2 Kings 21:1-9

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

1 ¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ²according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

3 For he rebuilt the high places ³that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made ⁴an Asherah, ⁵as Ahab king of Israel had done, ⁶and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 ⁷And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ⁸“In Jerusalem will I put my name. ”

5 And he built altars ⁹for all the host of heaven in ¹⁰the two courts of the house of the Lord.

6 ¹¹And he burned his son as an offering^[a] and ¹²used fortune-telling and ¹³omens and dealt ¹⁴with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

7 And the carved image of ¹⁵Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, ¹⁶and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

8 ¹⁷And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful 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 did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

2 Kings 21:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 21

In this chapter a short history is given of the two wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon; Manasseh is charged with great idolatry, with enchantments and witchcrafts, and seducing the children of Israel, 2Ki 21:1-9 and a prophecy is given out of the destruction of Jerusalem for his sins, 2Ki 21:10-16, and an account is given of his death and burial, 2Ki 21:17,18, and of his son and successor Amon, and the evils committed by him, 2Ki 21:19-22 and of the conspiracy against his life, which succeeded, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead, 2Ki 21:23-26.

Cross References

• 1. 21:1 For ver. 1-9, see 2 Chr. 33:1-9
• 2. 21:2 [ch. 16:3]
• 3. 21:3 ch. 18:4
• 4. 21:3 See Deut. 16:21
• 5. 21:3 1 Kgs. 16:32, 33
• 6. 21:3 ch. 17:16; 23:5; [Deut. 4:19]
• 7. 21:4 Jer. 7:30; 32:34
• 8. 21:4 ver. 7; ch. 23:27; 2 Sam. 7:13; 1 Kgs. 8:29; 9:3; [Deut. 12:11]
• 9. 21:5 [See ver. 3 above]
• 10. 21:5 ch. 23:12; 1 Kgs. 6:36; 7:12
• 11. 21:6 See Lev. 18:21
• 12. 21:6 See Lev. 19:26
• 13. 21:6 ch. 17:17
• 14. 21:6 ch. 23:24; See Lev. 19:31
• 15. 21:7 [See ver. 3 above]
• 16. 21:7 [See ver. 4 above]
• 17. 21:8 [2 Sam. 7:19]

Footnotes

• [a] 21:6 Hebrew 'made his son pass through the fire'