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Two accounts of his reign
The reign of Manasseh is recorded in Kings (2 Kg 21), and in Chronicles (2 Chr 33:1-20). Both emphasise the evil idolatrous practices he indulged in, reversing the reforms of his father Hezekiah. The account in Kings includes God’s declaration of judgement on Judah and Jerusalem (2 Kg 21:10-15), probably because the fulfilment of this was still in the future at the time of writing.
Chronicles includes several important additional pieces of information about his life, particularly his capture by the Assyrians, his repentance and the reforms he conducted following his release from captivity. It appears that Chronicles uses additional sources of information than the normal annals, or court records, including the records of the seers (2 Chr 33:19).
Family line
Manasseh was the son of King Hezekiah and his wife Hephzibah, who became the queen mother (2 Kg 21:1).
The longest reign
Manasseh was the fourteenth king of Judah, who became king at the age of twelve, and reigned for fifty-five years, the longest reign of any of the kings of Judah (2 Kg 21:1, 2 Chr 33:1).
There was probably a regency with his father Hezekiah from around 696 to 686 BC, before he ruled alone from around 686 to 642 BC. He was succeeded by his son Amon, who was assassinated by his servants two years later (2 Kg 21:18-26) before Josiah became king at the age of eight.
An Assyrian vassal
During his reign, Judah was loyal vassal state of Assyria. This had been the situation since the reign of Ahaz. Assyria was ruled by its last powerful king, Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC). After the conquest of Thebes in upper Egypt in 663 BC, Assyria came to its greatest territorial extent, before declining towards the end of his reign.
According to Assyrian vassal treaties of Esarhaddon, Manasseh was one of the twenty-two vassal kings who had pay tribute in the form of stone and timber for Esarhaddon’s palace in Nineveh for a special event in 672 BC. All these vassal kings had to pledge loyalty to Esarhaddon’s son and appointed crown prince, Ashurbanipal, and kiss his feet.
The worst of the worst
Being a vassal king under the control of Assyria meant that Manasseh and the nation of Judah were obliged to worship Assyrian gods. Failure to do so would be seen as rebellion by the Assyrians.
To keep the peace and to avoid severe punishment from Assyria, Manasseh reversed the reforms of his father Hezekiah, rebuilding the high places, erecting altars for Baal, and making a sacred pole and worshipping the sun, moon and stars (2 Kg 21:3). His reign was a vain attempt at appeasing Assyria, and characterised by a complete failure to trust in God.
In the Kings account Manasseh is described as following the ways of Ahab, king of Israel, worshipping and serving the host of heaven (2 Kg 21:3b). Through his marriage to Jezebel, the
worship of Baal spread widely in the northern kingdom. Through their daughter Athaliah, it also spread to Judah through a marriage alliance.
Sacrificing his sons
The accounts in both Kings and Chronicles describe his worst sin of burning his son, or sons, as a sacrifice in the valley of the son of Hinnom (2 Kg 21:6, 2 Chr 33:6). This is referred to as making his son pass through the fire, as part of the worship of Molech (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5), the abomination of the Ammonites (1 Kg 11:7).
It is important to recognise the spiritual significance of this dreadful action. His son would be the heir to the throne of Judah, but also the next in the line which would ultimately lead to the Messiah (Matt 1:10).
Soothsaying, mediums and wizards
Manasseh also practised a variety of occult ways of divination to determine the future, probably learnt from his Assyrian masters (2 Kg 21:6). He is condemned for leading the people astray, encouraging or forcing them to follow his practices (2 Kg 21:9).
Shedding innocent blood
In addition to the other evils, in the Book of Kings Manasseh is recorded as shedding very much innocent blood (2 Kg 21:16). Anyone who protested against his many evil practices would almost certainly be silenced by being put to death. One of these would be the prophet Isaiah, who had frequently declared God’s judgement on Judah during his ministry.
Idol in the temple
In deliberate defiance of God, Manasseh even constructed a carved image of the goddess Asherah and set it up in God’s holy temple, the place where God had chosen to dwell forever (2 Kg 21:7, 2 Chr 33:7-8). However, during his later reforms this was removed (2 Chr 33:15).
This image, together with Manasseh’s other actions, which were more evil than other nations greatly angered God.
The tipping point for Judah
The reign of Manasseh was so evil that God pronounced judgement on Judah, and announced the immanent destruction of the nation.
“The LORD said by his servants the prophets, ‘Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, as done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt, even to this day’” (2 Kg 21:10-15).
This judgement was delayed by the reforms introduced by his grandson Josiah, but these are often considered to have been too little and too late. The inevitable result was the fall of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon and the exile.
Martyrdom of Isaiah
Jewish tradition from the 'Ascension of Isaiah' claims that Isaiah was martyred during the reign of Manasseh, by being sawn in half with a wooden saw (Heb 11:37 may refer to this). The tradition says that he was hiding in a hollow tree, and the tree was sawn down using a wooden saw with Isaiah hiding in it. This tradition was well-respected by some of the early Christian writers.
"On account of these visions, therefore, Beliar was wroth with Isaiah, and he dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and he sawed him in sunder with a wooden saw. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, Belchira stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because of Isaiah. And Belchira, with the aid of Mechembechus, stood up before Isaiah, [laughing] deriding; And Belchira said to Isaiah: 'Say, "I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise the ways of Manasseh are good and right. And the ways also of Belchira and of his associates are good." And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder. But Isaiah was (absorbed) in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them (not). And Belchira spake thus to Isaiah: "Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their hearts, and I will compel Manasseh and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence thee. And Isaiah answered and said: "So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accused be thou and all they powers and all thy house. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body." And they seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wooden saw. And Manasseh and Belchira and the false prophets and the princes and the people [and] all stood looking on. And to the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in sunder: "Go ye to the region of Tyre and Sidon; for me only hath God mingled the cup." And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain. This, Beliar did to Isaiah through Belchira and Manasseh; for Sammael was very wrathful against Isaiah from the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, on account of the things which he had seen regarding the Beloved. And on account of the destruction of Sammael, which he had seen through the Lord, while Hezekiah his father was still king. And he did according to the will of Satan." (Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-16)
Captivity in Assyria
According to the account in Chronicles, after warnings from God were ignored, Manasseh was taken captive in manacles and fetters by the Assyrian army and taken to Babylon (2 Chr 33:10-13), which was under control of the Assyrians at that time. It is possible that Manasseh was suspected of supporting a rebellion led by Shamash-shum-ukin, the king of Babylon, against his brother, Ashurbanipal, in an attempt to take the empire for himself.
In the KJV, manacles is translated ‘among the thorns’. It is suggested that this may mean that Manasseh was taken away with a fish-hook through his nose or lips. It is possible that one of the kings portrayed on the victory stele of Esarhaddon was Manasseh. The Assyrians were renowned for their cruelty, so it is likely that Manasseh was tortured, and possibly blinded.
Repentance of Manasseh
While imprisoned in Babylon, Manasseh humbled himself before God and asked for God’s favour. God heard his prayer and restored him to Jerusalem and his kingdom (2 Chr 33:10-13).
Reforms after his release
The account in Chronicles also records that following his release and return to Jerusalem, Manasseh increased the military defences of the land by building a high outer wall around Jerusalem, and assigning army commanders to the fortified cities of Judah (2 Chr 33:14). He also removed the foreign gods and idols from the temple and surrounding mountains and restored the altar of the LORD in the temple, so sacrifices were restarted. He commanded his people to serve the LORD God of Israel (2 Chr 33:15-16). However, the high places were not removed, and were used as places of worship of Yahweh (2 Chr 33:17).
Assyria became gradually weaker following the Babylonian rebellion, which may explain how Manasseh was able to strengthen Judah's defences and introduce the religious reforms.
These reforms did not last, and were reversed by his son Amon, who worshipped all the gods that his father had, and did not humble himself before God (2 Chr 33:22-23).
Archaeological evidence
Manasseh is mentioned on the Victory Stele of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who lists him as one of the kings who had brought him gifts and aided his conquest of Egypt and victory over Pharaoh Taharqa. The stela is held in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The Rassam Cylinder in the British Museum was discovered in the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, which records his campaign against Pharaoh Tanutamon in Thebes in 663 BC. King Manasseh of Judah was one of 22 kings who sent soldiers to support Ashurbanipal's campaign against Thebes.
The Prayer of Manasseh (2nd century BC)
This is the supposed prayer of repentance of the wicked king Manasseh during his imprisonment in Babylonia, mentioned in 2 Chr 33:12-20. The actual prayer is not recorded in the OT, so it was written five hundred years later by an unknown author, and included as one of the books in the Apocrypha. It is a truly heartfelt prayer, but its historicity is questionable.
O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name; whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable: but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men.
Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner: for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea.
My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences. Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities: wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquities.
Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, even the God of them that repent; and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy. Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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