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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
33:1-20 Manasseh. See 2 Kings 21:1-10, 17-18. Chronicles differs most markedly from Kings by including a section describing Manasseh's imprisonment in Babylon and his religious reforms (2 Chron. 33:11-17), and by omitting 2 Kings 21:11-15, where Manasseh is condemned as a primary cause of the exile (but see note on 2 Chron. 33:10). The reason for the difference lies in their respective aims: Kings presents Manasseh as the worst of Judah's kings whose sins make the exile inevitable, while Chronicles uses him to illustrate the possibility of forgiveness and restoration, even for "the foremost of sinners" (see 1 Tim. 1:15). Both accounts are highly selective in their treatment of the longest reign in Judah's history, and the additional material in Chronicles should not be considered fictional. The Chronicler would certainly agree with 2 Kings that Manasseh's sins contributed to the final outcome of exile, just as the king's own punishment (2 Chron. 33:11) anticipates what will happen to the people. Manasseh's repentance and reforms may also explain why the exile did not come in his day: they had the effect of postponing, but not entirely removing, the consequences of Israel's unfaithfulness, on which God had pronounced judgment (v. 10).
33:1 fifty-five years. , including probably a co-regency of with Hezekiah.
33:2-9 These verses largely reproduce 2 Kings 21:2-9 (see notes). Manasseh sets about reversing all the reforms his father had instituted, promoting idolatry and succumbing to the depravity of child sacrifice and sorcery.
33:10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people alludes to 2 Kings 21:10 and is intended as a summary of the prophecy of judgment in 2 Kings 21:11-15. But they paid no attention is based on 2 Kings 21:9a. In their rejection of God's word, Manasseh and his people prefigure the last generation of the kingdom (2 Chron. 36:15-16).
33:11 Manasseh's imprisonment in Babylon is not attested to outside the Bible. But this account is often associated with the widespread rebellion in by Shamash-shum-ukin, king of Babylon, against his younger brother and overlord Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria. Once he had taken Babylon, Ashurbanipal turned his attention to the western part of his empire and its vassal states, which included Judah. Manasseh may have joined in the rebellion, or at least have been suspected of supporting it.
33:12-13 The description of Manasseh's prayer and God's response is strongly influenced by the thought and vocabulary of 7:14. Knew that the Lord was God is similar to a very common expression by Ezekiel, the prophet of the exile: "you/they will know that I am the Lord" (e.g., Ezek. 5:13; 7:27; 13:21).
33:14 Manasseh's building projects and military measures can be understood in light of Assyria's need for a buffer-state in the southwest against Egypt, following the suppression of Shamash-shum-ukin's rebellion. Building projects and armies are regular marks of blessing on faithful kings (see 11:5-12; 14:6-8; 17:12-19; 26:9-15).
33:15-16 Manasseh's religious reform was directed at removing his earlier pagan innovations (vv. 3, 7). The reform centered on the temple, and little if any of it extended beyond Jerusalem. Verse 17 makes it clear that the people continued in their familiar ways. Manasseh removed the idols (v. 15), but it is not stated that he destroyed them, as Josiah did (34:4-7). Amon would later put them back to use.
33:18-20 The Chronicler has considerably expanded the concluding formula in 2 Kings 21:17-18 to emphasize that Manasseh's prayer and his humble repentance constitute the chief significance of his reign. Faithlessness is the key Hebrew theological term ma‘al (see note on 1 Chron. 2:3-8).
