Commentaria in II Paralipomenon
Chapter 33. Synopsis of the chapter
Manasses, on account of idolatry and crimes, is led bound to Babylon, where, penitent, he is restored to his kingdom and restores the worship of God. He is succeeded by his impious son Amon, and he by the pious son Josias.
1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2. And he did evil before the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations, which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel: 3. and turning back he rebuilt the high places, which Ezechias his father had thrown down: and he set up altars to Baalim, and made groves, and adored all the host of heaven, and served them. 4. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5. And he built them to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6. And he made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, practised witchcrafts, had with him magicians and enchanters: and wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him. 7. He set also a graven and molten image in the house of God, of which God had spoken to David and to Solomon his son, saying: In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever. 8. And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I delivered to their fathers: yet so that they take care to do what I have commanded them, and all the law and ceremonies and judgments by the hand of Moses. 9. So Manasses seduced Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil above all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel. 10. And the Lord spoke to him and to his people, and they would not hearken. 11. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and bound him with chains and fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12. And after he was in distress, he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers. 13. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom: and Manasses knew that the Lord he was God. 14. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entrance of the fish gate round about unto Ophel, and raised it up a very great height: and he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda: 15. and he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and the altars which he had made in the mountain of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them all out of the city. 16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve the Lord the God of Israel. 17. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God. 18. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses: and his prayer to his God: and the words of the seers, that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the acts of the kings of Israel. 19. His prayer also and his being heard, and all his sins and contempt, the places also in which he built high places, and set up groves and statues, before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai. 20. So Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 21. Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done, and he sacrificed and served all the idols which Manasses had made. 23. And he reverenced not the face of the Lord, as Manasses his father had reverenced: and he sinned much more. 24. And when his servants had conspired against him, they slew him in his own house. 25. But the rest of the multitude of the people, having slain them that had killed Amon, made Josias his son king in his place.
Verse 3. He adored all the host of heaven,—namely the Sun, Moon, and the other stars, which as soldiers of God march in ordered line, and fight for God when need is, hurling at his enemies thunders and lightnings. So St. Jerome.
Verse 10. And the Lord spoke to him,—not by himself, but by Isaias and the other Prophets, 4 Kings
Verse 11. They carried him bound with chains to Babylon.—To Manasses in prison was given a little bread of bran, of small weight, and water with vinegar in small measure, that he might live, say some Greek Codices here, and the author of the Imperfect Work, homily 4 on Matthew, and St. Clement, book II of the Constitutions, chapter XXII.
Verse 16. He sacrificed upon it victims (holocausts and victims for sin) and peace offerings (that is, victims for peace, that is for the safety both of himself and of the people) and praise.—In Hebrew toda, that is, eucharistic victims, in praise of God and thanksgiving for liberty received, say Cajetan and Vatablus.
Verse 19. His prayer also.—There is extant a pious and approved prayer of Manasses penitent, but it has not the authority of canonical Scripture and was therefore cast to the end of the Bibles.
They are written in the words of Hozai.—The Hebrews, according to St. Jerome, hold that Hozai is the prophet Isaias. The Septuagint take Hozai not as a proper name but as a common noun, and render it, of the seers, that is, of the prophets. So also Vatablus.