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2 Kings Chapter
Twenty-one
New King James Version (NKJV)
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.
2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh
was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five
years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
YLT
1A son of twelve years [is]
Manasseh in his reigning, and fifty and five years he hath reigned in
Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hephzi-Bah;
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.
2 Kings 21:2 2 And he did evil in the
sight of the Lord,
according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out
before the children of Israel.
YLT
2and he doth the evil thing
in the eyes of Jehovah, according to the abominations of the nations that
Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,
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.
2 Kings 21:3 3 For he rebuilt the high
places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal,
and made a wooden image,[a] as Ahab
king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven[b] and served
them.
YLT
3and he turneth and buildeth
the high places that Hezekiah his father destroyed, and raiseth altars for
Baal, and maketh a shrine, as did Ahab king of Israel, and boweth himself to
all the host of the heavens, and serveth them.
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.
2 Kings 21:4 4 He also built altars in
the house of the Lord,
of which the Lord
had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
YLT
4And he hath built altars in
the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah said, `In Jerusalem I put My name.'
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.
2 Kings 21:5 5 And he built altars for
all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
YLT
5And he buildeth altars to
all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Jehovah;
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.
2 Kings 21:6 6 Also he made his son pass
through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted
spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him
to anger.
YLT
6and he hath caused his son
to pass through fire, and observed clouds, and used enchantment, and dealt with
a familiar spirit and wizards; he hath multiplied to do the evil thing in the
eyes of Jehovah -- to provoke to anger.
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.
2 Kings 21:7 7 He even set a carved image
of Asherah[c] that he
had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to
Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of
all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
YLT
7And he setteth the graven
image of the shrine that he made in the house of which Jehovah said unto David
and unto Solomon his son, `In this house, and in Jerusalem, that I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel, I put My name -- to the age;
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.
2 Kings 21:8 8 and I will not make the
feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if
they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and
according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”
YLT
8and I do not add to cause
the foot of Israel to move from the ground that I gave to their fathers, only,
if they observe to do according to all that I commanded them, and to all the
law that My servant Moses commanded them.'
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.
2 Kings 21:9 9 But they paid no
attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed
before the children of Israel.
YLT
9And they have not
hearkened, and Manasseh causeth them to err, to do the evil thing above the
nations that Jehovah destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel.
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.
2 Kings 21:10 10 And the Lord spoke by His
servants the prophets, saying,
YLT
10And Jehovah speaketh by the
hand of his servants the prophets, saying,
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.
2 Kings 21:11 11 “Because Manasseh king of
Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the
Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his
idols),
YLT
11`Because that Manasseh king
of Judah hath done these abominations -- he hath done evil above all that the
Amorites have done who [are] before him, and causeth also Judah to sin by his
idols;
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.
2 Kings 21:12 12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel:
‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah,
that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.
YLT
12therefore thus said
Jehovah, God of Israel, Lo, I am bringing in evil on Jerusalem and Judah, that
whoever heareth of it, tingle do his two ears.
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.
2 Kings 21:13 13 And I will stretch over
Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I
will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it
upside down.
YLT
13And I have stretched out
over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and
wiped Jerusalem as one wipeth the dish -- he hath wiped, and hath turned [it]
on its face.
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.
2 Kings 21:14 14 So I will forsake the
remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and
they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies,
YLT
14`And I have left the
remnant of Mine inheritance, and given them into the hand of their enemies, and
they have been for a prey and for a spoil to all their enemies,
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.
2 Kings 21:15 15 because they have done
evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers
came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
YLT
15because that they have done
the evil thing in Mine eyes, and are provoking Me to anger from the day that
their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.'
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.
2 Kings 21:16 16 Moreover Manasseh shed
very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another,
besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
YLT
16And also, innocent blood
hath Manasseh shed very much, till that he hath filled Jerusalem -- mouth to
mouth; apart from his sin that he hath caused Judah to sin, to do the evil
thing in the eyes of Jehovah.
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.
2 Kings 21:17 17 Now the rest of the acts
of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
YLT
17And the rest of the matters
of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not
written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
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.
2 Kings 21:18 18 So Manasseh rested with
his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of
Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
YLT
18And Manasseh lieth with his
fathers, and is buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and
reign doth Amon his son in his stead.
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.
2 Kings 21:19 19 Amon was twenty-two
years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His
mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
YLT
19A son of twenty and two
years [is] Amon in his reigning, and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem,
and the name of his mother [is] Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah,
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.
2 Kings 21:20 20 And he did evil in the
sight of the Lord,
as his father Manasseh had done.
YLT
20and he doth the evil thing
in the eyes of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father,
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.
2 Kings 21:21 21 So he walked in all the
ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had
served, and worshiped them.
YLT
21and walketh in all the way
that his father walked in, and serveth the idols that his father served, and
boweth himself to them,
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.
2 Kings 21:22 22 He forsook the Lord God of his
fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
YLT
22and forsaketh Jehovah, God
of his fathers, and hath not walked in the way of Jehovah.
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.
2 Kings 21:23 23 Then the servants of Amon
conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house.
YLT
23And the servants of Amon
conspire against him, and put the king to death in his own house,
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.
2 Kings 21:24 24 But the people of the land
executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the
land made his son Josiah king in his place.
YLT
24and the people of the land
smite all those conspiring against king Amon, and the people of the land cause
Josiah his son to reign in his stead.
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.
2 Kings 21:25 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?
YLT
25And the rest of the matters
of Amon that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
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.
2 Kings 21:26 26 And he was buried in his
tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.
YLT
26and [one] burieth him in
his burying-place in the garden of Uzza, and reign doth Josiah his son in his
stead.
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.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)