2 Kings 21 - Introduction
XXI. (1-18) THE REIGN OF MANASSEH IN JUDAH. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 33)... [ Continue Reading ]
XXI. (1-18) THE REIGN OF MANASSEH IN JUDAH. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 33)... [ Continue Reading ]
MANASSEH. — This king was a tributary to Esar-haddon and Assurbanipal successively. (See Schrader, _Keilinschr.,_ pp. 354-357, who says: M The conclusion is imperative that during the last period of the reign of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, certainly during the first period of the latter, Manasseh w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL. — Perhaps under the pernicious influence of his courtiers. (Comp. the case of Rehoboam.) AFTER THE ABOMINATIONS. — Comp. Deuteronomy 29:17; 1 Kings 11:5. THE HEATHEN... CAST. — _The nations... dispossessed_ — _i.e.,_ the peoples of Canaan (2 Kings 17:8).... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE BUILT UP AGAIN. — The LXX. and Vulg. imitate the Hebrew idiom, _and he returned and built — i.e., and he rebuilt._ THE HIGH PLACES... ALTARS FOR BAAL... A GROVE (_an Ashçrah_). — “The idols, the sun-pillars, the _ashçrim,_ the sacred trees, and all the other pagan or half-pagan symbols, so p... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BUILT ALTARS — _i.e.,_ idolatrous altars (2 Kings 21:5). IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD — _i.e.,_ in the two courts of it. This verse contains the _general_ statement of what is _particularised_ in 2 Kings 21:5. IN JERUSALEM WILL I PUT MY NAME. — See 1 Kings 14:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE TWO COURTS. — Even in the inner and more sacred court, where the sacrifices were offered to Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE MADE HIS SON... — The LXX. has _his sons;_ so Chronicles. DEALT WITH FAMILIAR SPIRITS..._ — made a necro-mancer_ — i.e., formally appointed such a person as a court official (1 Kings 12:31). (See the Notes on chaps. 16:3, 17:17, and especially 2 Chronicles 33:6.) “In the time from Manasseh... [ Continue Reading ]
A GRAVEN IMAGE OF THE GROVE. — _The graven image of the Ashçrah_ (2 Kings 21:3). IN THE HOUSE OF WHICH THE LORD SAID... — See 1 Kings 8:16; 1 Kings 9:3. It is meant that the Asherah was erected within the Temple itself, probably in the holy place — an act which was the climax of Manasseh’s impiety.... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER WILL I MAKE THE FEET _(FOOT_) OF ISRAEL MOVE (_wander_) ... — Comp. the promise in 2 Samuel 7:10. The reference is to the migration to Egypt; and the thought is that the permanent possession of the Promised Land depends on the permanent adherence of the nation to Jehovah only. ONLY IF. — _I... [ Continue Reading ]
SEDUCED THEM. — _Led them astray._ Chronicles renders the same verb _made them to err._ TO DO MORE EVIL. — To _do the evil more..._ The LXX. _adds:_ “in the eyes of Jehovah.” The idolatry of Judah was worse than that of the Canaanites, because _they_ worshipped only their national gods, whereas Jud... [ Continue Reading ]
BY HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS ... — This general expression is used because the historian found no name assigned in his source. It is possible that Isaiah was still living under Manasseh, and protested in the manner here described against his apostacy. More probably, however, the protests in question... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HATH DONE. — The _and_ is not in the Hebrew, though the Syriac and Arabic supply it. It is not wanted, for the sense is, _namely, because he hath done wickedly,_ &c. THE AMORITES. — A general designation of the native races of Canaan, just as in Homer Achaeans. Danaans, &c., in turn represent t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER HEARETH OF IT. — Literally, _his hearers._ Many MSS. And the Heb. margin read _her_ (_i.e.,_ its) _hearer._ BOTH HIS EARS SHALL TINGLE. — The dreadful news shall affect him like a sharp piercing sound. (See the same metaphor in 1 Samuel 3:11; Jeremiah 19:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL STRETCH OVER JERUSALEM ... — Comp. Amos 7:7; Isaiah 34:11; Lamentations 2:8. The sense is, I will deal with Jerusalem by the same rigorous rule of judgment as I have dealt already with Samaria. The figure of the measuring line and plummet suggests the idea that Jerusalem should be levelle... [ Continue Reading ]
FORSAKE. — Or, _cast off;_ LXX., ἀπώσομαι. Judges 6:13. THE REMNANT OF MINE INHERITANCE. — The Northern Kingdom had already been depopulated. A PREY AND A SPOIL. — Isaiah 42:22.; Jeremiah 30:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE PROVOKED ME. — _Have been provoking; i.e.,_ continually. THEIR FATHERS CAME FORTH. — The LXX. has probably preserved the original reading: _I brought forth their fathers. _... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER MANASSEH SHED INNOCENT BLOOD ... — The narrative is taken up again from 2 Kings 21:9. The “innocent blood” shed by Manasseh was that of the prophets of Jehovah and their followers. “As the nation fell back into the grooves of its old existence, ancient customs began to reassert their sway.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE REST OF THE ACTS OF MANASSEH ... — See 2 Chronicles 33:11 for the story of his captivity, repentance, and restoration, which is now allowed by the best critics to be genuine history, though at one time it was the fashion to consider it an edifying fiction of the chronicler’s.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE GARDEN OF HIS OWN HOUSE, IN THE GARDEN OF UZZA. — His house was apparently not the royal palace built by Solomon, but another which Manasseh had built for himself. Thenius argues that the garden of Uzza lay in the Tyropœon, at the foot of the spur of Ophel. (Comp. 2 Samuel 6:8; 1 Chronicles 8... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REIGN OF AMON (2 Kings 21:19). (19) AMON. — The Vatican LXX. reads Αμώς_,_ Amos (So Josephus Άμωσός). The name is perhaps that of the Egyptian sun-god _Amen_ (Greek Αμμών), as Anion’s father was an idolater. MESHULLEMETH. — Feminine form of Meshullam, “friend” _i.e._ of God; Isaiah 42:19. Ewal... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE FORSOOK THE LORD ..._ — And he forsook Jehovah, the God of his fathers;_ abandoned his worship altogether, and gave himself up to foreign superstitions which his father had introduced. It is noteworthy that the long reign of Manasseh-Amon is described by the sacred historian simply on the sid... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERVANTS OF AMON — _i.e.,_ according to the common use of the phrase, his courtiers or palace officials. Nothing further is known of the circumstances of the murder. For a conjecture, see 2 Chronicles 33:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
(24)THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND. — Thenius thinks these are the militia, as in 2 Kings 11:14; but in neither case does his opinion appear likely.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN HIS SEPULCHRE ... — Which he had caused to be prepared near his father’s (2 Kings 21:16).... [ Continue Reading ]