Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 21
Charles Ellicott Commentary
2 Kings 21
Charles Ellicott Commentary
2 Kings 21
"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother`s name was Hephzibah." — 2 Kings 21:1 (ASV)
Manasseh. — This king was a tributary to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal successively. (See Schrader, Keilinschr., pp. 354-357, who says: "The conclusion is imperative that during the last period of the reign of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, certainly during the first period of the latter, Manasseh was tributary to the great king of Assyria." (See the Notes on 2 Chronicles 33:11.)). His name, like that of his successor Amon, suggests Egyptian influence. We know that combinations with Egypt against Assyria were popular during this epoch.
Twelve years old. — This early accession to power may help to explain his deviation from the religious policy of his father. It is not necessary to assume (with Thenius) that the queen-mother swayed the government until he reached a riper age. Manasseh may have been older than his years. According to the datum of the text, he was born a year or two after the Assyrian invasion. Whether he was Hezekiah’s firstborn son or not cannot be ascertained.
Hephzi-bah. —Isaiah 62:4, as a title of Mount Zion. It means “my delight is in her.”
"And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel." — 2 Kings 21:2 (ASV)
And he did that which was evil. — Perhaps under the pernicious influence of his courtiers. (Compare the case of Rehoboam.)
After the abominations. — Compare Deuteronomy 29:17; 1 Kings 11:5.
The heathen ... cast.— The nations ... dispossessed — i.e., the peoples of Canaan (2 Kings 17:8).
"For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them." — 2 Kings 21:3 (ASV)
For he built up again. —The Septuagint and Vulgate imitate the Hebrew idiom, and he returned and built—i.e., and he rebuilt.
The high places ... altars for Baal ... a grove (an Ashçrah). —“The idols, the sun-pillars, the ashçrim, the sacred trees, and all the other pagan or half-pagan symbols, so plainly inconsistent with the prophetic faith, were of the very substance of Israel’s worship in the popular sanctuaries” (Prof. Robertson Smith).
As did Ahab. —See 1 Kings 16:32–33.
Worshipped all the host of heaven. —See Notes on 2 Kings 17:16, and compare 2 Kings 23:12. The Babylonian star-worship and astrology, with concomitant superstitions, had been introduced under Ahaz.
"And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will I put my name." — 2 Kings 21:4 (ASV)
He built altars — that is, idolatrous altars (2 Kings 21:5).
In the house of the Lord — that is, in its two courts. This verse contains the general statement of what is particularised in 2 Kings 21:5.
In Jerusalem will I put my name. — See 1 Kings 14:21.
"And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah." — 2 Kings 21:5 (ASV)
In the two courts. —Even in the inner and more sacred court, where the sacrifices were offered to Jehovah.
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