2 Chronicles 33:1-6

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. 33:6 He passed his sons through the fire ⁷  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. ⁸  He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him. ⁹ 

[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.”

[33:6]  ⁷ 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.

[33:6]  ⁸ 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.

[33:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”