33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 1 33:2 He did evil in the sight of 2 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 3 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 4 and worshiped 5 them. 33:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.” 6 33:5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
3 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
3 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.
4 tn Or “served.”
4 tn Heb “In Jerusalem my name will be permanently.”