experience, of God's power, justice, and goodness; that Jehovah alone was the true God, and not those idols which he had worshipped, by which he had received great hurt and no good. He might have known this at a less expense,... [ Continue Reading ]
_After this he built a wall without the city of David_ He repaired and strengthened that wall which Hezekiah had built, (2 Chronicles 32:5,) and which, possibly, the king of _Assyria_, or of _Babylon_ rather, when he last took Jerusalem, had caused to be thrown down, either wholly or in part. _On th... [ Continue Reading ]
_He took away the strange gods_ The images of them, and that _idol_, whatever it was, which he had set up with so much solemnity _in the house of the Lord. And all the altars_ The idolatrous altars, as detestable things, loathing them as much, it is to be hoped, as ever he had loved them. _And he re... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still_, &c. “Rabbi Kimchi observes very well here, that though Manasseh's repentance might be sincere, yet it was attended with a melancholy circumstance, which ought to sound in the ear of every one invested with power, His example and authority easily seduce... [ Continue Reading ]
_The words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord_ The reproofs they gave him for his sin, and their exhortations to repentance. Let sinners consider, that how little notice soever they take of them, an account is kept of the words of the seers, that speak to them from God, to admoni... [ Continue Reading ]
_His prayer also_ Which is twice mentioned as remarkable. We have a prayer which, it is pretended, he made in prison. The church does not receive it as canonical; but it has a place among the apocryphal pieces, and, in our collection, stands before the books of Maccabees. The Greek church has receiv... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they buried him in his own house_ Not in _the sepulchres of the kings._ He was buried privately, and nothing of that honour was done him, at his death, that was done to his father. Penitents may recover their comfort sooner than their credit.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He did that which was evil, as did Manasseh his father_ That is, as Manasseh had done in the days of his apostacy. They who think the wickedness of Amon an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent, forget how many good kings had wicked sons. Manasseh, however, seems to have been very deficient i... [ Continue Reading ]
_And humbled not himself_ &c. He fell, like his father, but did not rise again like him. It is not so much _sin_, as _impenitence_ in sin, that ruins men; not so much that they have offended, as that they do not humble themselves for, and forsake their offences; not the disease, but the neglect of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_His servants conspired against him_ He rebelled against God, and his own servants rebelled against him, and that when he had reigned but two years. Thus, though they were wicked, God was righteous. Perhaps when he sinned, as his father did, in the beginning of his days, he promised himself that he... [ Continue Reading ]