Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 21:16

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.

16 18. Other wickedness of Manasseh. His death (2Ch 33:18-20)

16. Manasseh shed innocent blood very much ] This is alluded to again in 2Ki 24:4 as the cause of God’s continued anger against Judah. It is singular that the Chronicler makes no special mention of this particular offence. Josephus on the contrary ( Ant. x. 3, 1) says ‘He did not even spare the prophets, but even of these he slew some daily ( ) so that Jerusalem ran with blood’. The tradition that Isaiah himself was one of the sufferers in this slaughter was current among early Christian legends, and some have taken the mention of ‘sawing asunder’ (Heb 11:37) as an allusion to his fate.

from one end to another ] Lit. ‘from mouth to mouth’. See note on 2Ki 10:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Compare Jer 2:30; Heb 11:37; Isa 57:1-4. According to tradition, Isaiah was among the first to perish. More than a century afterward, the final judgment upon Jerusalem was felt to be in an special way the punishment of Manassehs bloody persecution of Gods people (marginal reference).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. Shed innocent blood very much] Like the deities he worshipped, he was fierce and cruel; an unprincipled, merciless tyrant: he slew innocent people and God’s prophets.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Innocent blood; the blood of those prophets and righteous men who either reproved his sinful practices, or refused to comply with his wicked commands and worship.

Beside his sin, i.e. his idolatry, which is elsewhere called evil, and corruption, and here sin, by way of eminency; which is the more considerable, because it is here compared with horrid cruelty, and implied to be worse than that, and more abominable in Gods sight, because it doth more directly and immediately strike at the glory and purity of the Divine Majesty, by respect unto which all sins are to be measured. And this expression God here useth in opposition to the gross error of most men, who look upon idolatry as a small sin, as a mere mistake of the mind, as the fruit of a good intention, and as an excess proceeding from zeal in religion.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. Moreover Manasseh shed innocentbloodNot content with the patronage and the practice ofidolatrous abomination, he was a cruel persecutor of all who did notconform. The land was deluged with the blood of good men; among whomit is traditionally said Isaiah suffered a horrid death, by beingsawn asunder (see on Heb 11:37).

2Ki21:19-26. AMON’SWICKED REIGN.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 comments on Heb 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.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

C. CONCLUSION OF THE REIGN OF MANASSEH 21:1618

TRANSLATION

(16) And also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin in which he made Judah to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. (17) Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all which he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (18) And Manasseh slept with his fathers and he was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his place.

COMMENTS

The national decadence culminated in a bloody persecution of the faithful by the ruthless Manasseh. The Holy City was filled with blood and violence from one end to the other (2Ki. 21:16). Josephus (Ant., X, 3.1) declares that Manasseh cruelly put to death all the righteous of the nation and did not even spare the prophets. A widespread ancient tradition names Isaiah as one of the victims of this persecution.

Important additional information concerning the reign of Manasseh comes from the Assyrian monuments and from the Biblical Book of Chronicles. In the annals of the Assyrian Esarhaddon it is noted that Manasseh was a faithful vassal, even contributing supporting troops for the Great Kings invasion of Egypt. At some point in his reignperhaps toward the very endManasseh must have rebelled against his overlord. The Assyrians took Manasseh captive to Babylon.[633] While in his affliction there, Manasseh repented of his sins against God and man. When the Assyrians restored him to his throne, Manasseh made a valiant effort to put away the idolatrous practices and paraphernalia which he himself had introduced into the land. He repaired the altar of the Lord which had gone to decay, and re-established so far as he could the worship of the Lord (2Ch. 33:11-17). It is not entirely clear why the author of Kings chose to omit the account of Manassehs late repentance.

[633] Supplemental information can be found in ANET, p. 289.

After referring his readers to the standard book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (NOT the Biblical book of Chronicles), the author closes His account of this king by noting that he was buried in the garden of his own house. (2Ki. 21:18). This garden of Uzza may have been purchased by Manasseh with the object of converting it into a burial ground.[634] The garden has been located in the general vicinity of the Pool of Siloam on the east side of Jerusalem.[635]

[634] Manasseh and his son Amon are the only two kings said to have been buried in this garden. Was there no more burial space in the royal necropolis? Or did the idolatry of these two kings disqualify them from burial there?
[635] Finley, BBC, p. 491.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(16) Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood . . .The narrative is taken up again from 2Ki. 21:9. The innocent blood shed by Manasseh was that of the prophets of Jehovah and their followers. As the nation fell back into the grooves of its old existence, ancient customs began to reassert their sway. The worship which the prophets condemned, and which Hezekiah had proscribed, was too deeply interwoven with all parts of life to be uprooted by royal decree, and the old prejudice of the country folk against the capital, so clearly apparent in (the pages of the prophet) Micah, must have co-operated with superstition to bring about the strong revulsion against the new reforms which took place under Hezekiahs son, Manasseh. A bloody struggle ensued between the conservative party and the followers of the prophets, and the new king was on the side of the reaction (Robertson Smith). Talmudic tradition relates that Isaiah himself was sawn asunder in the trunk of a cedar tree in which he had taken refuge. (Comp. Heb. 11:37. This is, perhaps, not impossible, but hardly probable. Ewald considers that Jer. 2:30, Psa. 141:7, and Isaiah 53, allude to the persecution of the prophets by Manasseh.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. Shed innocent blood Probably of those prophets (comp. 2Ki 21:10) who reproved his sins and uttered the word of the Lord against him. Josephus says, “He barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews; nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them, till Jerusalem was overflown with blood.” It was during the reign of Manasseh, according to Jewish tradition, that Isaiah was sawn asunder. Heb 11:37.

Besides his sin That is, especially, his abominable idolatry.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2Ki 21:16. Manasseh shed innocent blood Among the rest of the prophets and other innocent persons put to death by Manasseh, Isaiah is generally numbered, who is said to have been sawn asunder with a wooden saw, to which the author of the epistle to the Hebrews is thought to allude, Heb 11:37.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

2Ki 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.

Ver. 16. Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much. ] This tiger laid hold with his teeth on all the excellent spirits of his time, as one a well saith of Tiberius Stimulatus est ab insurgente diabolo, saith an ancient, He was spurred on by that old man-slayer the devil, to murder the prophets and other godly people that disliked his sinful courses. Epiphanius saith that the prophet Isaiah suffered death under him; and the Rabbis tell us why: sc., because (1.) He said he had seen the Lord upon his throne; Isa 6:1 and, (2.) Because he called the great ones of Judah princes of Sodom and rulers of Gomorrah. Isa 1:10 b More likely it was for his bold inveighing against the sins of both the king and people, calling them as Isa 57:3 witches’ children, and a bastardly brood; as “Esaias was very bold,” saith St Paul. Rom 10:20

Till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another. ] A metaphor from vessels brim full: or from a flood that overfloweth all. And now “how was the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment,” sc., in good Hezekiah’s days “righteonsness lodged in it, but now murderers,” Manasseh and his bloody assassins. Isa 1:21

Besides his sin. ] His idolatry, whereto he first persuaded the people, and afterwards compelled them: so did Julian.

a Author imperfecti operis Hom. i. in Mat.

b Jerome, in Isa. i.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)