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Pagan reaction and religious syncretism under Hezekiah's successors: Manasseh (verses 1–18) and Amon (verses 19–26). 2 Kings 21:1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty years in Jerusalem; His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 Kings 21:2. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, imitating the abominations of the nations, whom the Lord drove out from before the children of Israel. 2 Kings 21:3. And he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and erected altars to Baal, and made an oak grove, as Ahab king of Israel did; and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven. 2 Kings 21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, “In Jerusalem I will place My name.” 2 Kings 21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of the Lord, 2 Kings 21:6. and he led his son through the fire, and told fortunes, and cast spells, and brought forth conjurers of the dead and wizards; He did much that was displeasing in the sight of the Lord to anger Him. 2 Kings 21:7. And he set up the image of Asherah, which he made in the house of which the Lord spoke to David and Solomon his son: “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I have established my name forever; 2 Kings 21:8. And I will never again allow the foot of Israel to go out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they strive to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 2 Kings 21:9. But they did not listen; and Manasseh corrupted them so that they did worse than those nations whom the Lord destroyed from before the children of Israel. After the death of Hezekiah, his 12-year-old son Manasseh ascended the throne of Jerusalem (for the fact that he may not have been Hezekiah’s eldest son, see the commentary on (2 Kings 20:2-3)) and reigned for 55 years - according to the chronology accepted in biblical science, from 698 to 643, and now from the Bible “for almost a whole century we know nothing about the external history of Judah. Manasseh was an obedient captive of the great king, and this was prudent, since during his fifty-year reign Assyria reached the height of its political power. Esargaddon, the son of Sennacherib, and Assurbanipal, the son of Assargaddon, reigned supreme over the entire space from the depths of the Tigris to the depths of Egypt, and neither in Jerusalem nor anywhere else could the thought of rebellion arise. But this loyalty to the Assyrians was accompanied by fatal consequences for the internal life of Judea and especially for worship. After the favorable rise of religious feeling under Hezekiah, times came when this feeling weakened...” (History of the Israeli people. Moscow, 1903. pp. 101–102). Given the lack of clear biblical evidence about the external relations of Judah under Manasseh (excluding evidence (2 Chronicles 33:11-13), which we will discuss below), the same hypothetical value with the now given opinion about Manasseh’s complete loyalty to the Assyrian king, and even an advantage over this opinion, has another assumption that Manasseh joined the alliance organized by the Egyptian pharaoh Tirhakoy West Asian states against Assyria (Prof. I.S. Yakimov, Interpretation of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Christ. Reading. 1984, 7 books, pp. 303–304, Bishop Plato, op. cit., p. 259), the consequence of which could have been his temporary captivity (2 Chron. 33:11 et seq.). Without touching on the political side of the more than half-century reign of Manasseh, the sacred writer of the 4th book of Kings dwells exclusively on the deep religious and moral decline of Jewish life under Manasseh: according to this image (vv. 2–16), the reign of Manasseh is the darkest era in the history of the southern kingdom of Judah. Manasseh not only restored all the high places canceled by Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4); not only, like Ahab (cf. 1 Kings 16:32 et seq.), allowed and encouraged the practice of Canaanite cults in the country (cf. 1 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 17:8), but also planted in Jerusalem and Judea the Assyro-Babylonian cults of the heavenly luminaries (vv. 2-3), as the cult of the “queen of heaven” has now become very widespread. (see Jer.7:18,44:15; Zeph.1:5, etc.). Pure paganism even invaded the very temple of Jehovah, where altars were erected to “all the host of heaven,” i.e. luminaries (see Deut. 4:19,17:3; 2 Kings 17:16). “The writer calls the sun, moon and stars the power of heaven” (Blessed Theodoret, question 53). In addition to the altars to the Assyrian deities (luminaries), the horses now placed at the entrance to the church in honor of the sun also belonged to the cult of the latter (2 Kings 23:10–11). Like Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3), Manasseh also performed the disgusting and terrible cult of Molech (v. 6), and was equally not inferior to Ahaz in his penchant for magic and divination (v. 6, cf. Is. 8:19,29:4). All this, especially the establishment of pagan cults in the very temple of Jehovah (v. 7, cf. 1 Kings 8:15,9:3), in fact, the very election of the Jewish people to the people of God was destroyed, and their right to the protection and patronage of God was lost (v. 8, cf. 2 Kings 7:10). The Jews under Manasseh acted even worse than the Canaanite peoples who were once exterminated by Jehovah for the sake of their people (v. 9): deep religious syncretism, which now declared itself with greater force than under Ahaz (cf. note to 2 Kings 16:10), according to the judgment of the sacred writer, turns out to be worse than pure paganism (cf. 2 Chron. 33:2-9). How can we understand how to explain the fact that a pious, truly theocratic king had a son and successor of such a sharply opposite direction that all the beneficent reforms of the former were destroyed and overthrown by the reaction of the latter? To explain this, previous interpreters considered it sufficient to point to the evil will of Manasseh himself and the corrupting influence on him of the court party, which had survived from the time of Ahaz. Blazh. Theodoret says: “that in animate beings it is not nature that prevails, but will, Manasseh is a witness to this, having left the pious image of his father and taken the opposite path” (question 53). Other interpreters believe that, having ascended the throne, Manasseh (as Joash once did after the death of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:17-18)) succumbed to the influence of the wicked court party, which even under Hezekiah opposed the authority of the prophets (Isa. 28:7,30:9-10), and after his death decided to find pure paganism in Jerusalem and Judea. (Keil. Die Bucher der Konige. 1865, s. 348; Kleinert. Richm Handworterbuch des Biblicshen Altertums, Bd. II, s. 962). In modern times, biblical theorists of development explain the religious syncretism introduced by Manasseh by the political situation of Judea, and his time - entirely by vassalage, which completely erased the impression of the power of Jehovah and his victory over the Assyrian gods (in the unsuccessful campaign of Sennacherib) among Manasseh and his people and entailed the cultural, spiritual and religious influence of Assyria on Judea; At the same time, Manasseh is not only carefully cleared of the stains that seem to be undeservedly lying on his memory, but he is also credited with positive services to the history of the Israeli people, for example, in terms of the Jews borrowing cosmogonic and other ideas from religion, mythology, and the legislation of Assyro-Babylonia (Stade, Gesch. Jsr. I, pp. 625–640. Compare Prof. A. P. Smirnova “New construction of the history of the Israeli people and new judgments about their historical figures”, 1887, p. 198, etc. The extreme nature of this view and its contradiction with the Bible are self-evident. 2 Kings 21:10. And the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets and said: 2 Kings 21:11. because Manasseh king of Judah did such abominations, worse than all that the Amorites did before him, and caused Judah to sin with his idols, 2 Kings 21:12. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will bring such evil upon Jerusalem and upon Judah, that whoever heareth of it shall ring in both his ears; 2 Kings 21:13. And I will stretch out to Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a cup—they will wipe it and overturn it; 2 Kings 21:14. and I will reject the remnant of My inheritance, and will give them into the hand of their enemies, and they will be spoiled and plundered by all their enemies, 2 Kings 21:15. because they did evil in My sight and provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day. 2 Kings 21:16. Manasseh also shed a lot of innocent blood, so that he filled Jerusalem with it from edge to edge, beyond his sin, that he lured Judah into sin - to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Manasseh declared himself not only a zealous pagan, but also a cruel tyrant, whose reign, for the first time in biblical Jewish history, was marked by martyrdom for the religion of Jehovah. The guardians of the house of Israel - the prophets - did not remain silent even in this dark time of the decline of the religion of enlightenment, the development of the people of God: despite the opposition of the false prophets (Is. 30:10,56:10,57:1-4; Mic. 3:3-4): they proclaimed the formidable definitions of God's judgment on the kingdom of Judah, in which the fate of the latter was completely equal (cf. Blessed Theodoret, question. 54) which has already overtaken the kingdom of Israel, v. 12–13, (cf. 1 Samuel 3:11; Jer.19:3; Am.7:7,17): “a rope and a plumb line are tools used to ensure the correct size. By threatening to measure Jerusalem with the same rope and plumb line with which Shomeron was measured, Jehovah reveals that Jerusalem will be subjected to the same disasters as Shomeron” (Prof. Gulyaev, p. 369) “The remnant of Jehovah’s inheritance” (v. 14), i.e., the kingdom of Judah, consisting of only two tribes, will be abandoned by Jehovah, and, as such, will be subjected to plunder and plunder by other nations (cf. Is.42:22). The response to the prophetic denunciations on the part of Manasseh was bloody terror: Jerusalem from edge to edge was flooded with streams of innocent, martyr's blood (v. 16, cf. I. Fla. Jude. Ancient. 10:3, 1). According to the Jewish tradition (Gemara, Jebamoth 4, 13; Sanhedr. f. 103), adopted by some church teachers (Tertullian. De patientia, 14. Augustin. De civitate Dei, 18, 24), under Manasseh the great prophet Isaiah died a martyr's death, being sawed through with a wooden saw (cf. (Heb. 11:37); Blessed Theodoret, question 54). It is true that it is not known from the Bible whether Isaiah also served as a prophet under Manasseh (cf. (Is. 1:1), where Hezekiah is named the last king of Judah, but Manasseh is not mentioned), but the antiquity of the tradition is undoubted, and it also has internal ideal reliability. 2 Kings 21:17. The rest of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sins that he committed, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. 2 Kings 21:18. And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzzah. And Ammon his son reigned in his stead. (2 Chronicles 33:11–20) provides information that significantly complements the narrative of the 4th book of Kings about Manasseh, namely that Jehovah punished Manasseh for his sins with the invasion of the military leaders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh and in chains (probably with a ring threaded through his lip (see 2 Kings 19:28): these are the images of the captive kings on Assyrian monuments) took him to Babylon; In captivity, Manasseh repented and asked God for forgiveness and was returned to Judea, where he tried to make amends for the consequences of his grave errors: he abolished various types of idolatry, and also restored Jerusalem and other fortified cities. This message, which has long been subject to doubt and challenge in science (from, for example, Wiener, Hitzig, etc.), is now recognized (by Ewald and others) as completely historical, as justified by these Assyriologists (Schracler, Kalinschr. and Alexander. sp. T., s. 366 if. Vigouroux, Bibel und die neueren Entdeckunogen B. IV, s. 232 ff.). In the political activities of Manasseh upon his return from captivity, St. the writer (2 Chron. 33:14) notes the construction of the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Geon, along the ravine and to the entrance to the Fish Gate and running it around Ophel. This is the so-called second wall of Jerusalem, traditionally associated with the names of Hezekiah (cf. 2 Chron. 32:5) and Manasseh. As can be seen from the points mentioned in the now cited place of 2 Chronicles - Geon (cf. 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Chronicles 32:30), Fish Gate (Neh. 3:3, 12:39; Zeph. 1:10) and Ophel (2 Chronicles 27:3; Neh. 3:26) it is clear that this wall began at the western (Geon) or northwestern part of Jerusalem, then went around the entire north of the city to the Fish Gate in the northeast and, then turning to the south, captured the southeastern spur of Mount Moriah - the so-called Ophel (cf. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 10: 3, 2). In addition to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (in (2 Kings 20:17) - “kings of Judah”) the priest. the writer of 2 Chronicles cites as a source for the history of Manasseh the records of a certain Chozai (Hebrew dibre-Khozai), probably one of the prophets contemporary to this king. He was buried at his house, in the garden of a certain Uzza (v. 18; (2 Chron. 33:20); Josephus "Jewish Antiquities." Book X, ch. 3, 2), whom some (Benzinger, Kittel) identify with the famous king Uzziah Azariah (2 Kings 15:1, etc.), others (Keil, Ber) see here the name of an unknown person, the former owner of the garden, in which the palace was later built; presumably placed in the Tyropeon valley (Onomast. 700) at the foot of Ophel. 2 Kings 21:19. Ammon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years; His mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz, of Yatba. 2 Kings 21:20. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as Manasseh his father did; 2 Kings 21:21. and he walked in the same way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them, 2 Kings 21:22. and forsaken the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord. 2 Kings 21:23. And the servants of Ammon conspired against him, and killed the king in his house. 2 Kings 21:24. But the people of the land killed all those who were in the conspiracy against King Ammon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. 2 Kings 21:25. The rest of what he did about Ammon is written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. 2 Kings 21:26. And they buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son reigned in his stead. Compare ( 2 Chronicles 33:21–25 ). The 15th king of Judah, Amon, the son and successor of Manasseh, was throughout his short reign, 643–641, a zealot of his father’s wickedness in the first and most part of it, but did not imitate his repentance. Some saw an indication of his pagan way of thinking and mood in the very name of Amun (in I. Flavius ​​“Amos”), bringing it (Ewald and others) closer to the name of the famous Egyptian deity Amon; it is more likely, however, that this is a Hebrew name (cf. 1 Kings 22:26; Nehemiah 7:59). Yatba (v. 19 in the LXX: ῾Ιετέβα, Vulg.: Jeteba, in I. Flavius: Iovat, slav. Ieteva, Onomast. 547) is an unknown village, probably in the tribe of Judah. The tsar's wickedness undoubtedly found a response and sympathy among the people. The conspiracy of the courtiers (“servants,” v. 23) against Amon and his murder did not, of course, arise from a struggle on the basis of religious beliefs, since these courtiers were probably as alien to the religion of Jehovah as the king himself (against Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 10:4, 1). The people of the earth (Hebrew am - Haaretz; (cf. 2 Kings 11:14, 16:15) - later among the rabbis and Talmudists it means “common people”; cf. John 7:49) did not react sympathetically to this crime (as well as to the murder of Amaziah 1 Kings 14:19), and elevated his young son Josiah to the kingdom (v. 24). Amon was buried, like Manasseh, in the garden of Uzzah (verse 26). You might be interested in: