Worthy.Bible » STRONG » 2 Kings » Chapter 21 » Verse 16

2 Kings 21:16 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

16 Moreover Manasseh H4519 shed H8210 innocent H5355 blood H1818 very H3966 much, H7235 till he had filled H4390 Jerusalem H3389 from one end H6310 to another; H6310 beside his sin H2403 wherewith he made Judah H3063 to sin, H2398 in doing H6213 that which was evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068

Cross Reference

2 Kings 21:11 STRONG

Because Manasseh H4519 king H4428 of Judah H3063 hath done H6213 these abominations, H8441 and hath done wickedly H7489 above all that the Amorites H567 did, H6213 which were before H6440 him, and hath made Judah H3063 also to sin H2398 with his idols: H1544

Exodus 32:21 STRONG

And Moses H4872 said H559 unto Aaron, H175 What did H6213 this people H5971 unto thee, that thou hast brought H935 so great H1419 a sin H2401 upon them?

Numbers 35:33 STRONG

So ye shall not pollute H2610 the land H776 wherein ye are: for blood H1818 it defileth H2610 the land: H776 and the land H776 cannot be cleansed H3722 of the blood H1818 that is shed H8210 therein, but by the blood H1818 of him that shed H8210 it.

Deuteronomy 21:8-9 STRONG

Be merciful, H3722 O LORD, H3068 unto thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 whom thou hast redeemed, H6299 and lay H5414 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 unto thy people H5971 of Israel's H3478 charge. H7130 And the blood H1818 shall be forgiven H3722 them. So shalt thou put away H1197 the guilt of innocent H5355 blood H1818 from among H7130 you, when thou shalt do H6213 that which is right H3477 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068

1 Kings 14:15-16 STRONG

For the LORD H3068 shall smite H5221 Israel, H3478 as a reed H7070 is shaken H5110 in the water, H4325 and he shall root up H5428 Israel H3478 out of this good H2896 land, H127 which he gave H5414 to their fathers, H1 and shall scatter H2219 them beyond H5676 the river, H5104 because they have made H6213 their groves, H842 provoking the LORD H3068 to anger. H3707 And he shall give H5414 Israel H3478 up H5414 because H1558 of the sins H2403 of Jeroboam, H3379 who did sin, H2398 and who made Israel H3478 to sin. H2398

2 Kings 21:7 STRONG

And he set H7760 a graven image H6459 of the grove H842 that he had made H6213 in the house, H1004 of which the LORD H3068 said H559 to David, H1732 and to Solomon H8010 his son, H1121 In this house, H1004 and in Jerusalem, H3389 which I have chosen H977 out of all tribes H7626 of Israel, H3478 will I put H7760 my name H8034 for ever: H5769

2 Kings 24:3-4 STRONG

Surely at the commandment H6310 of the LORD H3068 came this upon Judah, H3063 to remove H5493 them out of his sight, H6440 for the sins H2403 of Manasseh, H4519 according to all that he did; H6213 And also for the innocent H5355 blood H1818 that he shed: H8210 for he filled H4390 Jerusalem H3389 with innocent H5355 blood; H1818 which the LORD H3068 would H14 not pardon. H5545

2 Chronicles 33:9 STRONG

So Manasseh H4519 made H8582 Judah H3063 and the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem H3389 to err, H8582 and to do H6213 worse H7451 than the heathen, H1471 whom the LORD H3068 had destroyed H8045 before H6440 the children H1121 of Israel. H3478

Jeremiah 2:34 STRONG

Also in thy skirts H3671 is found H4672 the blood H1818 of the souls H5315 of the poor H34 innocents: H5355 I have not found H4672 it by secret search, H4290 but upon all these.

Jeremiah 7:6 STRONG

If ye oppress H6231 not the stranger, H1616 the fatherless, H3490 and the widow, H490 and shed H8210 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 in this place, H4725 neither walk H3212 after H310 other H312 gods H430 to your hurt: H7451

Jeremiah 15:4 STRONG

And I will cause H5414 them to be removed H2189 H2113 into all kingdoms H4467 of the earth, H776 because H1558 of Manasseh H4519 the son H1121 of Hezekiah H3169 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 for that which he did H6213 in Jerusalem. H3389

Jeremiah 19:4 STRONG

Because they have forsaken H5800 me, and have estranged H5234 this place, H4725 and have burned incense H6999 in it unto other H312 gods, H430 whom neither they nor their fathers H1 have known, H3045 nor the kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 and have filled H4390 this place H4725 with the blood H1818 of innocents; H5355

Matthew 23:30-31 STRONG

And G2532 say, G3004 If G1487 we had been G2258 in G1722 the days G2250 of our G2257 fathers, G3962 we would G302 not G3756 have been G2258 partakers G2844 with them G846 in G1722 the blood G129 of the prophets. G4396 Wherefore G5620 ye be witnesses G3140 unto yourselves, G1438 that G3754 ye are G2075 the children G5207 of them which killed G5407 the prophets. G4396

Matthew 27:6 STRONG

And G1161 the chief priests G749 took G2983 the silver pieces, G694 and said, G2036 It is G1832 not G3756 lawful G1832 for to put G906 them G846 into G1519 the treasury, G2878 because G1893 it is G2076 the price G5092 of blood. G129

Luke 13:34 STRONG

O Jerusalem, G2419 Jerusalem, G2419 which G3588 killest G615 the prophets, G4396 and G2532 stonest G3036 them that are sent G649 unto G4314 thee; G846 how often G4212 would G2309 I have gathered G1996 thy G4675 children G5043 together, G1996 as G3739 G5158 a hen G3733 doth gather her G1438 brood G3555 under G5259 her wings, G4420 and G2532 ye would G2309 not! G3756

Hebrews 11:37 STRONG

They were stoned, G3034 they were sawn asunder, G4249 were tempted, G3985 were slain G599 with G1722 the sword: G5408 G3162 they wandered about G4022 in G1722 sheepskins G3374 and G1722 goatskins; G122 G1192 being destitute, G5302 afflicted, G2346 tormented; G2558

Commentary on 2 Kings 21 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible


Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 21

In this chapter a short history is given of the two wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon; Manasseh is charged with great idolatry, with enchantments and witchcrafts, and seducing the children of Israel, 2 Kings 21:1 and a prophecy is given out of the destruction of Jerusalem for his sins, 2 Kings 21:10, and an account is given of his death and burial, 2 Kings 21:17, and of his son and successor Amon, and the evils committed by him, 2 Kings 21:19 and of the conspiracy against his life, which succeeded, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead, 2 Kings 21:23.


Verse 1

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign,.... So that he was born three years after Hezekiah's recovery from his sickness, and in the seventeenth year of his reign:

and reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem: among which must be reckoned the time of his captivity in Babylon; his reign was the longest of any of the kings of Judah: and his mother's name was Hephzibah; the name the church goes by, and signifies, "my delight or pleasure is in her", Isaiah 62:4, no doubt she was a good woman, or Hezekiah would not have made choice of her for a wife; it is a tradition of the JewsF1Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Paralipom. fol. 86. F. , that she was the daughter of Isaiah, whose name, they say, is not mentioned, because so wicked a king was unworthy of such a grandfather.


Verse 2

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Was guilty of idolatry:

after the abomination of the Heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel: the old Canaanites; he committed idolatry in imitation of them, and as the Phoenicians now did before the children of Israel: the old Canaanites; he committed idolatry in imitation of them, and as the Phoenicians now did.


Verse 3

For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed,.... The temples and altars upon them, see 2 Kings 18:4,

and he reared up altars for Baal; in the high places he rebuilt:

and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel: which was either an idol itself, or a shade of trees where idols were placed; or rather Asherah, rendered "a grove", is the same with Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, the figure of which he made and worshipped; for groves were not so soon and easily planted, raised, and made; so the same in 1 Kings 16:33.

and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them: the sun, moon, and stars, particularly the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus.


Verse 4

And he built altars in the house of the Lord,.... In the holy place, as distinct from the courts in the next verse; and these were sacred to the idols of the Gentiles:

of which the Lord said, in Jerusalem will I put my name; in the temple there, devoted to his service, called by his name, and where his name was called upon, see Deuteronomy 12:5 and to erect altars to idols here must be very abominable to him.


Verse 5

And he built altars for all the host of heaven,.... Sun, moon, and stars:

in the two courts of the house of the Lord; in the court of the priests, and in the court of the people; and all this must be supposed to be done, not as soon as he began to reign, but when he was grown up to man's estate, and had children, as the next verse shows; unless it can be thought that those nobles in Judah, who liked not the reformation made by Hezekiah, took the advantage of his youth, and advised him to these idolatries.


Verse 6

And he made his son pass through the fire,.... To Molech, after the manner of the old Canaanites and Phoenicians; his son Amon, that succeeded him, and other children, as appears from 2 Chronicles 33:6, where mention is made of the place where it was done, the valley of the son of Hinnom:

and observed times; lucky or unlucky, which was judged of by omens, and by the position of the stars:

and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards; to get knowledge of things to come; all which are forbid and condemned by the law of Moses; see Deuteronomy 18:10,

he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; in all those evils before mentioned, which were very abominable in the sight of God.


Verse 7

Which was either an image that had been placed in a grove planted by him, and now removed into the house or temple of the Lord; or, as some think, this was a representation of a grove, a carved grove of gold or silver, in the midst of which an image was placed in the temple; though what Selden observesF2De Dis Syris, Syntagm. 2. c. 2. p. 233. , seems best of all, that this was an image of Asherah, as in the original text; that is, of Astarte or Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, 1 Kings 11:5, the same the Phoenicians are said to call Astroarche, and affirm it to be the moonF3Herodian. l. 5. c. 15. : in 2 Chronicles 33:7 it is called a carved image the idol he had made; and an Arabic writerF4Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 66. says, it had four faces, which seems to be a figure of the cherubim; but, according to SuidasF5In voce μανασσηςα. , it was the statue of Jupiter, who also says it had four faces:

of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: that is, of which house or temple:

in this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever; see 1 Kings 8:29; see Gill on 2 Kings 21:3.


Verse 8

Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers,.... Or suffer them to be carried captive into another land, as in the times of the judges; that is, on the following condition:

only if they will observe to do according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them by obedience to which they had the tenure of the land of Canaan, Isaiah 1:19.


Verse 9

But they hearkened not,.... To the voice of God in his law by Moses, and were not obedient to it:

and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel: he set up more idols, and drew the people into more and greater idolatries, than the old Canaanites; and these were the more aggravated by having a law given to them, and prophets sent to instruct them in it, and by the benefits and blessings bestowed upon them by the lawgiver, which laid them under greater obligations to him; see Jeremiah 2:11.


Verse 10

And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets,.... Who prophesied in the days of Manasseh; and were, according to the Jewish chronologyF6Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. p. 55. , Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk:

saying: as follows.


Verse 11

Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations,.... Before named, 2 Kings 21:3,

and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did that were before him; one of the seven nations of Canaan, a principal of them, and which is put for all the rest:

and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: the worship of them, as the Targum; which he did both by his edicts, and by his example.


Verse 12

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel,.... Who, though kind and gracious to Israel as their covenant God, is yet just and righteous, as well as he is a sovereign Being and Lord of all:

behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle; it will make such a noise in the world, and be so horrible and terrible; and if, he report of it would be so dreadful as to make a man's ears tingle, and his heart tremble, what must it be to endure it! Ezekiel 22:14.


Verse 13

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria,.... The Targum is, the line of destruction; and the sense is, that the same measure should be measured to Jerusalem as was to Samaria; that is, the same lot and portion should befall one as the other, that is, be utterly destroyed:

and the plummet of the house of Ahab; the Targum is, the weight or plummet of tribulation; signifying, that the same calamities should come upon the families of Jerusalem, and especially on the family of Manasseh as came upon the family of Ahab. It is a metaphor from builders that take down as well as raise up buildings by rule and measure, see 2 Samuel 8:2.

and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down; as when one takes a dish or cup that has broth in it, or any liquid, as oil; and the Septuagint render it alabaster, in which ointment used to be put; and wipes it clean, that nothing may appear in it; and then turns it with its mouth downward, that, if any thing should remain, it might drain out; signifying hereby the emptying o Jerusalem of its palaces and houses, wealth and riches and of all its inhabitants; and yet the empty dish being preserved, seems to denote the restoration of Jerusalem after the seventy years' captivity. According to the Vulgate Latin version, the metaphor is taken from the blotting out of writing tables, and turning and rubbing the style upon them till the writing is no more seen.


Verse 14

And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance,.... The whole land of Canaan was the Lord's inheritance; ten tribes in it were already removed, only Judah with Benjamin was left, and the Lord threatens to forsake that remnant:

and deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and spoil to all their enemies; which was fulfilled in their captivity in Babylon.


Verse 15

Because they have done that which was evil in my sight,.... Committed idolatry:

and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day; being always prone to idolatry, so provoking to God, and which they were guilty of quickly after they came out of Egypt, in the worship of the golden calf, and had ever since at times been criminal this way; and now the measure of their iniquity being almost up, would be reckoned for together.


Verse 16

Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much,.... Putting to death the prophets that reproved him and his people for their idolatries, and such who would not comply therewith; and it is commonly said, both by Jewish and Christian writers, that Isaiah was slain, and even sawn asunder by him; see Gill on Hebrews 11:37,

till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; a metaphor taken from filling a vessel brimful:

beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; the sin of idolatry he drew them into, and even obliged them to commit.


Verse 17

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did,.... Both good and bad, for he repented, and was humbled, and did many good things afterwards, though not recorded in this book:

and his sin that he sinned; his idolatry:

are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? in which were recorded the most memorable events of their reigns; and in the canonical book of Chronicles are many things concerning Manasseh, which are not written here; see 2 Chronicles 33:11.


Verse 18

And Manasseh slept with his fathers,.... Or died, after a reign of fifty five years, and a life of sixty seven:

and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; whether the burial of him here was his own choice, judging himself unworthy to lie with the kings of Judah, who had been guilty of such great sins, or whether the will of others, on the same account, is not certain; and as much at a loss are we for the reason of this garden being called the garden of Uzza, whether from Uzzah that died for touching the ark, 2 Samuel 6:6 or from King Uzziah, 2 Kings 15:7. The Jews buried in gardens in the times of Christ, who himself was buried in one, John 19:41. The Romans had sometimes sepulchres in their gardensF7Vid. Kirchman. de Funer. Romas. l. 2. c. 22. p. 274. , Galba the emperor was buried in his gardensF8Eutrop. Hist. Roman. l. 7. Sueton. Vit. Galb. c. 20. Tacit. Hist. l. 1. c. 49. ; and so had other nations. Cyrus king of Persia was buried in a gardenF9Strabo. Geograph l. 15. p. 502. :

and Amon his son reigned in his stead; of whom we have the following account.


Verse 19

And Amon was twenty two years old when he began to reign,.... Being born in the forty fifth of his father's life, and in the thirty third of his reign:

and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; which, as Abarbinel observes, was the usual time the sons of wicked kings reigned, and instances in the son of Jeroboam, Baasha, and Ahab, 1 Kings 15:25. An Arabic writerF11Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 67. says, he reigned twelve years, but according to the Jews only two:

and his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah; there was a place called Jotbath, which was one of the stations of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Numbers 33:33 but it can scarcely be thought to be the same place.


Verse 20

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry:

as his father Manasseh did: he imitated him in that, but not in his repentance and humiliation, 2 Chronicles 33:23.


Verse 21

And he walked in all the ways that his father walked in,.... In his wicked way, his idolatry, witchcraft, and murders:

and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them; Baal, Ashtoreth, and all the host of heaven, and all the carved images his father made, which it seems he only removed, but did not break in pieces, 2 Chronicles 33:22.


Verse 22

And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers,.... Of David, Solomon, &c.

and walked not in the way of the Lord; prescribed by him in his law for the worship of him.


Verse 23

And the servants of Amon conspired against him,.... Some of his domestic servants, and perhaps his courtiers, not on account of his idolatry, but for some ill usage of them:

and slew the king in his own house: which they had an opportunity to do, being his servants.


Verse 24

And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Amon,.... On occasion of his death, there seems to have been an insurrection of the people in a body, to avenge the death of their king, who might be beloved on account of his idolatry, so depraved was the nation; or it may be only to avenge his death because he was their king, whose life these men ought not to have taken away: and the rather this may be thought to be the reason by what follows:

and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead; who had been prophesied of by name above three hundred years before, see 1 Kings 13:2.


Verse 25

Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? See Gill on 2 Kings 21:17.


Verse 26

And he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of Uzza,.... Where his father Manasseh was buried, 2 Kings 21:18,

and Josiah his son reigned in his stead; of whom many things are said in the two following chapters.