Biblical Profile: Manasseh

Manasseh

Manasseh, the thirteenth king of Judah (697–642 BC), had a long but notoriously wicked reign (2 Kgs 21:1-18; 2 Chr 33:1-9)—even though his father was the godly king Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:21).

In 697 BC, Manasseh became co-ruler with his father Hezekiah at age twelve (2 Chr 33:1). In 686 BC, Hezekiah died and Manasseh became sole monarch. He reigned a total of fifty-five years (2 Kgs 21:1), longer than any other king in Judah or Israel. Regrettably, he was the most wicked of all the kings of Judah. He rebuilt the high places for pagan worship; he encouraged the worship of Baal, the sun, the moon, and the stars; and he even burnt his son as a child sacrifice (2 Kgs 21:2-9; see 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31). He allowed divination and sorcery in Judah and “murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled . . . with innocent blood” (2 Kgs 21:16; 24:3-4).

Surviving Assyrian records note that Manasseh provided men to transport timber from Lebanon to Nineveh for the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BC), and he paid tribute to King Ashurbanipal (668–626 BC) after an Assyrian military campaign in Egypt in 667 BC. Manasseh served Assyria more faithfully than he served the Lord.