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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Chronicles 33:11 - 33:19
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Manasseh's Punishment and Repentance
v. 11. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, according to Assyrian monuments, King Assurbanipal (or Esar-haddon), which took Manasseh among the thorns, that is, in fetters, and bound him with fetters, with double brass chains, and carried him to Babylon, which at that time was under the jurisdiction of the king of Assyria, the capital of one of the tributary countries.
v. 12. And when he was in affliction, in this shameful captivity, he besought the Lord, his God, in true sorrow over his apostasy, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
v. 13. and prayed unto Him, confessing his great sins and asking for mercy; and He was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. In restoring Manasseh to his kingdom, as a tributary monarch, the Assyrian king undoubtedly was influenced by political motives, principally that of making Judah a buffer state against Egypt, Assyria's rival for supremacy. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, He was God; he acknowledged Him as his Lord and Ruler, and followed His word.
v. 14. Now, after this he built a wall without the City of David, probably the one on which Hezekiah had done some work, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in of the Fish Gate, this outer wall thus running from the northeast corner of Zion in a northerly direction and then crossing over the valley to make a junction with the main wall near the upper fort, in the place where the Temple might be most easily attacked, and compassed about Ophel, on the southern slope of the Temple mount, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah, veteran commanders.
v. 15. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, v. 4-5:7, and cast them out of the city, he removed the worst abominations, though by no means all.
v. 16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings, and sacrificed thereon peace-offerings and thank offerings, in order to renew the covenant relation, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
v. 17. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places, the sanctuaries on the hills, yet unto the Lord, their God, only. This act did not always imply idolatry, but often led to the practice of it.
v. 18. Now, the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer unto his God, made at the time of his conversion while in captivity, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel, from which the inspired writer culled the information here offered.
v. 19. His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, Asherah-pillars, and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers, in the history of Hosai. In the latter part of his reign, Manasseh is an example of a person who turns to the Lord in true repentance and is accepted by the Lord. At the same time, his history contains a warning not to deny the faith and risk eternal rejection, for we do not know when God's period of grace will be at an end.