2 Chronicles 33:6

33:1-20 We have seen Manasseh's wickedness; here we have his repentance, and a memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. Deprived of his liberty, separated from his evil counsellors and companions, without any prospect but of ending his days in a wretched prison, Manasseh thought upon what had passed; he began to cry for mercy and deliverance. He confessed his sins, condemned himself, was humbled before God, loathing himself as a monster of impiety and wickedness. Yet he hoped to be pardoned through the abundant mercy of the Lord. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah was God, able to deliver. He knew him as a God of salvation; he learned to fear, trust in, love, and obey him. From this time he bore a new character, and walked in newness of life. Who can tell what tortures of conscience, what pangs of grief, what fears of wrath, what agonizing remorse he endured, when he looked back on his many years of apostacy and rebellion against God; on his having led thousands into sin and perdition; and on his blood-guiltiness in the persecution of a number of God's children? And who can complain that the way of heaven is blocked up, when he sees such a sinner enter? Say the worst against thyself, here is one as bad who finds the way to repentance. Deny not to thyself that which God hath not denied to thee; it is not thy sin, but thy impenitence, that bars heaven against thee.

6 . And he caused ] R.V. He also made . There is stress on the pronoun “He” (that wicked one!). to pass through the fire ] Cp. 2 Chronicles 28:3 , note. in the valley of the son of Hinnom ] Cp. Jeremiah 7:31-32 . observed times ] R.V. practised augury . The precise meaning of the Heb. word ( ‘ônçn ) is quite uncertain. “Augury” among the Romans consisted chiefly in observing birds and interpreting the observations made, but augurs observed also various natural phenomena. used witchcraft ] R.V. practised sorcery . The Heb. word ( kishshçph ) is said to mean “make a magic brew with shredded herbs.” with a familiar spirit ] R.V. with them that had familiar spirits . The Heb. word ( ôb ) probably means a necromancer who uses ventriloquism in the practice of his art. The witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28) was such a person. LXX. here has [ ἐποίησεν ] ἐνγαστριμύθους , i.e. “he appointed ventriloquists.”

Verse 6. - Caused his children . Parallel ( 2 Kings 21:6 ), "his son ," in the singular number (see also 2 Kings 16:3 compared with our 2 Chronicles 28:3 ). There can be no doubt that this worst of cruel abominations, learned from Ammon and Moab, amounted to nothing less than the sacrifice of the child in the fire. It is, perhaps, something remarkable that we do not encounter anywhere any description of the exact manner of administration of this cruelty, and of its taking effect on the pitiable victim. The solemn commands of Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 18:10 bespeak sufficiently distinctly the prevision and earnest precaution of the Divine Ruler of Israel, through Moses, on behalf of his people. The following references all bear on the subject, and will be studied with advantage in order given: 2 Kings 3:27 ; 2 Kings 17:17 ; Ezekiel 20:26 ; Micah 6:7 ; Amos 5:26 ; Jeremiah 7:32 ; Jeremiah 19:4 ; Ezekiel 16:20 ; Ezekiel 20:26 . In the valley of the son of Hinnom ( Joshua 15:8 ; Joshua 18:16 ). On an elevation at the eastern extremity of this valley it was that Solomon erected "high places" to Moloch, entailing on himself a long and dire responsibility ( 1 Kings 11:7 ). Consult also our 2 Chronicles 28:3 and note there; with added reference, Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 172, 482. Also he observed times ; Revised Version, and he practised augury. The Hebrew word is ועְונֵן .

This root is found once in piel infinitive ( Genesis 9:14 ), and is rendered (Authorized Version), "when I bring a cloud," etc.; beside, it is found in all ten times, always in poel, in preterite twice (the present passage and parallel), future once ( Leviticus 19:26 ), participle seven times ( Deuteronomy 18:10, 14 ; Judges 9:37 , margin), in which six places it is rendered (Authorized Version) "observing times," once in Isaiah and Micah with rendering "soothsayers," again in Isaiah "sorcerers," and in Jeremiah "enchanter." There is difficulty in fixing its exact meaning, though its general meaning may be embraced in the words of the Revised Version. A likely meaning, judging from derivation, may be the practising augury from observing of the clouds. The passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy are those that of old solemnly prohibited it. And used enchantments ; Hebrew, וְנִחֵשׁ ; the root is the familiar word for "serpent." The verb occurs eleven times, always in piel. The prohibition to practise such "enchantment" or divination is found in Leviticus 19:26 and Leviticus 18:10; the five occasions of the use of the word in Genesis, however ( Genesis 30:27 ; Genesis 44:5, 15 ), argue that it was not a thing intrinsically bad, but bad probably from . certain, so to say, simoniacal possibilities to which it lent itself. There lay in it some assumption, no doubt, of superhuman help, and the wickedness may have consisted in assuming it where it was not real .

{a} And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. (a) Read 2Ki 16:3.

(6) He. —Emphatic. Not in Kings. Caused his children . . . fire.—The plural, as in 2Chronicles 28:3, is rhetorical. Kings, “his son.” In the valley of the son of Hinnom.—Explanatory addition by the chronicler. Also he observed times, and used enchantments.—And he practised augury and divination. Forbidden, Leviticus 19:26. The first words seem strictly to mean “observed clouds; “the second, “observed serpents.” And used witchcraft.—And muttered spells or charms. This word does not occur in the parallel place, but all the offences here ascribed to Manasseh are forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-11. And dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards.—And appointed a necromancer and a wizard. Kings has wizards. The source of all these modes of soothsaying was Babylon. Like the first king of Israel, Manasseh appears to have despaired of help or counsel from Jehovah. (Comp. Jeremiah 44:17-18.) The heavy yoke of Assyria again weighed the nation down, and the great deliverance under Hezekiah was almost forgotten. “To all the Palestinian nations the Assyrian crisis had made careless confidence in the help of their national deities a thing impossible. As life was embittered by foreign bondage, the darker aspects of heathenism became dominant.

The wrath of the gods seemed more real than their favour; atoning ordinances were multiplied, human sacrifices became more frequent, the terror which hung over all the nations that groaned under the Assyrian yoke found habitual expression in the ordinances of worship; and it was this aspect of heathenism that came to the front in Manasseh’s imitations of foreign religion” (Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel, p. 366). He wrought much evil.—Literally, he multiplied doing the evil. He was worse than his evil predecessors