
2 Kings 21
This chapter introduces Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who becomes king of Judah. His reign is marked by an extreme departure from his father’s reforms, as he leads the nation into idolatry and wicked practices. Despite being a chosen nation, Judah's leadership under Manasseh turns away from God's commandments, causing devastating spiritual decline. His reign leads to prophetic warnings of coming judgment upon Judah.
2 Kings 21:1-5 (NKJV)
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
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.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
Manasseh’s reign begins at the young age of twelve, and he rules for an extensive fifty-five years. Despite his father Hezekiah’s righteous reforms, Manasseh leads Judah into grave spiritual decline. He brings back pagan worship by rebuilding the high places and setting up altars for Baal and other false gods. Even worse, he desecrates the Lord’s temple by building altars to heavenly bodies inside its courts. This reversal of his father’s work and turning away from God deeply offends the Lord, paralleling the corrupt practices of the nations that Israel had once driven out.
2 Kings 21:6 (NKJV)
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.
Manasseh’s wickedness deepens as he engages in child sacrifice, an abominable practice borrowed from the Canaanites. He also turns to occult practices such as soothsaying, witchcraft, and consulting mediums. These actions are explicitly condemned by God’s law and provoke His anger. Manasseh’s reign represents a total rejection of God’s ways, leading Judah into moral and spiritual corruption.
2 Kings 21:7-9 (NKJV)
7 He even set a carved image of Asherah 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;
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.”
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.
Manasseh’s rebellion reaches a peak when he places a carved image of Asherah, a pagan goddess, inside the temple. This act desecrates the sacred place where God had promised His presence would dwell. Despite God’s covenant with Israel, which offered protection and blessing if they obeyed His commandments, Manasseh leads the people into greater evil than the nations God had previously judged and removed from the land. The people's disregard for God’s commands demonstrates their collective spiritual downfall.
2 Kings 21:10-12 (NKJV)
10 And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying,
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),
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.’”
The Lord sends His prophets to warn Judah about the consequences of their sins. God declares that Manasseh's abominations surpass even the wickedness of the Amorites, the previous inhabitants of the land. As a result, God announces an impending judgment so severe that it will shock everyone who hears about it. This is a dire warning of the coming devastation that Judah will face due to their idolatry and rebellion.
2 Kings 21:13-15 (NKJV)
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.
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,
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.”
God uses the image of a measuring line and plummet, indicating that Jerusalem will be judged by the same standard as Samaria, the northern kingdom that was destroyed due to similar sins. God compares His judgment to wiping a dish clean and turning it over, signifying total devastation. Judah will be abandoned and delivered into the hands of their enemies as punishment for their persistent disobedience since their exodus from Egypt.
2 Kings 21:16 (NKJV)
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.
Manasseh’s reign is further marked by the shedding of innocent blood, indicating a violent and oppressive rule. His actions lead to widespread corruption and suffering throughout Jerusalem. In addition to his idolatry, this bloodshed adds to the list of sins that provoke God’s anger, further sealing Judah’s fate of destruction.
2 Kings 21:17-18 (NKJV)
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?
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.
The reign of Manasseh concludes with a brief note on his death and burial. Despite his long and wicked rule, the detailed account of his reign can be found in other historical records. His burial in the garden of Uzza, rather than the tombs of the kings, may signify the dishonor of his legacy. His son Amon follows him on the throne, setting the stage for the continuation of Judah’s troubled history.
2 Kings 21:19-22 (NKJV)
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.
20 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.
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.
22 He forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
Amon, Manasseh’s son, takes the throne but reigns only two years. Sadly, he follows in his father’s footsteps, continuing the same idolatrous practices and turning away from the Lord. Despite having the example of his grandfather Hezekiah’s righteousness, Amon chooses to embrace the sinful legacy of Manasseh, further entrenching Judah in spiritual decline.
2 Kings 21:23-26 (NKJV)
23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house.
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.
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?
26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Josiah reigned in his place.
Amon’s reign ends abruptly when his own servants conspire to assassinate him. However, the people of the land quickly avenge his death by executing the conspirators and making his son Josiah king. Amon’s short and tragic rule, like his father’s, is marked by spiritual and moral failure. His burial in the same place as Manasseh suggests continuity in his dishonorable legacy, but his son Josiah will bring a new chapter to Judah’s history.