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 . read more
THE REIGNS OF MANASSEH AND AMON . read more
Amon's wicked reign. We have here more than one instructive lesson. I. THE POWER OF EVIL OFTEN COUNTERACTS THE GOOD . Manasseh had humbled himself before God. He obtained pardon. But he could not undo the guilty past. He could not undo the effects of his evil example and influence. We see how his sins were imitated and continued by his son Amen. How careful we should be what influence we exercise, what an example we leave behind us! Many a penitent sinner would give... read more
REIGN OF AMON . The short reign of Amen, the son and successor of Manasseh, was distinguished by only two events: read more
Amon. "Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem." This is a short account of the brief and wicked reign of Amon the son of Manasseh. I. HIS REIGN WAS VERY SHORT . "He reigned two years," etc. The wonder is that such a man should have been permitted to breathe the breath of life. The sooner a bad king dies the better. 1. The better for his own sake . It restrains his own responsibilities and the aggravation of his... read more
The reign of Amen. In this king we have— I. A PALER COPY OF HIS FATHER . The only noteworthy facts about Amen, during his brief two years' reign, are: 1. His imitation of Manasseh ' s wickedness . His father, during the greater part of his reign, had set an evil example, but towards its close he had repented. Amen did not imitate the repentance, but imitated the sin. He walked in all the ways his father had walked in, apparently setting up again the idols which his... read more
And he walked in all the way that his father walked in. There was not a single one among the early wickednesses of Manasseh which Amen did not imitate. The details of Josiah's reformation ( 2 Kings 23:4-24 ) show that under Amon read more
At Manasseh’s death, the idolatrous party, held in some check during his later years 2 Chronicles 33:15-17, recovered the entire direction of affairs, and obtained authority from Amon to make once more all the changes which Manasseh had made in the early part of his reign. Hence, we find the state of things at Josiah’s accession 2 Kings 23:4-14; Zephaniah 1:4-12; Zephaniah 3:1-7, the exact counterpart of that which had existed under Manasseh. read more
2 Kings 21:21 . He (Amon) walked in the way, &c. He revived that idolatry which Manasseh, in the latter end of his reign, had put down. Those who set bad examples, if they repent themselves, cannot be sure that they whom their example has drawn into sin will repent; it is often otherwise. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 21:19-26
Here is a short account of the short and inglorious reign of Amon, the son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and brutish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other sons?or whether, having been dedicated to his idols, they were refused by the people?so it was that his successor was a son not born till he was forty-five years old. And of him we are here told, 1. That his reign was very wicked: He forsook the God of his fathers (2 Kgs. 21:22), disobeyed the commands given to his... read more