2 Kings 21:4

ry, and died at the age of sixty-seven years. See 2 Chronicles 33:1-20. Verse 2 After the abominations of the heathen - He exactly copied the conduct of those nations which God had cast out of that land. Verse 3 Made a grove - He made Asherah, the Babylonian Melitta or Roman Venus. See 2Kgs 17:10, and the observations at the end of that chapter; and see here on 2Kgs 21:7 (note). Worshipped all the host of heaven - All the stars and planets, but particularly the sun and the moon. Verse 4 Built altars - He placed idolatrous altars even in the temple. Verse 6 Made his son pass through the fire - Consecrated him to Moloch. Observed times - ועונן veonen; he practiced divination by the clouds; by observing their course at particular times, their different kinds, contrary directions, etc., etc. Used enchantments - ונחש venichesh; he used incantations, spells, and charms. Dealt with familiar spirits - ועשה אוב veasah ob; he was a necromancer; was a raiser of spirits, whom he endeavored to press into his service; he had a Python. And wizards - וידענים veyiddeonim; the knowing ones, the white witches, and such like; see on Lev 19:26-31 (note), where most of these terms are particularly explained and illustrated. Verse 7 He set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house - Every one may see that Asherah here must signify an idol, and not a grove; and for the proof of this see the observations at the end of the chapter, 2Kgs 21:26 (note). Verse 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel - Had they been faithful to God's testimonies they never had gone into captivity, and should even at this day have been in possession of the promised land. Verse 9 Seduced them to do more evil - He did all he could to pervert the national character, and totally destroy the worship of the true God; and he succeeded. Verse 10 The Lord spake by - the prophets - The prophets were Hosea, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Isaiah. These five following verses contain the sum of what these prophets spoke. It is said that Isaiah not only prophesied in those days, but also that he was put to death by Manasseh, being sawn asunder by a wooden saw. Verse 12 Both his ears shall tingle - תצלנה titstsalnah; something expressive of the sound in what we call, from the same sensation, the tingling of the ears. This is the consequence of having the ears suddenly pierced with a loud and shrill noise; the ears seem to ring for some time after. The prophets spoke to them vehemently, so that the sound seemed to be continued even when they had left off speaking. This was a faithful and solemn testimony. Verse 13 The line of Samaria - I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same measure. And the plummet of the house of Ahab - The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and not a man of his race left to sit upon the throne of Israel: so shall it be done to the house or royal family of Judah; they shall be all finally destroyed, and not a man of their race shall any more sit on the throne of Judah; nor shall Judah have a throne to sit on. Thus Jerusalem shall have the same weight as well as the same measure as Samaria, because it has copied all the abominations which brought that kingdom to total destruction. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish - The Vulgate translates this clause as follows: Delebo Jerusalem, sicut deleri solent tabulae; "I will blot out Jerusalem as tablets are wont to be blotted out." This is a metaphor taken from the ancient method of writing: they traced their letters with a stile on boards thinly spread over with wax; for this purpose one end of the stile was sharp, the other end blunt and smooth, with which they could rub out what they had written, and so smooth the place and spread back the wax, as to render it capable of receiving any other word. Thus the Lord had written down Jerusalem, never intending that its name or its memorial should be blotted out. It was written down The Holy City, The City of the Great King; but now God turns the stile and blots this out; and the Holy Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, is no longer to be found! This double use of the stile is pointed out in this ancient enigma: - De summo planus; sed non ego planus in imo: Versor utrinque manu, diverso et munere fungor: Altera pars revocat, quicquid pars altera fecit. "I am flat at the top, but sharp at the bottom; I turn either end, and perform a double function: One end destroys what the other end has made." But the idea of emptying out and wiping a dish expresses the same meaning equally well. Jerusalem shall be emptied of all its wealth, and of all its inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up is emptied of all its contents; and it shall be turned upside down, never to be filled again. This is true from that time to the present hour. Jerusalem is the dish turned upside down, the tablet blotted out to the present day! How great are God's mercies! and how terrible his judgments! Verse 14 I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance - One part (the ten tribes) was already forsaken, and carried into captivity; the remnant (the tribe of Judah) was now about to be forsaken. Verse 16 Shed innocent blood very much - Like the deities he worshipped, he was fierce and cruel; an unprincipled, merciless tyrant: he slew innocent people and God's prophets. Verse 17 Now the rest of the acts - In 2Chr 33:11, etc., we read that the Assyrians took Manasseh, bound him with fetters, and took him to Babylon; that there he repented, sought God, and was, we are not told how, restored to his kingdom; that he fortified the city of David, destroyed idolatry, restored the worship of the true God, and died in peace. In 2Chr 33:18, 2Chr 33:19, His prayer unto God is particularly mentioned. What is called his prayer, is found in the Apocrypha, just before the first book of the Maccabees. There are some good sentiments in it; but whether it be that which was made by Manasseh is more than can be proved. Even the Romish Church have not received it among the canonical books. Are they not written - There are several particulars referred to here, and in 2Chr 33:11-19, which are not found in any chronicles or books which now remain, and what the books of the seers were, mentioned in Chronicles, we cannot tell. Verse 18 In the garden of his own house - It was probably a burying-place made for his own family, for Amon his son is said to be buried in the same place, 2Kgs 21:26. Verse 19 He reigned two years in Jerusalem - The remark of the rabbins is not wholly without foundation, that the sons of those kings who were idolaters, and who succeeded their fathers, seldom reigned more than two years. So Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, 1Kgs 15:25; Elah, the son of Baasha, 1Kgs 16:8; Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, 1Kgs 22:51; and Amon, the son of Manasseh, as mentioned here, 2Kgs 21:19. Verse 23 The servants of Amon conspired - What their reason was for slaying their king we cannot tell. It does not seem to have been a popular act, for the people of the land rose up and slew the regicides. We hear enough of this man when we hear that he was as bad as his father was in the beginning of his reign, but did not copy his father's repentance. Verse 26 The garden of Uzza - The family sepulcher or burying-place. It is said 2Kgs 21:3, 2Kgs 21:7, that "Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," etc. וישם את פסל האשרה אשר עשה vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah: "And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made," into the house. Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol; and probably of one which was carved out of wood. R. S. Jarchi, on Gen 12:3, says, "that אשרה asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;" like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain. Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce אשר, defines אשרה asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartae dicatum; "A wooden image dedicated to Astrate or Venus." The Septuagint render the words by αλσος; and Flamminius Nobilis, on 2Kgs 23:4, says Rursus notat Theodoretus το αλσος esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum Ashatroth; i.e. "Again Theodoret observes, αλσος is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth." The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on Deu 7:5, ואשירהם תגדעון vaasheyrehem tegaddeun; i.e., "Their groves shall ye cut down" - translates the place thus, ואילני סיגדיהון תקצצון,suht ecalp e veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun; "And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down." From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where אשרה asherah and its derivatives are used. Here follow proofs: - In 2Kgs 23:6, it is said that "Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord." This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain meaning of ויצא את השרה מבית יהוה vaiyotse eth haasherah mibbeyth Jehovah, is, "And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it," etc. That this is the true meaning of the place appears farther from 2Kgs 23:7, where it is said, "He broke down the houses of the sodomites," (הקדשים hakkedeshim, of the whoremongers), "where the women wove hangings for the grove" (בתים לאשרה bottim laasherah, "houses or shrines for Asherah.") Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Act 19:24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove. The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In 2Kgs 23:6, the former says, "He cast out the idol, dechlotho, from the house of the Lord;" and in 2Kgs 23:7: "He threw down the houses, dazoine, of the prostitutes; and the women who wove garments, ledechlotho, for the idols which were there." The Arabic is exactly the same. From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes. I deny not that there were groves consecrated to idolatrous worship among the Gentiles, but I am sure that such are not intended in the above-cited passages; and the text, in most places, reads better when understood in this way. Introduction Josiah succeeds Amon his father, and reigns thirty-one years, 2Kgs 22:1, 2Kgs 22:2. He repairs the breaches of the temple, 2Kgs 22:3-7. Hilkiah finds the book of the law in the temple, 2Kgs 22:8. It is read by Shaphan the scribe, before the king and his servants, 2Kgs 22:9, 2Kgs 22:10. The king, greatly affected, sends to inquire of Huldah the prophetess, 2Kgs 22:11-13. She delivers an afflictive prophecy concerning the evils that were coming upon the land, 2Kgs 22:14-17. But promises Josiah that these evils shall not come in his time, 2Kgs 22:18-20. Verse 1

Manasseh's Impious Reign. ( b. c. 698.) 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord , after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord , of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord . 6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord , to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe 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 hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. 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. xxxiii. 17 refers to Hezekiah), and (as it follows there, v. 20 ) Jerusalem was a quiet habitation because a city of righteousness, Isa. i. 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. I. Manasseh began young. He was but twelve years old when he began to reign ( v. 1 ), born when his father was about forty-two years old, three years after his sickness. If he had sons before, either they were dead, or set by as unpromising. As yet they knew of nothing bad in him, and they hoped he would prove good; but he proved very bad, and perhaps his coming to the crown so young might help to make it so, which yet will by no means excuse him, for his grandson Josiah came to it younger than he and yet acted well. But being young, 1. He was puffed up with his honour and proud of it; and thinking himself very wise, because he was very great, valued himself upon his undoing what his father had done. It is too common for novices to be lifted up with pride, and so to fall into the condemnation of the devil. 2. He was easily wrought upon and drawn aside by seducers, that lay in wait to deceive. Those that were enemies to Hezekiah's reformation, and retained an affection for the old idolatries, flattered him, and so gained his ear, and used his power at their pleasure. Many have been undone by coming too soon to their honours and estates. II. He reigned long, longest of any of the kings of Judah, fifty-five years. This was the only very bad reign that was a long one; Joram's was but eight years, and Ahaz's sixteen; as for Manasseh's, we hope that in the beginning of his reign for some time affairs continued to move in the course that his father left them in, and that in the latter end of his reign, after his repentance, religion got head again; and, no doubt, when things were at the worst God had his remnant that kept their integrity. Though he reigned long, yet some of this time he was a prisoner in Babylon, which may well be looked upon as a drawback from these years, though they are reckoned in the number because then he repented and began to reform. III. He reigned very ill. 1. In general, (1.) He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and which, having been well educated, he could not but know was so ( v. 2 ): He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, as if on purpose to provoke him to anger, v. 6 . (2.) He did after the abominations of the heathen ( v. 2 ) and as did Ahab ( v. 3 ), not taking warning by the destruction both of the nations of Canaan and the house of Ahab for their idolatry; nay ( v. 9 ), he did more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed. When the holy seed degenerate, they are commonly worse than the worst of the profane. 2. More particularly, (1.) He rebuilt the high places which his father had destroyed, v. 3 . Thus did he trample upon the dust, and affront the memory, of his worthy father, though he knew how much he was favoured of God and honoured of men. He concurred, it is probable, with Rabshakeh's sentiments ( ch. xviii. 22 ), that Hezekiah had done ill in destroying those high places, and pretended the honour of God, and the edification and convenience of the people, in rebuilding them. This he began with, but proceeded to that which was much worse; for, (2.) He set up other gods, Baal and Ashtaroth (which we translate a grove ), and all the host of heaven, the sun and moon, the other planets, and the constellations; these he worshipped and served ( v. 3 ), gave their names to the images he made, and then did homage to them and prayed for help from them. To these he built altars ( v. 5 ), and offered sacrifices, no doubt, on these altars. (3.) He made his son pass through the fire, by which he dedicated him a votary to Moloch, in contempt of the seal of circumcision by which he had been dedicated to God. (4.) He made the devil his oracle, and, in contempt both of urim and prophecy, he used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits ( v. 6 ) like Saul. Conjurers and fortune-tellers (who pretended, by the stars or the clouds, lucky and unlucky days, good and bad omens, the flight of birds, or the entrails of beasts, to foretel things to come) were great men with him, his intimates, his confidants; their arts pleased his fancy, and gained his belief, and his counsels were under their direction. (5.) We find afterwards ( v. 16 ) that he shed innocent blood very much in gratification of his own passion and revenge; some perhaps were secretly murdered, others taken off by colour of law. Probably much of the blood he shed was theirs that opposed idolatry and witnessed against it, that would not bow the knee to Baal. The blood of the prophets is, in a particular manner, charged upon Jerusalem, and it is probable that he put to death many of them. The tradition of the Jews is that he caused the prophet Isaiah to be sawn asunder; and many think the apostle refers to this in Heb. xi. 37 , where he speaks of those that had so suffered. 3. Three things are here mentioned as aggravations of Manasseh's idolatry:—(1.) That he set up his images and altars in the house of the Lord ( v. 4 ), in the two courts of the temple ( v. 5 ), in the very house of which God had said to Solomon, Here will I put my name, v. 7 . Thus he defied God to his face, and impudently affronted him with his rivals immediately under his eye, as one that was neither afraid of God's wrath nor ashamed of his own folly and wickedness. Thus he desecrated what had been consecrated to God, and did, in effect, turn God out of his own house and put the rebels in possession of it. Thus, when the faithful worshippers of God came to the place he had appointed for the performance of their duty to him, they found, to their great grief and terror, other gods ready to receive their offerings. God had said that here he would record his name, here he would put it for ever, and here it was accordingly preserved, while the idolatrous altars were kept at a distance; but Manasseh, by bringing them into God's house, did what he could to alter the property, and to make the name of the God of Israel to be no more in remembrance. (2.) That hereby he put a great slight upon the word of God, and his covenant with Israel. Observe the favour he had shown to that people in putting his name among them,—the kindness he intended them, never to make them move out of that good land, —and the reasonableness of his expectations from them, only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, v. 7, 8 . Upon these good terms did Israel stand with God, and had as fair a prospect of being happy as any people could have; but they hearkened not, v. 9 . They would not be kept close to God either by his precepts or by his promises; both were cast behind their back. (3.) That hereby he seduced the people of God, debauched them, and drew them into idolatry, v. 9 . He caused Judah to sin ( v. 11 ), as Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. His very example was enough to corrupt the generality of unthinking people, who would do as their king did, right or wrong. All that aimed at preferment would do as the court did; and others thought it safest to comply, for fear of making their king their enemy. Thus, one way or other, the holy city became a harlot, and Manasseh made her so. Those will have a great deal to answer for that not only are wicked themselves, but help to make others so.