2 Kings 21 Study Notes: Manasseh and Amon Lead Judah Astray
King Manasseh undoes his father Hezekiah’s reforms, filling the temple with idols, practicing the occult and shedding much innocent blood. Through His prophets the LORD announces that Jerusalem will be judged as Samaria was. Manasseh’s son Amon follows his ways and is assassinated, and young Josiah is made king.
General
Why was it so serious that Manasseh built pagan altars in the courtyards of the LORD’s temple and set up his carved Asherah pole inside it (2 Kings 21:4-7)?
Answer: It was where God had chosen to set His Name for all time
Manasseh did not only worship idols in the countryside. He built altars inside the LORD’s temple, put altars for the stars and planets in both of its courtyards, and placed his carved Asherah pole in the temple itself (21:4-5, 21:7). This was the very place where the LORD had promised to put His Name, in the city He had picked from among all Israel’s tribes (21:4, 21:7). The law had pointed Israel to one place God would choose for His Name to dwell (Deuteronomy 12:5), and Solomon had prayed toward that house as the place where God’s Name would be (1 Kings 8:29). Manasseh brought idols into the place set apart for the LORD alone.
- 2 Kings 21:4-5 (BSB)“Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.” In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.”Manasseh builds altars in the LORD’s house and altars to the host of heaven in both courtyards.
- 2 Kings 21:7 (BSB)“Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.”He sets the carved Asherah pole in the temple the LORD had chosen for His Name.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (BSB)“Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.”Israel was to seek the one place the LORD would choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 1 Kings 8:29 (BSB)“May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.”Solomon prayed toward the temple as the place of which the LORD had said His Name would be there.
Theological
What makes Manasseh’s altars in the temple courts and his Asherah pole in the temple especially grave (2 Kings 21:4-7)?
Answer: It was where God had chosen to set His Name for all time
Manasseh’s idolatry invades the sanctuary: altars in the LORD’s temple, altars to the heavenly bodies in both courts, and his carved Asherah pole in the temple (21:4-5, 21:7). Twice the passage recalls the LORD’s word that He would put His Name in Jerusalem and in this house, selected from among all the tribes (21:4, 21:7). The offense is sacrilege at the place of God’s chosen presence (Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Kings 8:29), the worship of other gods inside the house dedicated to the LORD.
- 2 Kings 21:4-5 (BSB)“Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.” In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.”Manasseh builds altars in the LORD’s house and altars to the host of heaven in both courtyards.
- 2 Kings 21:7 (BSB)“Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.”He sets the carved Asherah pole in the temple the LORD had chosen for His Name.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (BSB)“Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.”Israel was to seek the one place the LORD would choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 1 Kings 8:29 (BSB)“May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.”Solomon prayed toward the temple as the place of which the LORD had said His Name would be there.
General
What does the text say about Amon’s reign and how it ended (2 Kings 21:20-24)?
Answer: He forsook God as his father had and was murdered by his servants
Manasseh’s son Amon did evil just as his father had. He followed his father’s path in everything, worshiped the same idols, and forsook the God his ancestors had served (21:20-22). The law had warned that following other gods would kindle the LORD’s anger (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). Amon’s own officials conspired and murdered him in his palace. The citizens of Judah then put the plotters to death and made Amon’s son Josiah king (21:23-24). The line of David continued through these troubled years; Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus lists Manasseh, Amon and Josiah in turn (Matthew 1:10-11).
- 2 Kings 21:20-22 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways of his father, and he served and worshiped the idols his father had served. He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.”Amon does evil like Manasseh, serves his father’s idols, and abandons the LORD.
- 2 Kings 21:23-24 (BSB)“Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.”Amon’s servants kill him; the people of the land kill the conspirators and make Josiah king.
- Deuteronomy 6:14-15 (BSB)“Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.”The law warned that following other gods would kindle the LORD’s anger.
- Matthew 1:10-11 (BSB)“Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.”Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus runs through Manasseh, Amon and Josiah.
Theological
How does the narrator evaluate Amon, and how does his reign end (2 Kings 21:20-24)?
Answer: He forsook God as his father had and was murdered by his servants
Amon reproduces his father’s apostasy: he follows Manasseh’s path in everything, serves his idols, and forsakes his ancestors’ God (21:20-22), the very turning to other gods the law warned would kindle the LORD’s anger (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). His officials assassinate him in his palace; the citizens of Judah execute the conspirators and enthrone his son Josiah (21:23-24). Through apostasy and assassination the line of David continues, and Matthew traces it through Manasseh, Amon and Josiah (Matthew 1:10-11).
- 2 Kings 21:20-22 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways of his father, and he served and worshiped the idols his father had served. He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.”Amon does evil like Manasseh, serves his father’s idols, and abandons the LORD.
- 2 Kings 21:23-24 (BSB)“Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.”Amon’s servants kill him; the people of the land kill the conspirators and make Josiah king.
- Deuteronomy 6:14-15 (BSB)“Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.”The law warned that following other gods would kindle the LORD’s anger.
- Matthew 1:10-11 (BSB)“Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.”Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus runs through Manasseh, Amon and Josiah.
General
Through whom did the LORD announce the coming disaster on Jerusalem and Judah, and why (2 Kings 21:10-12)?
Answer: Through the prophets who served Him, because of Manasseh’s sins
The LORD sent His word by the prophets who served Him (21:10). Because Manasseh had done these detestable things, behaving worse than the Amorites (one of the peoples who lived in Canaan before Israel) and leading Judah into sin with his idols, the LORD declared that He would bring a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah so shocking that everyone who heard the report would be stunned (21:11-12). The LORD had used similar language when He announced judgment on Eli’s house (1 Samuel 3:11), and Jeremiah later spoke the same kind of warning (Jeremiah 19:3). The LORD had sent His prophets to His people again and again (Jeremiah 7:25).
- 2 Kings 21:10-12 (BSB)“And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.”Through His prophets the LORD announces calamity on Jerusalem and Judah because of Manasseh’s abominations.
- 1 Samuel 3:11 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.”The LORD used the image of tingling ears for His judgment on Eli’s house.
- Jeremiah 19:3 (BSB)“saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring,”Jeremiah repeats the warning of a disaster that will make ears ring.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”The LORD sent His servants the prophets to His people again and again before judgment fell.
Theological
How and on what grounds does the LORD announce calamity on Jerusalem and Judah (2 Kings 21:10-12)?
Answer: Through the prophets who served Him, because of Manasseh’s sins
The announcement comes by the LORD’s prophets (21:10). Its grounds are explicit: Manasseh’s abominations, worse than the Amorites’, and his leading Judah into sin with his idols (21:11). The judgment will be so severe that the news of it will make people’s ears ring (21:12), language the LORD used of the judgment on Eli’s house (1 Samuel 3:11) and that Jeremiah repeats of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:3). Prophetic warning precedes judgment, as it had throughout Israel’s history (Jeremiah 7:25).
- 2 Kings 21:10-12 (BSB)“And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.”Through His prophets the LORD announces calamity on Jerusalem and Judah because of Manasseh’s abominations.
- 1 Samuel 3:11 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.”The LORD used the image of tingling ears for His judgment on Eli’s house.
- Jeremiah 19:3 (BSB)“saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring,”Jeremiah repeats the warning of a disaster that will make ears ring.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”The LORD sent His servants the prophets to His people again and again before judgment fell.
General
The LORD had promised that Israel would no longer be uprooted from the land He gave their ancestors. What condition was attached to that promise (2 Kings 21:8)?
Answer: That they would carefully obey the whole Law given through Moses
Alongside His promise to put His Name in the temple, the LORD had promised He would not again make Israel leave the land He gave their ancestors, provided they took care to keep everything He commanded, all the instruction given through His servant Moses (21:7-8). Manasseh’s reign shows the people doing the opposite. The LORD had told Solomon the same thing: if Israel turned to other gods, He would cut them off from the land and cast the temple from His presence (1 Kings 9:6-7). Moses had warned that disobedience would bring the covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28:15).
- 2 Kings 21:8 (BSB)“I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.””The LORD’s promise to keep Israel in the land depended on their careful obedience to the whole Law of Moses.
- 1 Kings 9:6-7 (BSB)“But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.”The LORD warned Solomon that turning to other gods would bring exile and the rejection of the temple.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 (BSB)“If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”Moses warned that disobeying the LORD’s commands would bring the curses of the covenant.
Theological
On what condition did the LORD promise Israel secure possession of the land (2 Kings 21:8)?
Answer: That they would carefully obey the whole Law given through Moses
The promise of secure tenure in the land was explicitly conditioned on careful obedience to the whole Mosaic Law (21:8). This is the covenant structure already set before Solomon, with exile from the land and rejection of the temple as the sanction for idolatry (1 Kings 9:6-7), and before Israel at Moab, where disobedience would bring the curses of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:15). Manasseh’s apostasy places Judah squarely under that sanction.
- 2 Kings 21:8 (BSB)“I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.””The LORD’s promise to keep Israel in the land depended on their careful obedience to the whole Law of Moses.
- 1 Kings 9:6-7 (BSB)“But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.”The LORD warned Solomon that turning to other gods would bring exile and the rejection of the temple.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 (BSB)“If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”Moses warned that disobeying the LORD’s commands would bring the curses of the covenant.
General
True or False: Manasseh’s sin was limited to false worship; the text does not say he harmed innocent people (2 Kings 21:16).
Answer: False
This is false. Beyond the sin he led Judah into, Manasseh killed so many innocent people that Jerusalem was full of their blood from one side to the other (21:16). His idolatry and his violence went together. The LORD hates the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-17), and the law had set up safeguards to keep the land free of such guilt (Deuteronomy 19:10). When judgment came on Judah, this bloodshed was named alongside Manasseh’s other sins, and the LORD would not pardon it (24:3-4).
- 2 Kings 21:16 (BSB)“Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.”Manasseh fills Jerusalem with innocent blood in addition to leading Judah into sin.
- Proverbs 6:16-17 (BSB)“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,”Hands that shed innocent blood are among the things the LORD hates.
- Deuteronomy 19:10 (BSB)“Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”The law aimed to keep innocent blood from being shed in the land.
- 2 Kings 24:3-4 (BSB)“Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.”Judah’s removal is later tied to Manasseh’s sins and the innocent blood he shed.
Theological
True or False: The text limits Manasseh’s guilt to idolatry and records no killing of the innocent (2 Kings 21:16).
Answer: False
This is false. In addition to leading Judah into sin, Manasseh filled the whole city with the blood of the innocent (21:16). Idolatry and violence are joined in his reign. The LORD hates the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-17), and the law guarded the land against such bloodguilt (Deuteronomy 19:10). Both Manasseh’s sins and this bloodshed are later given as the reason for Judah’s removal, and the LORD would not pardon it (24:3-4).
- 2 Kings 21:16 (BSB)“Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.”Manasseh fills Jerusalem with innocent blood in addition to leading Judah into sin.
- Proverbs 6:16-17 (BSB)“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,”Hands that shed innocent blood are among the things the LORD hates.
- Deuteronomy 19:10 (BSB)“Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”The law aimed to keep innocent blood from being shed in the land.
- 2 Kings 24:3-4 (BSB)“Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.”Judah’s removal is later tied to Manasseh’s sins and the innocent blood he shed.
General
What did Manasseh do with the high places Hezekiah, his father, had torn down (2 Kings 21:2-3)?
Answer: He restored them and added Baal altars and an Asherah pole
Manasseh’s reign was evil in the LORD’s eyes; he copied the detestable practices of the peoples God had expelled from the land ahead of Israel (21:2). He reversed his father’s reform: he built up again the high places (local hilltop shrines used for worship apart from the temple) that Hezekiah had destroyed, built Baal altars (Baal was a Canaanite god), erected an Asherah pole (a wooden object honoring a pagan goddess) just as Ahab had, and bowed to the sun, moon and stars (21:3). Hezekiah had removed these very things (18:4), and Ahab, who raised an Asherah pole, had angered the LORD more than any earlier king of Israel (1 Kings 16:33). The law had commanded Israel to tear such places down (Deuteronomy 12:2-3).
- 2 Kings 21:2-3 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.”Manasseh rebuilds the high places, sets up altars for Baal, makes an Asherah pole, and worships the host of heaven.
- 2 Kings 18:4 (BSB)“He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.”Hezekiah had removed the high places and cut down the Asherah poles, the reform his son reversed.
- 1 Kings 16:33 (BSB)“Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.”Ahab’s Asherah pole provoked the LORD more than any earlier king of Israel, the model Manasseh followed.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”The law commanded Israel to destroy pagan altars, pillars and Asherah poles, not to rebuild them.
Theological
How does Manasseh treat the high places Hezekiah had removed (2 Kings 21:2-3)?
Answer: He restored them and added Baal altars and an Asherah pole
Manasseh’s reign is judged at once as evil, an imitation of the detestable ways of the dispossessed nations (21:2). He systematically reverses Hezekiah’s reform: restoring the high places, erecting Baal altars, making an Asherah pole after Ahab’s pattern, and worshiping the stars and planets (21:3). Each item undoes what Hezekiah had removed (18:4) and echoes the worst of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 16:33), in direct defiance of the Mosaic command to destroy such sites (Deuteronomy 12:2-3).
- 2 Kings 21:2-3 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.”Manasseh rebuilds the high places, sets up altars for Baal, makes an Asherah pole, and worships the host of heaven.
- 2 Kings 18:4 (BSB)“He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.”Hezekiah had removed the high places and cut down the Asherah poles, the reform his son reversed.
- 1 Kings 16:33 (BSB)“Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.”Ahab’s Asherah pole provoked the LORD more than any earlier king of Israel, the model Manasseh followed.
- Deuteronomy 12:2-3 (BSB)“Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.”The law commanded Israel to destroy pagan altars, pillars and Asherah poles, not to rebuild them.
General
The LORD said He would apply to Jerusalem the same measuring line and plumb line He had applied to Samaria and to Ahab’s family (2 Kings 21:13). What did this image mean?
Answer: Jerusalem would be judged by the same standard as Samaria
A measuring line and a plumb line are builders’ tools for checking whether something is straight. The LORD said He would measure Jerusalem with Samaria’s measuring line and with the plumb line He had used on Ahab’s dynasty, and would wipe out the city as a dish is wiped and overturned (21:13). In other words, Judah would face the same judgment Israel had faced. Samaria had fallen and Israel had been removed from the LORD’s presence (17:18), and Ahab’s family had been cut off as the LORD had announced (1 Kings 21:21). Amos had seen the LORD holding a builder’s line beside His people as a sign that He would stop sparing them (Amos 7:7-8).
- 2 Kings 21:13 (BSB)“I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.”The LORD will measure Jerusalem with Samaria’s line and Ahab’s plumb line and wipe it out like a bowl.
- 2 Kings 17:18 (BSB)“So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,”Israel had already been removed from the LORD’s presence, the judgment now measured out to Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 21:21 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.”The LORD had announced calamity on Ahab’s house, the second standard named for Jerusalem.
- Amos 7:7-8 (BSB)“This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:”Amos saw the LORD’s plumb line as the sign that He would no longer spare His people.
Theological
What does the image of Samaria’s measuring line and Ahab’s plumb line signify for Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:13)?
Answer: Jerusalem would be judged by the same standard as Samaria
The line and plumb line are instruments of assessment; the LORD will apply to Jerusalem the same standard that condemned Samaria and Ahab’s dynasty, and will wipe the city out like a dish wiped and overturned (21:13). Judah has followed Israel’s path and will share its end: Israel’s removal from the LORD’s presence (17:18) and the cutting off of Ahab’s line (1 Kings 21:21) become the measure for Jerusalem. Amos used the plumb line in the same way, as the sign that the LORD would spare His people no longer (Amos 7:7-8).
- 2 Kings 21:13 (BSB)“I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.”The LORD will measure Jerusalem with Samaria’s line and Ahab’s plumb line and wipe it out like a bowl.
- 2 Kings 17:18 (BSB)“So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,”Israel had already been removed from the LORD’s presence, the judgment now measured out to Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 21:21 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.”The LORD had announced calamity on Ahab’s house, the second standard named for Jerusalem.
- Amos 7:7-8 (BSB)“This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:”Amos saw the LORD’s plumb line as the sign that He would no longer spare His people.
General
True or False: Besides worshiping idols, Manasseh offered up his own son as a burnt sacrifice and turned to sorcery and to people who claimed to contact the dead (2 Kings 21:6).
Answer: True
This is true. Manasseh offered his own son as a sacrifice by fire, engaged in sorcery and fortune-telling, and turned to mediums and spiritists (people who claimed to contact the dead), doing great evil and provoking the LORD’s anger (21:6). Each of these was expressly forbidden in the law, which called them detestable to God and named them among the reasons He drove the earlier nations from the land (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Moses had also warned Israel never to give any of their children to Molech, because it profaned God’s name (Leviticus 18:21). Manasseh, whose reign was judged evil because he copied the practices of the nations God had expelled (21:2), did the very things for which the Canaanites had been judged, and Judah’s later removal was tied to his sins (24:3).
- 2 Kings 21:2 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.”Manasseh did evil by following the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The law forbade child sacrifice, sorcery, divination and consulting mediums as detestable to the LORD.
- Leviticus 18:21 (BSB)“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”Giving children to Molech was forbidden because it profaned God’s name.
- 2 Kings 24:3 (BSB)“Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,”Judah’s later removal from the LORD’s presence is tied to the sins of Manasseh and all he had done.
Theological
True or False: Manasseh’s sins included offering his son as a sacrifice and turning to occult practices such as sorcery and consulting the dead (2 Kings 21:6).
Answer: True
This is true. Manasseh offered his son as a sacrifice by fire, engaged in sorcery and omen-reading, and turned to mediums and spiritists, provoking the LORD (21:6). These are precisely the practices Deuteronomy calls detestable and gives as grounds for the dispossession of the nations (Deuteronomy 18:10-12); the law also forbade giving children to Molech as a profaning of God’s name (Leviticus 18:21). Judah’s king, already judged for imitating the dispossessed nations (21:2), thus adopts the very sins for which the land’s former inhabitants were expelled, and Judah’s removal is later tied to them (24:3).
- 2 Kings 21:2 (BSB)“And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.”Manasseh did evil by following the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The law forbade child sacrifice, sorcery, divination and consulting mediums as detestable to the LORD.
- Leviticus 18:21 (BSB)“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”Giving children to Molech was forbidden because it profaned God’s name.
- 2 Kings 24:3 (BSB)“Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,”Judah’s later removal from the LORD’s presence is tied to the sins of Manasseh and all he had done.
General
According to the LORD’s word, for how long had His people been stirring up His anger (2 Kings 21:14-15)?
Answer: Ever since the exodus from Egypt up to the present day
The LORD said He would abandon what was left of His own people, Judah, and hand them over to their enemies, who would plunder them (21:14). His reason looked back far beyond Manasseh: they had done evil and angered Him ever since their ancestors left Egypt, right up to the present (21:15). Manasseh’s sins were the final weight, but the judgment answered a long history of rebellion. Jeremiah used the same span of time to describe the LORD’s patient sending of prophets (Jeremiah 7:25). The fulfillment came later, when the LORD sent raiders against Judah just as His prophets had warned (24:2-3).
- 2 Kings 21:14-15 (BSB)“So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’””The LORD will give the remnant of His inheritance to their enemies because they have provoked Him since the exodus.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”Jeremiah uses the same span, from the exodus until now, for the LORD’s patient sending of prophets.
- 2 Kings 24:2-3 (BSB)“And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,”The LORD sent raiders against Judah according to the word spoken through His prophets.
Theological
What span of Israel’s history does the LORD name as the period of provocation that now brings judgment (2 Kings 21:14-15)?
Answer: Ever since the exodus from Egypt up to the present day
The LORD will abandon the remaining portion of His inheritance and give them up as plunder to their enemies (21:14), because they have provoked Him from the exodus until now (21:15). Manasseh’s reign is the climax, not the whole, of a long covenant history of rebellion met by long patience and repeated prophetic warning (Jeremiah 7:25). The fulfillment came later: raiders sent on the LORD’s orders, as the prophets had foretold (24:2-3).
- 2 Kings 21:14-15 (BSB)“So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’””The LORD will give the remnant of His inheritance to their enemies because they have provoked Him since the exodus.
- Jeremiah 7:25 (BSB)“From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.”Jeremiah uses the same span, from the exodus until now, for the LORD’s patient sending of prophets.
- 2 Kings 24:2-3 (BSB)“And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,”The LORD sent raiders against Judah according to the word spoken through His prophets.
General
How does the narrator describe the people’s response and the result of Manasseh’s leadership (2 Kings 21:9)?
Answer: They refused to heed God and became worse than the nations
The people would not heed the LORD, and Manasseh misled them until their evil exceeded that of the nations God had wiped out ahead of Israel (21:9). The king bore great guilt for leading them astray, yet the people were responsible too, because they refused to hear. The LORD had sent warnings again and again through His prophets, calling both Israel and Judah to turn from their wicked ways (17:13). The land had been taken from the Canaanites because of their detestable practices (Deuteronomy 18:12), and now Judah was doing even worse.
- 2 Kings 21:9 (BSB)“But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.”The people do not listen, and Manasseh leads them into greater evil than the nations the LORD destroyed.
- 2 Kings 17:13 (BSB)“Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.””The LORD had warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets to turn from their wicked ways.
- Deuteronomy 18:12 (BSB)“For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The nations were driven out because of detestable practices, the same practices Judah now exceeded.
Theological
What is the narrator’s verdict on the people under Manasseh (2 Kings 21:9)?
Answer: They refused to heed God and became worse than the nations
The verdict holds both king and people accountable: the people would not heed, and Manasseh misled them until their evil exceeded that of the nations God had destroyed (21:9). Judah had received repeated prophetic warning (17:13), and the Canaanites had been dispossessed for these very abominations (Deuteronomy 18:12). The covenant people, entrusted with the Law, now surpass the dispossessed nations in wickedness, which sets up the announcement of judgment that follows.
- 2 Kings 21:9 (BSB)“But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.”The people do not listen, and Manasseh leads them into greater evil than the nations the LORD destroyed.
- 2 Kings 17:13 (BSB)“Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.””The LORD had warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets to turn from their wicked ways.
- Deuteronomy 18:12 (BSB)“For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”The nations were driven out because of detestable practices, the same practices Judah now exceeded.