2 And he did H6213 that which was evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD, H3068 after the abominations H8441 of the heathen, H1471 whom the LORD H3068 cast out H3423 before H6440 the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
3 For he built up H1129 again H7725 the high places H1116 which Hezekiah H2396 his father H1 had destroyed; H6 and he reared up H6965 altars H4196 for Baal, H1168 and made H6213 a grove, H842 as did H6213 Ahab H256 king H4428 of Israel; H3478 and worshipped H7812 all the host H6635 of heaven, H8064 and served H5647 them.
4 And he built H1129 altars H4196 in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 of which the LORD H3068 said, H559 In Jerusalem H3389 will I put H7760 my name. H8034
5 And he built H1129 altars H4196 for all the host H6635 of heaven H8064 in the two H8147 courts H2691 of the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
6 And he made his son H1121 pass H5674 through the fire, H784 and observed times, H6049 and used enchantments, H5172 and dealt H6213 with familiar spirits H178 and wizards: H3049 he wrought H6213 much H7235 wickedness H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD, H3068 to provoke him to anger. H3707
7 And he set H7760 a graven image H6459 of the grove H842 that he had made H6213 in the house, H1004 of which the LORD H3068 said H559 to David, H1732 and to Solomon H8010 his son, H1121 In this house, H1004 and in Jerusalem, H3389 which I have chosen H977 out of all tribes H7626 of Israel, H3478 will I put H7760 my name H8034 for ever: H5769
8 Neither will I make the feet H7272 of Israel H3478 move H5110 any more H3254 out of the land H127 which I gave H5414 their fathers; H1 only if they will observe H8104 to do H6213 according to all that I have commanded H6680 them, and according to all the law H8451 that my servant H5650 Moses H4872 commanded H6680 them.
9 But they hearkened H8085 not: and Manasseh H4519 seduced H8582 them to do H6213 more evil H7451 than did the nations H1471 whom the LORD H3068 destroyed H8045 before H6440 the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
10 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 by H3027 his servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 saying, H559
11 Because Manasseh H4519 king H4428 of Judah H3063 hath done H6213 these abominations, H8441 and hath done wickedly H7489 above all that the Amorites H567 did, H6213 which were before H6440 him, and hath made Judah H3063 also to sin H2398 with his idols: H1544
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 21
Commentary on 2 Kings 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
In this chapter we have a short but sad account of the reigns of two of the kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon.
By these two reigns Jerusalem was much debauched and much weakened, and so hastened apace towards its destruction, which slumbered not.
2Ki 21:1-9
How delightful were our meditations on the last reign! How many pleasing views had we of Sion in its glory (that is, in its purity and in its triumphs), of the king in his beauty! (for Isa. 33:17 refers to Hezekiah), and (as it follows there, v. 20) Jerusalem was a quiet habitation because a city of righteousness, Isa. 1:26. But now we have melancholy work upon our hands, unpleasant ground to travel, and cannot but drive heavily. How has the gold become dim and the most fine gold changed! The beauty of Jerusalem is stained, and all her glory, all her joy, sunk and gone. These verses give such an account of this reign as make it, in all respects, the reverse of the last, and, in a manner, the ruin of it.
2Ki 21:10-18
Here is the doom of Judah and Jerusalem read, and it is heavy doom. The prophets were sent, in the first place, to teach them the knowledge of God, to remind them of their duty and direct them in it. If they succeeded not in that, their next work was to reprove them for their sins, and to set them in view before them, that they might repent and reform, and return to their duty. If in this they prevailed not, but sinners went on frowardly, their next work was to foretel the judgments of God, that the terror of them might awaken those to repentance who would not be made sensible of the obligations of his love, or else that the execution of them, in their season, might be a demonstration of the divine mission of the prophets that foretold them. The prophets were deputed judges to those that would not hear and receive them as teachers. We have here,
This is all we have here of Manasseh; he stands convicted and condemned; but we hope in the book of Chronicles to hear of his repentance, and acceptance with God. Meantime, we must be content, in this place, to have only one intimation of his repentance (for so we are willing to take it), that he was buried, it is likely by his own order, in the garden of his own house (v. 18); for, being truly humbled for his sins, he judged himself no more worthy to be called a son, a son of David, and therefore not worthy to have even his dead body buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. True penitents take shame to themselves, not honour; yet, having lost the credit of an innocent, the credit of a penitent was the next best he was capable of. And better it is, and more honourable, for a sinner to die repenting, and be buried in a garden, than to die impenitent, and be buried in the abbey.
2Ki 21:19-26
Here is a short account of the short and inglorious reign of Amon, the son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and brutish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other sons-or whether, having been dedicated to his idols, they were refused by the people-so it was that his successor was a son not born till he was forty-five years old. And of him we are here told,