2 Chronicles 33:1-5

Manasseh’s Reign

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.

[33:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:2]  ² tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[33:2]  ³ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

[33:3]  ⁴ 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.

[33:3]  ⁵ tn Or “served.”

[33:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “In Jerusalem my name will be permanently.”