Manasseh of Judah

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Manasseh of Judah was the king of Judah and only son and successor of Hezekiah. He was twelve years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 21:1). William F. Albright has dated his reign to 687 BC-642 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 687 BC-643 BC.

Though he reigned so long, comparatively little is known of this king. He reversed the reforms of his father Hezekiah, reinstating pagan worship in the Jerusalem temple, for which he is condemned by the author of Kings. (2 Kings 21) His reign may be described as reactionary in relation to his father's; Kings suggests that he may have executed supporters of his father's reforms.

A later tradition recorded in Chronicles tells that Manasseh was taken captive to Babylon by the king of Assyria. Such captive kings were usually treated with great cruelty. They were brought before the conqueror with a hook or ring passed through their lips or their jaws, having a cord attached to it, by which they were led. This is referred to in 2 Chronicles 33:11, where the Authorized Version reads that Esarhaddon "took Manasseh among the thorns;" while the Revised Version renders the words, "took Manasseh in chains;" or literally, as in the margin, "with hooks" (compare 2 Kings 19:28). The severity of Manasseh's imprisonment brought him to repentance. According to the Biblical account, God heard his cry, and he was restored to his kingdom (2 Chr. 33:11-13). He abandoned his idolatrous ways, and enjoined the people to worship Yahweh; but there was no thorough reformation.

After a lengthened reign extending through fifty-five years, the longest in the history of Judah, he died, and was buried in the garden of Uzza, the "garden of his own house" (2 Kings 21:17, 18; 2 Chr. 33:20), and not in the City of David, among his ancestors.