He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. He sacrificed his sons in the fireThis phrase refers to the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice, which was strictly forbidden in Israelite law ( Leviticus 18:21). The Hebrew word for "sacrificed" is "עָבַר" (avar), meaning to pass through, indicating the ritual of passing children through fire as an offering to pagan gods, particularly Molech. The Valley of Hinnom, later known as Gehenna, became synonymous with judgment and hell due to such practices. This act highlights the depth of Manasseh's apostasy and the influence of surrounding pagan cultures on Israel. in the Valley of Hinnom
The Valley of Hinnom, or "גֵּי־הִנֹּם" (Gei-Hinnom) in Hebrew, was located southwest of Jerusalem. Historically, it was a site of idolatrous worship and child sacrifice. Archaeological findings have confirmed its use for such detestable practices. In later Jewish thought, it became a symbol of divine judgment and was used by Jesus as a metaphor for hell (Gehenna) in the New Testament. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft
These practices are condemned throughout Scripture as they involve seeking knowledge or power from sources other than God. The Hebrew words used here, "כָּשַׁף" (kashaph) for sorcery, "נָחַשׁ" (nachash) for divination, and "לָחַשׁ" (lachash) for witchcraft, indicate attempts to manipulate spiritual forces. Such practices were common among pagan nations and were explicitly prohibited in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, as they represent a direct rebellion against God's sovereignty. and consulted mediums and spiritists
Consulting mediums and spiritists, "אוֹב" (ov) and "יִדְּעֹנִי" (yiddeoni) in Hebrew, involves seeking communication with the dead or spirits. This was another form of idolatry and rebellion against God, as it sought guidance apart from Him. The Torah strictly forbade such practices (Leviticus 19:31), emphasizing reliance on God alone for wisdom and guidance. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD
The phrase "in the sight of the LORD" underscores the omniscience of God, who sees all actions and intentions. The Hebrew word for "evil," "רַע" (ra), conveys not just moral wickedness but also the destructive consequences of sin. Manasseh's actions were not only a personal failing but also led the nation of Judah into sin, demonstrating the far-reaching impact of a leader's choices. provoking Him to anger
The phrase "provoking Him to anger" reflects the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The Hebrew word "כָּעַס" (kaas) means to provoke or irritate, indicating that Manasseh's actions were a direct affront to God's holiness and covenantal love. This provocation is not a mere emotional response but a righteous indignation against sin that violates the divine order and harms His people. It serves as a sobering reminder of the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance and obedience to God. Persons / Places / Events 1. ManassehThe king of Judah who engaged in idolatrous practices, including child sacrifice and witchcraft, leading the nation into sin. 2. Valley of HinnomA location near Jerusalem associated with idolatrous practices, including child sacrifice, which later became synonymous with hell (Gehenna). 3. Sorcery, Divination, and WitchcraftPractices condemned by God, involving attempts to gain supernatural knowledge or power apart from Him. 4. Mediums and SpiritistsIndividuals who claim to communicate with the dead or spirits, practices strictly forbidden in the Law of Moses. 5. The LORDThe God of Israel, who is provoked to anger by Manasseh's actions, highlighting His holiness and intolerance of idolatry. Teaching Points The Consequences of IdolatryManasseh's actions serve as a stark reminder of the spiritual and societal decay that results from turning away from God. The Holiness of GodGod's anger at Manasseh's practices highlights His holiness and the seriousness with which He views sin. The Danger of CompromiseEngaging in practices contrary to God's commands, even under cultural or societal pressure, leads to spiritual ruin. Repentance and RestorationAlthough not detailed in this verse, Manasseh's later repentance ( 2 Chronicles 33:12-13) shows that God's mercy is available to those who turn back to Him. Guarding Against Modern IdolatryWhile the specific practices may differ today, the underlying issue of seeking power or guidance apart from God remains relevant. Bible Study Questions 1. What specific practices did Manasseh engage in that provoked the LORD to anger, and why are these practices considered so grievous? 2. How does the Valley of Hinnom's association with idolatry and child sacrifice inform our understanding of its later use as a metaphor for hell (Gehenna)? 3. In what ways do modern forms of idolatry and occult practices manifest, and how can Christians guard against them? 4. How does Manasseh's account illustrate the potential for repentance and God's willingness to forgive, even after grievous sin? 5. What lessons can we learn from Manasseh's reign about the influence of leadership on a nation's spiritual direction? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 18:10-12This passage explicitly forbids practices like sorcery and divination, emphasizing that such actions are detestable to the LORD. Leviticus 20:6Warns against turning to mediums and spiritists, indicating that God will set His face against those who do so. 2 Kings 21:6Provides a parallel account of Manasseh's reign, reinforcing the severity of his sins and their impact on Judah. Jeremiah 7:31References the Valley of Hinnom and the abominable practices conducted there, underscoring the depth of Judah's apostasy. People Amon, Ben, David, Hezekiah, Israelites, Josiah, Manasseh, SolomonPlaces Assyria, Babylon, Fish Gate, Gihon, Jerusalem, Ophel, Valley of HinnomTopics Anger, Appointed, Arts, Augury, Ben, Ben-hinnom, Beyond, Burned, Caused, Clouds, Consulted, Control, Dealt, Divination, Divined, Enchantments, Evil, Familiar, Fire, Future, Ghost, Hinnom, Magic, Measure, Mediums, Moving, Multiplied, Necromancers, Observed, Offering, Pass, Positions, Powers, Practiced, Practised, Provoke, Provoking, Reading, Secret, Sight, Signs, Sons, Soothsayers, Soothsaying, Sorcery, Spirit, Spiritists, Spirits, Unnatural, Valley, Witchcraft, Wizard, Wizards, Wonder-workers, Worked, Wrath, WroughtDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Chronicles 33:6 4175 mediums
4190 spiritism
4195 spirits
6218 provoking God
7332 child sacrifice
9511 hell, place of punishment 2 Chronicles 33:1-6 8807 profanity 2 Chronicles 33:1-7 8831 syncretism 2 Chronicles 33:1-9 5714 men 2 Chronicles 33:1-25 5366 king 2 Chronicles 33:2-10 7245 Judah, kingdom of 2 Chronicles 33:3-6 4185 sorcery and magic Library Manasseh's Sin and Repentance
'So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10. And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. 11. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureManasseh
BY REV. J. G. GREENHOUGH, M.A. "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem."--2 CHRON. xxxiii. l. Fifty and five years--he wore the crown a longer time than any other of the house of David. Of all the kings that reigned in Jerusalem, this man's reign filled the largest space; yet he is the one king of Judah about whom we are told least. In the modern city of Venice there is a hall which is adorned with the portraits of all the doges …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly
DO not mistake me, I do not say that of their own nature the worst things are good, for they are a fruit of the curse; but though they are naturally evil, yet the wise overruling hand of God disposing and sanctifying them, they are morally good. As the elements, though of contrary qualities, yet God has so tempered them, that they all work in a harmonious manner for the good of the universe. Or as in a watch, the wheels seem to move contrary one to another, but all carry on the motions of the watch: …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Beginning at Jerusalem
The whole verse runs thus: "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." The words were spoken by Christ, after he rose from the dead, and they are here rehearsed after an historical manner, but do contain in them a formal commission, with a special clause therein. The commission is, as you see, for the preaching of the gospel, and is very distinctly inserted in the holy record by Matthew and Mark. "Go teach all nations," …
John Bunyan—Jerusalem Sinner Saved The Jerusalem Sinner Saved;
OR, GOOD NEWS FOR THE VILEST OF MEN; BEING A HELP FOR DESPAIRING SOULS, SHOWING THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD HAVE MERCY IN THE FIRST PLACE OFFERED TO THE BIGGEST SINNERS. THE THIRD EDITION, IN WHICH IS ADDED, AN ANSWER TO THOSE GRAND OBJECTIONS THAT LIE IN THE WAY OF THE THEM THAT WOULD BELIEVE: FOR THE COMFORT OF THEM THAT FEAR THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. London: Printed for Elizabeth Smith, at the Hand and Bible, on London Bridge, 1691. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Chronicles 33:6 NIV2 Chronicles 33:6 NLT2 Chronicles 33:6 ESV2 Chronicles 33:6 NASB2 Chronicles 33:6 KJV
2 Chronicles 33:6 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
