2 Kings 21:16

THE REPORT OF MANASSEH'S DEATH AND BURIAL

"Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead."

"According to an old Jewish legend, which is probably referred to in Hebrews 11:37, the prophet Isaiah was executed by Manasseh by being sawn in two."[17]

It is also significant that Manasseh's successor, his son, was named Amon, the same being the name of an Egyptian god. "Thebes, a capital of Egypt, was the holy city of Amon; and in his honor, they called themselves No-Amon (Nahum 3:8). He was, in some sense, the god of the wind and of certain powers of generation."[18]

"He shed innocent blood very much, ..." (2 Kings 21:16). It is significant that this is specifically mentioned here, and "It indicates some culminating horror, something not mentioned before; and these conditions are answered by supposing that the reference is to a bloody persecution of the righteous in Jerusalem."[19] Josephus mentioned that persecution.

"Setting out from a contempt of God, he barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews; nor would he spare the prophets, for every day he slew some of them, until Jerusalem was overflown with blood."[20]

In 2 Chronicles 33, there is a report of Manasseh's repentance, following his capture and deportation to Assyria and his subsequent return to his throne; but, since the author of Kings ignored that event, we shall also defer any discussion of it until our Commentary on Chronicles.

The report of Manasseh's death and burial "in his own house," is explained by scholars as either (1) due to the sepulchre of the kings of Judah being full, or (2) to the refusal of the people to allow such an honor to such a wicked king. We cannot see that it makes much difference. We find it difficult to accept Matthew Henry's opinion that, "Due to his repentance, and his humiliation because of the realization of all his sins, he was buried in the garden of his own house, by his own order, counting himself unworthy to be buried in the tombs of David and the other kings."[21] This is a very charitable view, but we doubt the validity of it.