Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 21:1

"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.”