21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 1 His mother 2 was Hephzibah. 21:2 He did evil in the sight of 3 the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations 4 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky 5 and worshiped 6 them. 21:4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” 7 21:5 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 “the name of his mother.”
3 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
4 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
5 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.
6 tn Or “served.”
7 tn Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”