33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 4 33:2 He did evil in the sight of 5 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 6 whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites. 33:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 7 and worshiped 8 them. 33:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.” 9 33:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 33:6 He passed his sons through the fire 10 in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. 11 He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him. 12 33:7 He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. 13 33:8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, 14 provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given to Moses.” 33:9 But Manasseh misled the people of 15 Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
33:10 The Lord confronted 16 Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 33:11 So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, 17 bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. 33:12 In his pain 18 Manasseh 19 asked the Lord his God for mercy 20 and truly 21 humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 22 33:13 When he prayed to the Lord, 23 the Lord 24 responded to him 25 and answered favorably 26 his cry for mercy. The Lord 27 brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.
33:14 After this Manasseh 28 built up the outer wall of the City of David 29 on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.
33:15 He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city. 33:16 He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of 30 Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 33:17 The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
33:18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets 31 spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded 32 in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 33:19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself. 33 33:20 Manasseh passed away 34 and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.
36:5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 35 He did evil in the sight of 36 the Lord his God.
36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen 37 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. 38 He did evil in the sight of 39 the Lord.
36:11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. 40
3:4 The Lord says, 41 “I will make youths their officials;
malicious young men 42 will rule over them.
3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;
men will oppose each other;
neighbors will fight. 43
Youths will proudly defy the elderly
and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. 44
3:12 Oppressors treat my 45 people cruelly;
creditors rule over them. 46
My people’s leaders mislead them;
they give you confusing directions. 47
1 tn Heb “empty men, sons of wickedness.”
2 tn Heb “strengthened themselves.”
3 tn Heb “a young man and tender of heart.”
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
7 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הֲַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
8 tn Or “served.”
9 tn Heb “In Jerusalem my name will be permanently.”
10 tn Or “he sacrificed his sons in the fire.” This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB, NASV “made his sons pass through the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
11 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with a conjurer.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.
12 tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
13 tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name permanently” (or perhaps “forever”).
14 tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I established for their fathers.”
15 tn Heb “misled Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
16 tn Heb “spoke to.”
17 tn Heb “and they seized him with hooks.”
18 tn Or “distress.”
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
21 tn Or “greatly.”
22 tn Heb “fathers.”
23 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the
24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
25 tn Heb “was entreated by him,” or “allowed himself to be entreated by him.”
26 tn Heb “heard.”
27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
30 tn Heb “told Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
31 tn Or “seers.”
32 tn Heb “look, they are.”
33 tn Heb “and his prayer and being entreated by him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness and the places where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself – behold, they are written on the words of his seers.”
34 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
35 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
36 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
37 tc The Hebrew text reads “eight,” but some ancient textual witnesses, as well as the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:8, have “eighteen.”
38 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
39 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
40 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
41 tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The prophet speaks in vv. 1-3 (note the third person reference to the Lord in v. 1), but here the Lord himself announces that he will intervene in judgment. It is unclear where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s pick up again. The prophet is apparently speaking again by v. 8, where the Lord is referred to in the third person. Since vv. 4-7 comprise a thematic unity, the quotation probably extends through v. 7.
42 tn תַעֲלוּלִים (ta’alulim) is often understood as an abstract plural meaning “wantonness, cruelty” (cf. NLT). In this case the chief characteristic of these leaders is substituted for the leaders themselves. However, several translations make the parallelism tighter by emending the form to עוֹלְלִים (’olÿlim, “children”; cf. ESV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV). This emendation is unnecessary for at least two reasons. The word in the MT highlights the cruelty or malice of the “leaders” who are left behind in the wake of God’s judgment. The immediate context makes clear the fact that they are mere youths. The coming judgment will sweep away the leaders, leaving a vacuum which will be filled by incompetent, inexperienced youths.
43 tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”
44 tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.
45 sn This may refer to the prophet or to the Lord.
46 tc The Hebrew text appears to read literally, “My people, his oppressors, he deals severely, and women rule over them.” The correct text and precise meaning of the verse are debated. The translation above assumes (1) an emendation of נֹגְשָׂיו (nogÿsayv, “his oppressors”) to נֹגְשִׂים (nogÿshim, “oppressors”) by moving the mem (ם) on the following form to the end of the word and dropping the vav (ו) as virtually dittographic; (2) an emendation of מְעוֹלֵל (mÿ’olel, a singular participle that does not agree with the preceding plural subject) to עֹלְלוּ (’olÿlu), a third plural Poel perfect from עָלַל (’alal, “deal severely”; note that the following form begins with a vav [ו]; the text may be haplographic or misdivided); and (3) an emendation (with support from the LXX) of נָשִׁים (nashim, “women”) to נֹשִׁים (noshim, “creditors”; a participle from נָשַׁא, nasa’). Another option is to emend מְעוֹלֵל to עוֹלְלִים (’olÿlim, “children”) and read, “My people’s oppressors are children; women rule over them.” In this case the point is the same as in v. 4; the leadership void left by the judgment will be filled by those incompetent to lead the community – children and women. (The text reflects the ancient Israelite patriarchal mindset.)
47 tn Heb “and the way of your paths they confuse.” The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”; HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”; see HALOT 134 s.v. בלע).