Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 21:24

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Manasseh’s evil reign (21:1-26)

Hezekiah’s reformation had cleansed Judah of the outward forms of foreign religion, but the inward spiritual condition of most people had not changed. The faithful remnant was still small (see 19:30-31). Possibly under pressure from Assyria, Manasseh reversed his father’s religious policy and with almost fanatical zeal reintroduced foreign religious ideas of every kind. Fifty-five years under his rule left Judah in a worse spiritual condition than that for which God had destroyed the original Canaanites (21:1-9). Therefore, God announced he would punish Judah as he had punished Israel. No later king was able to remove fully the evil that Manasseh brought upon Judah (10-16; cf. 23:26-27).

Towards the end of his life, Manasseh rebelled against Assyria. He was taken captive and brought before the Assyrian leaders at Babylon, which at that time was under the control of Assyria. Later he was allowed to return to Jerusalem. Believing that his captivity was a punishment by God for his sins, he attempted to return to the true worship of Yahweh. But it was too late to undo the damage he had done over half a century, and his reform had no lasting effect (17-18; 2 Chronicles 33:10-20).

Manasseh’s son Amon returned to the earlier policies of his father, but after a brief reign he was murdered. Some of the leading citizens, tired of the constant cruelty and bloodshed (cf. v. 16), executed Amon’s murderers and put Amon’s eight year old son Josiah on the throne (about 640 BC). In this way power rested with the king’s advisers, who could then follow policies that would benefit the people and restore peace and stability to Judah (19-26).

Zephaniah and Josiah

By the time he was twenty, Josiah had developed his own policy and begun reforms that lasted many years (2 Chronicles 34:1-5). He was possibly prompted to introduce these reforms through the preaching of the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah was probably not much older than Josiah and appears to have been related to him (cf. Zephaniah 1:1).

So far as we know, Zephaniah was the first prophet to appear in Judah for over seventy years. The Bible has no record of any prophets during the evil reigns of Manasseh and Amon. Zephaniah’s work marked the beginning of a new period of prophetic activity in Judah. He lived in Jerusalem, where he denounced the same evils as Isaiah and Micah denounced a century earlier (Zephaniah 1:4-9; Zephaniah 3:3-4). His announcements of judgment no doubt prompted many of the people to change their ways and cooperate in Josiah’s reforms (Zephaniah 2:3).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE BRIEF REIGN, DEATH, AND BURIAL OF AMON

“Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haraz of Jotbah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father. And he walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them; and he forsook Jehovah the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah. And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josi ah his son king in his stead. 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? And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.”

Nothing is revealed concerning the reason of the conspiracy against Amon, or the motives of the conspirators. The suggestion of Canon Cook proposes a reasonable solution of what actually happened.”

“The intention of the conspirators had perhaps been to declare a forfeiture of the crown by the Davidic line and to place a new dynasty on the throne. This the people would not suffer; so they arrested the conspirators, put them to death, and invested the royal authority in young Josiah, who was only eight years old.”F. C. Cook, Albert Barnes Commentary Series, Kings, p. 295.

He was the true heir to the throne.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The intention of the conspirators had perhaps been to declare a forfeiture of the crown by the existing line, and to place a new dynasty on the throne. This the people would not suffer. They arrested them and put them to death; and insisted on investing with the royal authority the true heir of David, the eldest son of Amon, though he was a boy only 8 years old.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 21

Now Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign ( 2 Kings 21:1 ),

Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah, and here is something that I think is interesting for speculation. Would it have been better for Hezekiah had he died instead of being healed? Was the healing of Hezekiah God's perfect will and plan? God had sent the message; "You're going to die." Hezekiah began to weep and of course, in Hezekiah he says that he all night long, he sort of chattered like a dove and all, you know, and just weeping before God and all. And so God sent Isaiah back and say, "I've seen his tears; I've heard his prayer. I'll give him fifteen years." Was that really God's real purpose and plan? Would it not have been much better had Hezekiah died at that time?

For his son Manasseh began to reign when he was twelve years old, which means Manasseh was conceived and born after Hezekiah had his life extended. Had Hezekiah died at that point, Manasseh would never have been born. And I say that because we read concerning Manasseh,

He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. He built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, he made a grove, as did Ahab the king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He made his son pass through the fire, he observed times, used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Made the graven images ( 2 Kings 21:2-7 ),

And it was because of Manasseh's leading the people into such depths of sin they could never recover. And thus, Judah fell as a result of Manasseh's leading them to the depths of sin. Now what would have happened to the nation had Hezekiah not insisted in prayer that God heal him? The whole story of the nation could have been much different. The whole history could have been much different. But here is a man insisting with tears, begging, "Oh God, heal me please. Lord, I'll serve you. I love you. Please heal me, God." This is a part of the problem that evolves when I start ordering God rather than taking orders from God.

When I think that prayer is that instrument and tool whereby I am to get my will done, rather than the instrument whereby we can get God's will done, I wonder how much damage is done by these insisting prayers that we hear so much about today. The nation could have been spared the horrors of Manasseh had Hezekiah died. It's something to contemplate and think about. I don't have any answers for it, but it's just something to think about.

But Manasseh was an extremely wicked king and God testified in verse twelve.

I am going to bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears about it, their ears will tingle. For I'm going to stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, the plummet of the house of Ahab: I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all of their enemies; Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger ( 2 Kings 21:12-15 ),

And so forth. Now in the New Testament we read of the prophets of God, men of faith in Hebrews chapter eleven, men of great faith who stop the mouths of lions, who survived through the fires. And yet it says they were stoned, they were sawed in two. According to tradition, and extra-curricular scriptures, Isaiah was the man referred to who was sawed in two. And this was done by Manasseh, the wicked son of Hezekiah. This glorious prophet Isaiah, he had him sawn in two. Evil, wicked man who never would have existed had Hezekiah not insisted on God healing him.

Manasseh died, was buried in the garden of his own house, and his son Amon reigned in his stead. He was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, walking after the ways of his father Manasseh. He served the idols that his father had served; he worshipped them ( 2 Kings 21:18-21 ):

Actually he grew up in it. He was one of the children of Manasseh who Manasseh made to pass through the fire to this pagan in the rites to these pagan gods.

And the servants of Amon conspired against him ( 2 Kings 21:23 ),

The walk, fire-walking and all, causing your children to do the fire walk, and you know, they get into these trances and so forth, and walk across coals, but you notice it also says along with these things that they dealt with familiar spirits or with demon spirits and all. And this is all a part of demonology. He reigned for two years. His servants conspired against him.

and killed him in his own house. And Josiah his son began to reign as king in his stead ( 2 Kings 21:23-24 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

C. Amon’s Evil Reign 21:19-26

Amon reigned two years (642-640 B.C.). Rather than continuing to follow the Lord, which his father’s repentance encouraged, Amon reverted to the policies of Manasseh’s earlier reign and rebelled against Yahweh completely. This provoked some of his officials to assassinate him (2 Kings 21:23). Again we see that rebellion against God often leads to one’s premature personal destruction (cf. 1 John 5:16). To their credit, the leaders of Judah executed the king’s assassins and so prevented anarchy.

Amon may have been the only king of either Israel or Judah who bore the name of a foreign god. Amon-Re was the sun god of Egypt. His father may have named him in honor of this god. However, the Hebrew word amon means "faithful," so his name may not connect with Amon-Re.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Amon,.... On occasion of his death, there seems to have been an insurrection of the people in a body, to avenge the death of their king, who might be beloved on account of his idolatry, so depraved was the nation; or it may be only to avenge his death because he was their king, whose life these men ought not to have taken away: and the rather this may be thought to be the reason by what follows,

and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead; who had been prophesied of by name above three hundred years before, see

1 Kings 13:2.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      19 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.   20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.   21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:   22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.   23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.   24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.   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 sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

      Here is a short account of the short and inglorious reign of Amon, the son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and brutish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other sons--or whether, having been dedicated to his idols, they were refused by the people--so it was that his successor was a son not born till he was forty-five years old. And of him we are here told, 1. That his reign was very wicked: He forsook the God of his fathers (2 Kings 21:22; 2 Kings 21:22), disobeyed the commands given to his fathers, and disclaimed the covenant made with his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord, but in all the way which his father walked in,2 Kings 21:20; 2 Kings 21:21. He trod in the steps of his father's idolatry, and revived that which he, in the latter end of his days, had put down. Note, Those who set bad examples, though they may repent themselves, yet cannot be sure that those whom they have drawn into sin by their example will repent; it is often otherwise. 2. That his end was very tragical. He having rebelled against God, his own servants conspired against him and slew him, probably upon some personal disgust, when he had reigned but two years, 2 Kings 21:23; 2 Kings 21:23. His servants, who should have guarded him, murdered him; his own house, that should have been his castle of defence, was the place of his execution. He had profaned God's house with his idols, and now God suffered his own house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous soever those were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be done. Two things the people of the land did, by their representatives, hereupon:-- (1.) They did justice on the traitors that had slain the king, and put them to death; for, though he was a bad king, he was their king, and it was a part of their allegiance to him to avenge his death. Thus they cleared themselves from having any hand in the crime, and did what was incumbent on them to deter others from the like villainous practices. (2.) They did a kindness to themselves in making Josiah his son king in his stead, whom probably the conspirators had a design to put by, but the people stood by him and settled him in the throne, encouraged, it may be, by the indications he gave, even in his early days, of a good disposition. Now they made a happy change from one of the worst to one of the best of all the kings of Judah. "Once more," says God, "they shall be tried with a reformation; and, if that succeed, well; if not, then after that I will cut them down." Amon was buried in the same garden where his father was, 2 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 21:26. If his father put himself under that humiliation, the people will put him under it.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

Well, then, in the next portion of our book (2 Kings 21:1-26) we see how truly a pious father may be followed by an impious son. Manasseh, young as he was, did not only begin to reign, but "did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah after the abominations of the heathen, whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, which Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. And he made his son pass through the fire." Burnt them to Moloch. Cruel king! "And observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of Jehovah to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which Jehovah said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not."

The consequence was that Manasseh not only did evil, but "seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed." How was it possible then for Judah to abide in the land of Jehovah? It became a moral impossibility. Hence therefore the message which Jehovah sends by His servants the prophets. After Manasseh, reigned Amon; and Amon follows in the steps of his wicked father, not of his pious grandfather. "He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them, and he forsook the Jehovah God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah."

But after him comes a truly godly prince Josiah younger, too, than either (2 Kings 22:1-20). He was not too young to serve the Lord. "He was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah: and let them give it to the doers of the work;" and so on. But when we are in the path of duty we are in the place of blessing. And Hilkiah gives the glad message to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah." How strange! found the book of the law of Jehovah. So it was, and people wonder how that in Christendom men have so long departed, and so long forgotten the word of God.

According to the analogy of Israel, we ought rather to expect it. Here was a people still more bound by letter than we, still more dependent therefore upon a law, if possible, than we could be upon any outward observances. For the law was essentially outward, and the law was a thing that was not so dependent upon inner life and the Spirit of God as outward statutes and observances and ordinances of every kind. Yet even here the law had been lost all this time, and it was a great discovery to find it. God was faithful, and he that had a heart to observe the word of Jehovah found the law through His servant Hilkiah, the high priest. "And it came to pass when the king had heard the words, of the book of the law, he rent his clothes." He had a tender conscience. There is nothing more important in its place; for what is the good of knowledge if there is not a conscience? It appears to me that to grow in knowledge of the truth, if there be not simplicity in following it out, turns the knowledge into a curse, not a blessing. The one value of the truth of God of the word of God being better known is that we may be more faithful towards the Lord, and also in our relationships one with another in doing His will in this poor world. But the moment that you divorce the truth from conscience, it appears to me that the state of the soul is even worse. Far better to be simple in using aright the little that we know than to grow in knowledge where there is no corresponding fidelity. The king, however, was very different. When he heard the words, he rent his clothes, and the consequence was that there was a mighty work of real revival, in the true sense of the word; because I need not tell you that it is a great misapplication of the term "revival" to use it for the conversion of souls. Revival is rather a process of raising up the people of God to a better state or condition, so as most truly to follow what the Lord looks for among them where they have slipped into a lower, slumbering, condition. This is the true sense of it, and this is exactly the meaning of it here, So the king gave an impulse to the people and they gathered to him, as we are told in the next chapter.

"The king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant" (2 Kings 23:1-37). And we find, accordingly, the practical fruits at once, public and private, national and personal, for at this time you must remember it was not the church: it was a nation, and it is the greatest confusion of things that differ to confound an elect nation with the church of God. The church is a gathering out of all nations. The congregation of Israel was merely an assemblage of that nation. To talk, therefore, about the Jewish church is really nonsense. It is a common phrase, but there is no truth in it. It is only allowing ourselves phraseology that is altogether foreign to the word of God.

The account then of the great reformation that was wrought is fully gone into in the rest of the chapter, but I shall only add that although the king had been thus faithful, he slips out of the path of the Lord in opposing Pharaoh-nechoh. God had not called him to it, and if the Lord always blesses fidelity, and loves to bless wherever He can, on the other hand the Lord is righteous in His government; and if therefore the righteous man slips out of the path of fidelity he bears the consequences. What we sow to the flesh, we must reap in corruption. It matters not who. Converted or unconverted, it is always true. So with Josiah. There might be grace on the Lord's part to take him away from the evil to come, but I do not doubt it was a chastening upon his eagerness of spirit in opposing the king of Egypt without a word from the Lord.

However, the king of Egypt put Jehoahaz in bands. The people had made him king in Jerusalem in the stead of Josiah, and he made Eliakim his brother king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. And Jehoiakim, we are told, was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. But all this was only one sorrowful event after another.

In the next chapter (2 Kings 24:1-20) we have the mighty king of Babylon, who first comes before us Nebuchadnezzar, the destined beginner of the great imperial system with which we have not done yet; for the world is yet to see the last phase of the imperial power that began at this very time, or shortly after. This gives deep interest to what we are now looking at. I am aware that men are not expecting it. This does not at all hinder its truth as the word of God, and His word alone can decide such questions. The first then who acquires the empire of the world Nebuchadnezzar comes up, and Jehoiakim, became his servant three years. Afterwards he rebels. The Lord puts him down, and Jehoiachin his son reigns in his stead, and the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land, because he was put down by Nebuchadnezzar. These are the steps by which he arrives at the throne of the world, according to the sovereign gift of Jehovah. And Jehoiachin does evil; and at that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar came up when he rebelled, and Nebuchadnezzar himself too besieges the city and carries away the treasures of the house as well as the princes and mighty men. Not only the king, but as we know also a man afterwards most distinguished, and of such deep interest to us Daniel, the prophet. Then follows another sorrowful state. Zedekiah having been made king provisionally in the land over a small remnant, he too is guilty of breaking the oath of Jehovah, and Nebuchadnezzar comes against him. Here we find the last phase of Jerusalem's sorrowful history of the last batch of the Jews that was carried down into captivity. And this is pursued to the end of the twenty-fifth chapter, and this closes the book.

Thus we have completed these two Books of the Kings cursorily, I admit, but still I trust so as to give at any rate a general picture of this wonderful history of the Old Testament; the end being the great imperial power under which will take place the return of a little remnant of the Jews to find themselves in Jerusalem once more to set up a king who will be Satan's great instrument for deceiving men under the shelter of the last holder of the power that began with Babylon. But I enter no farther. This would take me out of history into prophecy.