Biblical Profile: Manasseh

Manasseh

Manasseh, the thirteenth king of Judah (697–642 BC), had a long but notoriously wicked reign (2 Kgs 21:1-18; 2 Chr 33:1-9)—even though his father was the godly king Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:21).

In 697 BC, Manasseh became co-ruler with his father Hezekiah at age twelve (2 Chr 33:1). In 686 BC, Hezekiah died and Manasseh became sole monarch. He reigned a total of fifty-five years (2 Kgs 21:1), longer than any other king in Judah or Israel. Regrettably, he was the most wicked of all the kings of Judah. He rebuilt the high places for pagan worship; he encouraged the worship of Baal, the sun, the moon, and the stars; and he even burnt his son as a child sacrifice (2 Kgs 21:2-9; see 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31). He allowed divination and sorcery in Judah and “murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled . . . with innocent blood” (2 Kgs 21:16; 24:3-4).

Surviving Assyrian records note that Manasseh provided men to transport timber from Lebanon to Nineveh for the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BC), and he paid tribute to King Ashurbanipal (668–626 BC) after an Assyrian military campaign in Egypt in 667 BC. Manasseh served Assyria more faithfully than he served the Lord.

Because of Manasseh’s tremendous sin, God determined to “wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down” (2 Kgs 21:13). However, Manasseh repented late in life. The Assyrian army captured him, put a hook through his nose, and exiled him to Babylon (2 Chr 33:10-13). There Manasseh turned to the Lord. God heard his prayers, restored him as king, and blessed the rest of his reign as Manasseh sought to restore proper worship of God alone (33:14-17).

Sadly, Manasseh’s sins had infected the people of Judah (33:17), and God did not reverse his determination to judge the kingdom (2 Kgs 23:26; 24:3-4). This indicates just how seriously Manasseh had sinned. Even Jeremiah, one hundred years later, announced: “Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth” (Jer 15:4). The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple and the exile of Judah’s people followed.

When Manasseh died in 642 BC at age 67, he was buried in his own garden (2 Kgs 21:18), rather than with highly regarded leaders such as Jehoiada and Hezekiah (2 Chr 24:15-16; 32:33).

Passages for Further Study

2 Kgs 20:21–21:18; 23:26; 24:3; 2 Chr 32:33–33:20; Jer 15:4