Old Testament Commentary - 2 Kings 21

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 21 Manasseh turns Judah to idolatry, even sacrificing a son to a heathen god—Prophets foretell destruction of Judah and Jerusalem—Wickedness continues under Amon.
1 ^aMANASSEH was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. 2 And he did that which was ^aevil in the sight of the LORD, after the ^babominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built up again the ^ahigh places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a ^bgrove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the ^chost of heaven, and served them.
4 And he built ^aaltars in the ^bhouse of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my ^cname. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two ^acourts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he made his son pass through the ^afire, and observed times, and used ^benchantments, and dealt with ^cfamiliar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7 And he set a graven ^aimage of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more ^aevil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 ¶ And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11 Because ^aManasseh king of Judah hath done these ^babominations, and hath done ^cwickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall ^atingle.
13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and ^adeliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15 Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16 Moreover Manasseh ^ashed innocent ^bblood^a very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.	16^a Manasseh shed innocent blood Manasseh had caused his son to be sacrificed, 'pass through the fire (v6), to the pagan gods. And not only this but he also did kill the prophets of whom was Isaiah who tradition has Manasseh having him sawn in half with a wooden saw while being placed in a tree's bark.
17 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of ^aManasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19 ¶ ^aAmon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
23 ¶ And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made ^aJosiah his son king in his stead. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.