And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord ,.... Which he had set there, 2 Chronicles 33:7 . and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem ; see 2 Chronicles 33:4 , and cast them out of the city ; perhaps into the brook Kidron; all this he did to show the sincerity of his repentance for his idolatry, and his abhorrence of it. read more
And he repaired the altar of the Lord ,.... Which was fallen to ruin, being neglected and disused in his times of idolatry: or, according to the Keri, or marginal reading, and so the Targum, "he built it"; which perhaps he had before pulled down and destroyed: and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings ; to the Lord, for bringing him out of captivity, and restoring him to his kingdom; and especially for converting him from his idolatries, giving him repentance for them,... read more
Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places ,.... Not in those that were built for idols, at least did not sacrifice to them; for it follows: yet unto the Lord their God only ; the Targum is,"to the name of the Word of the Lord their God.' read more
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh ,.... Good and bad, what were done by him both before and after his conversion: and his prayer unto his God ; which it seems was taken and recorded, but now lost; for as for that which is among the apocryphal writings, there is no reason to believe it to be his, though it is thought to be so by many F15 Vid. Fabritii Bibliothec. Graec. l. 3. c. 31. p. 738,739. : and the words of the seers ; or the prophets, as the Targum; and the prophets in... read more
His prayer also ,.... Was not only recorded in the above annals, but in the writings of another person after mentioned: and how God was entreated of him ; heard his prayer, and showed him favour both in a temporal and spiritual way; for though the Jews would not allow that he was saved, or had a part in the world to come, eternal life F17 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 2. , yet there appears no just reason why it should be so thought: and all his sin, and his trespass ; his... read more
He took away the strange gods - He appears to have done every thing in his power to destroy the idolatry which he had set up, and to restore the pure worship of the true God. His repentance brought forth fruits meet for repentance. How long he was in captivity, and when or by whom he was delivered, we know not. The fact of his restoration is asserted; and we believe it on Divine testimony. read more
The people did sacrifice - "Nevertheless the people did sacrifice on the high places, but only to the name of the Word of the Lord their God." - Targum. read more
The words of the seers that spake to him - "Which were spoken to him in the name of the Word of the Lord God of Israel." - Targum. read more
His prayer also - What is called the Prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon, being found among our apocryphal books, I have inserted it at the end of the chapter, without either asserting or thinking that it is the identical prayer which this penitent king used when a captive in Babylon. But, as I have observed in another place, there are many good sentiments in it; and some sinners may find it a proper echo of the distresses of their hearts; I therefore... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 33:11-20
We have seen Manasseh by his wickedness undoing the good that his father had done; here we have him by repentance undoing the evil that he himself had done. It is strange that this was not so much as mentioned in the book of Kings, nor does any thing appear there to the contrary but that he persisted and perished in his son. But perhaps the reason was because the design of that history was to show the wickedness of the nation which brought destruction upon them; and this repentance of Manasseh... read more