2 Re 21:26 Commento

In this chapter we have a short but sad account of the reigns of two of the kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon. I. Concerning Manasseh, all the account we have of him here is, 1. That he devoted himself to sin, to all manner of wickedness, idolatry, and murder (Kg2 21:1-9 and Kg2 21:16). 2. That therefore God devoted him, and Jerusalem for his sake, to ruin (Kg2 21:10-18). In the book of Chronicles we have an account of his troubles, and his repentance. II. Concerning Amon we are only told that he lived in sin (Kg2 21:19-22), died quickly by the sword, and left good Josiah his successor (Kg2 21:23-26). By these two reigns Jerusalem was much debauched and much weakened, and so hastened apace towards its destruction, which slumbered not.

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 21 In this chapter a short history is given of the two wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon; Manasseh is charged with great idolatry, with enchantments and witchcrafts, and seducing the children of Israel, Kg2 21:1 and a prophecy is given out of the destruction of Jerusalem for his sins, Kg2 21:10, and an account is given of his death and burial, Kg2 21:17, and of his son and successor Amon, and the evils committed by him, Kg2 21:19 and of the conspiracy against his life, which succeeded, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead, Kg2 21:23.

Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah, reigns fifty-five years, and fills Jerusalem and the whole land with abominable idolatry and murder, Kg2 21:1-9. God denounces the heaviest judgments against him and the land, Kg2 21:10-15. Manasseh's acts and death, Kg2 21:16-18. Amon his son succeeds him, and reigns two years; is equally profligate with his father; is slain by his servants, and buried in the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigns in his stead, Kg2 21:19-26.

The garden of Uzza - The family sepulcher or burying-place. It is said Kg2 21:3, Kg2 21:7, that "Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," etc. וישם את פסל האשרה אשר עשה vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah: "And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made," into the house. Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol; and probably of one which was carved out of wood. R. S. Jarchi, on Gen 12:3, says, "that אשרה asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;" like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain. Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce אשר, defines אשרה asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartae dicatum; "A wooden image dedicated to Astrate or Venus." The Septuagint render the words by αλσος; and Flamminius Nobilis, on Kg2 23:4, says Rursus notat Theodoretus το αλσος esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum Ashatroth; i.e. "Again Theodoret observes, αλσος is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth." The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on Deu 7:5, ואשירהם תגדעון vaasheyrehem tegaddeun; i.e., "Their groves shall ye cut down" - translates the place thus, ואילני סיגדיהון תקצצון ,suht ecalp e veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun; "And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down." From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where אשרה asherah and its derivatives are used. Here follow proofs: - In Kg2 23:6, it is said that "Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord." This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain meaning of ויצא את השרה מבית יהוה vaiyotse eth haasherah mibbeyth Jehovah, is, "And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it," etc. That this is the true meaning of the place appears farther from Kg2 23:7, where it is said, "He broke down the houses of the sodomites," (הקדשים hakkedeshim, of the whoremongers), "where the women wove hangings for the grove" (בתים לאשרה bottim laasherah, "houses or shrines for Asherah.") Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Act 19:24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove. The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In Kg2 23:6, the former says, "He cast out the idol, dechlotho, from the house of the Lord;" and in Kg2 23:7 : "He threw down the houses, dazoine, of the prostitutes; and the women who wove garments, ledechlotho, for the idols which were there." The Arabic is exactly the same. From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes. I deny not that there were groves consecrated to idolatrous worship among the Gentiles, but I am sure that such are not intended in the above-cited passages; and the text, in most places, reads better when understood in this way.

MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN, AND GREAT IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 21:1-18) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign--He must have been born three years after his father's recovery; and his minority, spent under the influence of guardians who were hostile to the religious principles and reforming policy of his father, may account in part for the anti-theocratic principles of his reign. The work of religious reformation which Hezekiah had zealously carried on was but partially accomplished. There was little appearance of its influence on the heart and manners of the people at large. On the contrary, the true fear of God had vanished from the mass of the people; corruption and vice increased, and were openly practised (Isa 28:7, &c.) by the degenerate leaders, who, having got the young prince Manasseh into their power, directed his education, trained him up in their views, and seduced him into the open patronage of idolatry. Hence, when he became sovereign, he introduced the worship of idols, the restoration of high places, and the erection of altars or pillars to Baal, and the placing, in the temple of God itself, a graven image of Asherah, the sacred or symbolic tree, which represented "all the host of heaven." This was not idolatry, but pure star-worship, of Chaldaic and Assyrian origin [KEIL]. The sun, as among the Persians, had chariots and horses consecrated to it (Kg2 23:11); and incense was offered to the stars on the housetops (Kg2 23:12; Ch2 33:5; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5), and in the temple area with the face turned toward the sunrise (Eze 8:16).

Amon was buried "in his grave in the garden of Uzza," i.e., in the grave which he had had made in the garden of Uzza by the side of his father's grave. He had probably resided in this palace of his father. יקבּר, one buried him.