Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 33

For. — And. (See margin.)

Broken down. — 2 Chronicles 23:17; 2 Chronicles 31:1 (threw down). Kings has destroyed (‘ibbad).

Baalim. — The Baals — i.e., the different images of Baal. Kings has the singular, both here and in the next word, groves, or rather Asheras (‘Ash ç rôth; Kings, ‘ Ash ç rah). The latter plural is rhetorical: Manasseh made such things as Asheras. (Compare also the use of the plural in 2 Chronicles 32:31, and the passages there referred to.) Kings adds: as Ahab king of Israel made.

Also he built ... In Jerusalem. —Literally as Kings. Manasseh built altars in the Temple, as Ahaz had done (2 Kings 16:10 and following).

Shall my name be for ever. —A heightening of the phrase in Kings, “I will set my name.”

He.—This is emphatic. It is not in Kings.

Caused his children ... fire.—The plural form, as used in 2 Chronicles 28:3, is rhetorical. The Book of Kings states, "his son."

In the valley of the son of Hinnom.—This is an explanatory addition by the chronicler.

Also he observed times, and used enchantments.—And he practised augury and divination. This was forbidden in Leviticus 19:26. The first phrase, "observed times," seems to strictly mean "observed clouds," and the second, "used enchantments," appears to mean "observed serpents."

And used witchcraft.—And muttered spells or charms. This word does not occur in the parallel passage, but all the offences here ascribed to Manasseh are forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-11.

And dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards.—And appointed a necromancer and a wizard. The Book of Kings has wizards. The source of all these modes of soothsaying was Babylon.

Like the first king of Israel, Manasseh appears to have despaired of help or counsel from Jehovah . The heavy yoke of Assyria again weighed the nation down, and the great deliverance under Hezekiah was almost forgotten.

“To all the Palestinian nations, the Assyrian crisis had made careless confidence in the help of their national deities a thing impossible. As life was embittered by foreign bondage, the darker aspects of heathenism became dominant. The wrath of the gods seemed more real than their favour; atoning ordinances were multiplied, human sacrifices became more frequent, the terror which hung over all the nations that groaned under the Assyrian yoke found habitual expression in the ordinances of worship; and it was this aspect of heathenism that came to the front in Manasseh’s imitations of foreign religion” (Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel, p. 366).

He wrought much evil.—Literally, he multiplied doing the evil. He was worse than his evil predecessors.

And he set ... had made. — And he set the carven image of the idol which he had made. “Idol” (sèmel) explains “Asherah,” the term used in Kings. Both “carven image” and “idol” (Authorised Version, figure) occur in Deuteronomy 4:16.

The house of God. —Chronicles has added, of God, by way of explanation. The Temple proper is meant, as distinct from the courts.

Before all. — Out of all.

For ever. — Le’êlum, a form only found here (equivalent to le’ólâm).

Remove. —Kings has a less common expression, "cause to wander."

From out of (upon) the land (ground) which I have appointed. —Kings, with which the versions agree, has the certainly original "from the ground which I gave."

So that. — If only.

And the statutes and the ordinances. —An explanatory addition. Kings has, "And according to all the Torah that Moses my servant commanded them."

By the hand. —By the ministry or instrumentality. The phrase is a characteristic interpretation of what we read in 2 Kings 21:8; for it carefully notes that the authority of the Lawgiver was not primary but derived.