2 Kings 21:1

1 Manasseh was of twelve years, when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 21:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 21:1

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign
So that he was born three years after Hezekiah's recovery from his sickness, and in the seventeenth year of his reign:

and reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem:
among which must be reckoned the time of his captivity in Babylon; his reign was the longest of any of the kings of Judah: and his mother's name was Hephzibah; the name the church goes by, and signifies, "my delight or pleasure is in her", ( Isaiah 62:4 ) , no doubt she was a good woman, or Hezekiah would not have made choice of her for a wife; it is a tradition of the Jews F1, that she was the daughter of Isaiah, whose name, they say, is not mentioned, because so wicked a king was unworthy of such a grandfather.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Paralipom. fol. 86. F.

2 Kings 21:1 In-Context

1 Manasseh was of twelve years, when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Hephzibah.
2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, after the evils of heathen men, the which men the Lord did away from the face of the sons of Israel.
3 And he was turned, and builded [up] (again the) high things, which Hezekiah, his father (had) destroyed; and he raised up altars of Baal, and he made maumet woods, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done; and he worshipped withoutforth all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s), and worshipped it in heart. (And he rebuilt the hill shrines, which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and he made idol groves, or a sacred pole, like Ahab, the king of Israel, had done; and he worshipped withoutforth all the host of heaven, and also worshipped them with his heart.)
4 And he builded altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, I shall set my name in Jerusalem. (And he built altars in the House of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, I shall set my name in Jerusalem there.)
5 And he builded altars to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s) in the two large places of the temple of the Lord; (And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two large courtyards of the Temple of the Lord;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.