2Ki 21:1-7 | NETfull | STEP | Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 21:1-7

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ^{▼▼ For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; Journey of Paul map 1-F4; Journey of Paul map 2-F4; Journey of Paul map 3-F4; Journey of Paul map 4-F4.} His mother ^{▼▼ Heb “the name of his mother.”} was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of ^{▼▼ Heb “in the eyes of.”} the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations ^{▼▼ Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”} whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky ^{▼▼ See the note at 2 Kgs 17:16.} and worshiped ^{▼▼ Or “served.”} them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” ^{▼▼ Heb “In Jerusalem I will place my name.”} 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his son ^{▼▼ The LXX has the plural “his sons” here.} through the fire ^{▼▼ See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.} and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. ^{▼▼ Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with conjurers.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov), “ritual pit,” refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov), “owner of a ritual pit.” See H. Hoffner, “Second millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’ÔḆ,” JBL 86 (1967), 385–401.} He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ^{▼▼ Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (“him”) has been accidentally omitted in the MT by haplography (note the vav that immediately follows).} 7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. ^{▼▼ Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name perpetually (or perhaps “forever”).”}