2 Chronicles 33:12 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

12 And when he was in affliction, H6887 he besought H2470 the LORD H3068 his God, H430 and humbled H3665 himself greatly H3966 before H6440 the God H430 of his fathers, H1

Cross Reference

2 Chronicles 32:26 STRONG

Notwithstanding Hezekiah H3169 humbled H3665 himself for the pride H1363 of his heart, H3820 both he and the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 so that the wrath H7110 of the LORD H3068 came H935 not upon them in the days H3117 of Hezekiah. H3169

Jeremiah 31:18-20 STRONG

I have surely H8085 heard H8085 Ephraim H669 bemoaning H5110 himself thus; Thou hast chastised H3256 me, and I was chastised, H3256 as a bullock H5695 unaccustomed H3808 H3925 to the yoke: turn H7725 thou me, and I shall be turned; H7725 for thou art the LORD H3068 my God. H430 Surely after H310 that I was turned, H7725 I repented; H5162 and after H310 that I was instructed, H3045 I smote H5606 upon my thigh: H3409 I was ashamed, H954 yea, even confounded, H3637 because I did bear H5375 the reproach H2781 of my youth. H5271 Is Ephraim H669 my dear H3357 son? H1121 is he a pleasant H8191 child? H3206 for since H1767 I spake H1696 against him, I do earnestly H2142 remember H2142 him still: therefore my bowels H4578 are troubled H1993 for him; I will surely H7355 have mercy H7355 upon him, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068

1 Peter 5:5-6 STRONG

Likewise, G3668 ye younger, G3501 submit yourselves G5293 unto the elder. G4245 Yea, G1161 all G3956 of you be subject G5293 one to another, G240 and be clothed G1463 with humility: G5012 for G3754 God G2316 resisteth G498 the proud, G5244 and G1161 giveth G1325 grace G5485 to the humble. G5011 Humble yourselves G5013 therefore G3767 under G5259 the mighty G2900 hand G5495 of God, G2316 that G2443 he may exalt G5312 you G5209 in G1722 due time: G2540

James 4:10 STRONG

Humble yourselves G5013 in the sight G1799 of the Lord, G2962 and G2532 he shall lift G5312 you G5209 up. G5312

Acts 9:11 STRONG

And G1161 the Lord G2962 said unto G4314 him, G846 Arise, G450 and go G4198 into G1909 the street G4505 which G3588 is called G2564 Straight, G2117 and G2532 enquire G2212 in G1722 the house G3614 of Judas G2455 for one called G3686 Saul, G4569 of Tarsus: G5018 for, G1063 behold, G2400 he prayeth, G4336

Luke 18:14-15 STRONG

I tell G3004 you, G5213 this man G3778 went down G2597 to G1519 his G846 house G3624 justified G1344 rather than G2228 the other: G1565 for G3754 every one G3956 that exalteth G5312 himself G1438 shall be abased; G5013 and G1161 he that humbleth G5013 himself G1438 shall be exalted. G5312 And G1161 they brought G4374 unto him G846 also G2532 infants, G1025 that G2443 he would touch G680 them: G846 but G1161 when his disciples G3101 saw G1492 it, they rebuked G2008 them. G846

Luke 15:16-18 STRONG

And G2532 he would fain G1937 have filled G1072 his G846 belly G2836 with G575 the husks G2769 that G3739 the swine G5519 did eat: G2068 and G2532 no man G3762 gave G1325 unto him. G846 And G1161 when he came G2064 to G1519 himself, G1438 he said, G2036 How many G4214 hired servants G3407 of my G3450 father's G3962 have bread G740 enough and to spare, G4052 and G1161 I G1473 perish G622 with hunger! G3042 I will arise G450 and go G4198 to G4314 my G3450 father, G3962 and G2532 will say G2046 unto him, G846 Father, G3962 I have sinned G264 against G1519 heaven, G3772 and G2532 before G1799 thee, G4675

Micah 6:9 STRONG

The LORD'S H3068 voice H6963 crieth H7121 unto the city, H5892 and the man of wisdom H8454 shall see H7200 thy name: H8034 hear H8085 ye the rod, H4294 and who hath appointed H3259 it.

Hosea 5:15 STRONG

I will go H3212 and return H7725 to my place, H4725 till they acknowledge their offence, H816 and seek H1245 my face: H6440 in their affliction H6862 they will seek me early. H7836

Exodus 10:3 STRONG

And Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 came in H935 unto Pharaoh, H6547 and said H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of the Hebrews, H5680 How long H4970 wilt thou refuse H3985 to humble H6031 thyself before H6440 me? let my people H5971 go, H7971 that they may serve H5647 me.

Psalms 50:15 STRONG

And call H7121 upon me in the day H3117 of trouble: H6869 I will deliver H2502 thee, and thou shalt glorify H3513 me.

2 Chronicles 33:23 STRONG

And humbled H3665 not himself before H6440 the LORD, H3068 as Manasseh H4519 his father H1 had humbled H3665 himself; but Amon H526 trespassed H819 more and more. H7235

2 Chronicles 33:18-19 STRONG

Now the rest H3499 of the acts H1697 of Manasseh, H4519 and his prayer H8605 unto his God, H430 and the words H1697 of the seers H2374 that spake H1696 to him in the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 behold, they are written in the book H1697 of the kings H4428 of Israel. H3478 His prayer H8605 also, and how God was intreated H6279 of him, and all his sin, H2403 and his trespass, H4604 and the places H4725 wherein he built H1129 high places, H1116 and set up H5975 groves H842 and graven images, H6456 before H6440 he was humbled: H3665 behold, they are written H3789 among the sayings H1697 of the seers. H2374 H2335

2 Chronicles 28:22 STRONG

And in the time H6256 of his distress H6887 did he trespass H4603 yet more H3254 against the LORD: H3068 this is that king H4428 Ahaz. H271

2 Chronicles 28:5 STRONG

Wherefore the LORD H3068 his God H430 delivered H5414 him into the hand H3027 of the king H4428 of Syria; H758 and they smote H5221 him, and carried away H7617 a great multitude H1419 of them captives, H7633 and brought H935 them to Damascus. H1834 And he was also delivered H5414 into the hand H3027 of the king H4428 of Israel, H3478 who smote H5221 him with a great H1419 slaughter. H4347

Deuteronomy 4:30-31 STRONG

When thou art in tribulation, H6862 and all these things H1697 are come H4672 upon thee, even in the latter H319 days, H3117 if thou turn H7725 to the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and shalt be obedient H8085 unto his voice; H6963 (For the LORD H3068 thy God H430 is a merciful H7349 God;) H410 he will not forsake H7503 thee, neither destroy H7843 thee, nor forget H7911 the covenant H1285 of thy fathers H1 which he sware H7650 unto them.

Leviticus 26:39-42 STRONG

And they that are left H7604 of you shall pine away H4743 in their iniquity H5771 in your enemies' H341 lands; H776 and also in the iniquities H5771 of their fathers H1 shall they pine away H4743 with them. If they shall confess H3034 their iniquity, H5771 and the iniquity H5771 of their fathers, H1 with their trespass H4604 which they trespassed H4603 against me, and that also they have walked H1980 contrary H7147 unto me; And that I also have walked H3212 contrary H7147 unto them, and have brought H935 them into the land H776 of their enemies; H341 if then H176 their uncircumcised H6189 hearts H3824 be humbled, H3665 and they then accept H7521 of the punishment of their iniquity: H5771 Then will I remember H2142 my covenant H1285 with Jacob, H3290 and also my covenant H1285 with Isaac, H3327 and also my covenant H1285 with Abraham H85 will I remember; H2142 and I will remember H2142 the land. H776

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 33

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 33 Matthew Henry Commentary


Chapter 33

In this chapter we have the history of the reign,

  • I. Of Manasseh, who reigned long.
    • 1. His wretched apostasy from God, and revolt to idolatry and all wickedness (v. 1-10).
    • 2. His happy return to God in his affliction; his repentance (v. 11-13), his reformation (v. 15-17), and prosperity (v. 14), with the conclusion of his reign (v. 18-20).
  • II. Of Amon, who reigned very wickedly (v. 21-23), and soon ended his days unhappily (v. 24, 25).

2Ch 33:1-10

We have here an account of the great wickedness of Manasseh. It is the same almost word for word with that which we had 2 Ki. 21:1-9, and took a melancholy view of. It is no such pleasing subject that we should delight to dwell upon it again. This foolish young prince, in contradiction to the good example and good education his father gave him, abandoned himself to all impiety, transcribed the abominations of the heathen (v. 2), ruined the established religion, unravelled his father's glorious reformation (v. 3), profaned the house of God with his idolatry (v. 4, 5), dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the devil's lying oracles his guides and his counsellors, v. 6. In contempt of the choice God had made of Sion to be his rest for ever and Israel to be his covenant-people (v. 8), and the fair terms he stood upon with God, he embraced other gods, profaned God's chosen temple, and debauched his chosen people. He made them to err, and do worse than the heathen (v. 9); for, if the unclean spirit returns, he brings with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. That which aggravated the sin of Manasseh was that God spoke to him and his people by the prophets, but they would not hearken, v. 10. We may here admire the grace of God in speaking to them, and their obstinacy in turning a deaf ear to him, that either their badness did not quite turn away his goodness, but still he waited to be gracious, or that his goodness did not turn them from their badness, but still they hated to be reformed. Now from this let us learn,

  • 1. That it is no new thing, but a very sad thing, for the children of godly parents to turn aside from that good way of God in which they have been trained. Parents may give many good things to their children, but they cannot give them grace.
  • 2. Corruptions in worship are such diseases of the church as it is very apt to relapse into again even when they seem to be cured.
  • 3. The god of this world has strangely blinded men's minds, and has a wonderful power over those that are led captive by him; else he could not draw them from God, their best friend, to depend upon their sworn enemy.

2Ch 33:11-20

We have seen Manasseh by his wickedness undoing the good that his father had done; here we have him by repentance undoing the evil that he himself had done. It is strange that this was not so much as mentioned in the book of Kings, nor does any thing appear there to the contrary but that he persisted and perished in his son. But perhaps the reason was because the design of that history was to show the wickedness of the nation which brought destruction upon them; and this repentance of Manasseh and the benefit of it, being personal only and not national, is overlooked there; yet here it is fully related, and a memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy and the power of his renewing grace. Here is,

  • I. The occasion of Manasseh's repentance, and that was his affliction. In his distress he did not (like king Ahaz) trespass yet more against God, but humbled himself and returned to God. Sanctified afflictions often prove happy means of conversion. What his distress was we are told, v. 11. God brought a foreign enemy upon him; the king of Babylon, that courted his father who faithfully served God, invaded him now that he had treacherously departed from God. He is here called king of Assyria, because he had made himself master of Assyria, which he would the more easily do for the defeat of Sennacherib's army, and its destruction before Jerusalem. He aimed at the treasures which the ambassadors had seen, and all those precious things; but God sent him to chastise a sinful people, and subdue a straying prince. The captain took Manasseh among the thorns, in some bush or other, perhaps in his garden, where he had hid himself. Or it is spoken figuratively: he was perplexed in his counsels and embarrassed in his affairs. He was, as we say, in the briers, and knew not which way to extricate himself, and so became an easy prey to the Assyrian captains, who no doubt plundered his house and took away what they pleased, as Isaiah had foretold, 2 Ki. 20:17, 18. What was Hezekiah's pride was their prey. They bound Manasseh, who had been held before with the cords of his own iniquity, and carried him prisoner to Babylon. About what time of his reign this was we are not told; the Jews say it was in his twenty-second year.
  • II. The expressions of his repentance (v. 12, 13): When he was in affliction he had time to bethink himself and reason enough too. He saw what he had brought himself to by his sin. He found the gods he had served unable to help him. He knew that repentance was the only way of restoring his affairs; and therefore to him he returned from whom he had revolted.
    • 1. He was convinced the Jehovah is the only living and true God: Then he knew (that is, he believed and considered) that the Lord he was God. He might have known it at a less expense if he would have given due attention and credit to the word written and preached: but it was better to pay thus dearly for the knowledge of God than to perish in ignorance and unbelief. Had he been a prince in the palace of Babylon, it is probable he would have been confirmed in his idolatry; but, being a captive in the prisons of Babylon, he was convinced of it and reclaimed from it.
    • 2. He applied to him as his God now, renouncing all others, and resolving to cleave to him only, the God of his fathers, and a God on covenant with him.
    • 3. He humbled himself greatly before him, was truly sorry for his sins, ashamed of them, and afraid of the wrath of God. It becomes sinners to humble themselves before the face of that God whom they have offended. It becomes sufferers to humble themselves under the hand of that God who corrects them, and to accept the punishment of their iniquity. Our hearts should be humbled under humbling providences; then we accommodate ourselves to them, and answer God's end in them.
    • 4. He prayed to him for the pardon of sin and the return of his favour. Prayer is the relief of penitents, the relief of the afflicted. That is a good prayer, and very pertinent in this case, which we find among the apocryphal books, entitled, The prayer of Manasses, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon. Whether it was his or no is uncertain; if it was, in it he gives glory to God as the God of their fathers and their righteous seed, as the Creator of the world, a God whose anger is insupportable, and yet his merciful promise unmeasurable. He pleads that God has promised repentance and forgiveness to those that have sinned, and has appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved, not unto the just, as to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but to me (says he) that am a sinner; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea: so he confesses his sin largely, and aggravates it. He prays, Forgive me, O Lord! forgive me, and destroy me not; he pleads, Thou art the God of those that repent, etc., and concludes, Therefore I will praise thee for ever, etc.
  • III. God's gracious acceptance of his repentance: God was entreated of him, and heard his supplication. Though affliction drive us to God, he will not therefore reject us if in sincerity we seek him, for afflictions are sent on purpose to bring us to him. As a token of God's favour to him, he made a way for his escape. Afflictions are continued no longer than till they have done their work. When Manasseh is brought back to his God and to his duty he shall soon be brought back to his kingdom. See how ready God is to accept and welcome returning sinners, and how swift to show mercy. Let not great sinners despair, when Manasseh himself, upon his repentance, found favour with God; in him God showed forth a pattern of long-suffering, as 1 Tim. 1:16; Isa. 1:18.
  • IV. The fruits meet for repentance which he brought forth after his return to his own land, v. 15, 16.
    • 1. He turned from his sins. He took away the strange gods, the images of them, and that idol (whatever it was) which he had set up with so much solemnity in the house of the Lord, as if it had been master of that house. He cast out all the idolatrous altars that were in the mount of the house and in Jerusalem, as detestable things. Now (we hope) he loathed them as much as ever he had loved them, and said to them, Get you hence, Isa. 30:22. "What have I to do any more with idols? I have had enough of them.'
    • 2. He returned to his duty; for he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had either been abused and broken down by some of the idolatrous priests, or, at least, neglected and gone out of repair. He sacrificed thereon peace-offerings to implore God's favour, and thank-offerings to praise him for his deliverance. Nay, he now used his power to reform his people, as before he had abused it to corrupt them: He commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Note, Those that truly repent of their sins will not only return to God themselves, but will do all they can to recover those that have by their example been seduced and drawn away from God; else they do not thoroughly (as they ought) undo what they have done amiss, nor make the plaster as wide as the wound. We find that he prevailed to bring them off from their false gods, but not from their high places, v. 17. They still sacrificed in them, yet to the Lord their God only; Manasseh could not carry the reformation so far as he had carried the corruption. It is an easy thing to debauch men's manners, but not so easy to reform them again.
  • V. His prosperity, in some measure, after his repentance. He might plainly see it was sin that ruined him; for, when he returned to God in a way of duty, God returned to him in a way of mercy: and then he built a wall about the city of David (v. 14), for by sin he had unwalled it and exposed it to the enemy. He also put captains of war in the fenced cities for the security of his country. Josephus says that all the rest of his time he was so changed for the better that he was looked upon as a very happy man.
  • Lastly, Here is the conclusion of his history. The heads of those things for a full narrative of which we are referred to the other writings that were then extant are more than of any of the kings, v. 18, 19. A particular account, it seems, was kept,
    • 1. Of all his sin, and his trespass, the high places he built, the groves and images he set up, before he was humbled. Probably this was taken from his own confession which he made of his sin when God gave him repentance, and which he left upon record, in a book entitled, The words of the seers. To those seers that spoke to him (v. 18) to reprove him for his sin he sent his confession when he repented, to be inserted in their memoirs, as a token of his gratitude to them for their kindness in reproving him. Thus it becomes penitents to take shame to themselves, to give thanks to their reprovers, and warning to others.
    • 2. Of the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord (v. 10, 18), the reproofs they gave him for his sin and their exhortations to repentance. Note, Sinners ought to consider, that, how little notice soever they take of them, an account is kept of the words of the seers that speak to them from God to admonish them of their sins, warn them of their danger, and call them to their duty, which will be produced against them in the great day.
    • 3. Of his prayer to God (this is twice mentioned as a remarkable thing) and how God was entreated of him. This was written for the generations to come, that the people that should be created might praise the Lord for his readiness to receive returning prodigals. Notice is taken of the place of his burial, not in the sepulchres of the kings, but in his own house; he was buried privately, and nothing of that honour was done him at his death that was done to his father. Penitents may recover their comfort sooner than their credit.

2Ch 33:21-25

We have little recorded concerning Amon, but enough unless it were better. Here is,

  • I. His great wickedness. He did as Manasseh had done in the days of his apostasy, v. 22. Those who think this an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent forget how many good kings had wicked sons. Only it should seem that Manasseh was in this defective, that, when he cast out the images, he did not utterly deface and destroy them, according to the law which required Israel to burn the images with fire, Deu. 7:5. How necessary that law was this instance shows; for the carved images being only thrown by, and not burnt, Amon knew where to find them, soon set them up, and sacrificed to them. It is added, to represent him exceedingly sinful and to justify God in cutting him off so soon,
    • 1. That he out-did his father in sinning: He trespassed more and more, v. 23. His father did ill, but he did worse. Those that were joined to idols grew more and more mad upon them.
    • 2. That he came short of his father in repenting: He humbled not himself before the Lord, as his father had humbled himself. He fell like him, but did not get up again like him. It is not so much sin as impenitence in sin that ruins men, not so much that they offend as that they do not humble themselves for their offences, not the disease, but the neglect of the remedy.
  • II. His speedy destruction. He reigned but two years and then his servants conspired against him and slew him, v. 24. Perhaps when Amon sinned as his father did in the beginning of his days he promised himself that he should repent as his father did in the latter end of his days. But his case shows what a madness it is to presume upon that. If he hoped to repent when he was old, he was wretchedly disappointed; for he was cut off when he was young. He rebelled against God, and his own servants rebelled against him. Herein God was righteous, but they were wicked, and justly did the people of the land put them to death as traitors. The lives of kings are particularly under the protection of Providence and the laws both of God and man.