mh_parser/vol_split/12 - 2Kings/Chapter 21.xml

<div2 id="iiKi.xxii" n="xxii" next="iiKi.xxiii" prev="iiKi.xxi" progress="71.14%" title="Chapter XXI">
<h2 id="iiKi.xxii-p0.1">S E C O N D   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iiKi.xxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiKi.xxii-p1">In this chapter we have a short but sad account of
the reigns of two of the kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon. I.
Concerning Manasseh, all the account we have of him here is, 1.
That he devoted himself to sin, to all manner of wickedness,
idolatry, and murder, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.1-2Kgs.21.9 Bible:2Kgs.21.16" parsed="|2Kgs|21|1|21|9;|2Kgs|21|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:1-9,16">ver. 1-9
and 16</scripRef>. 2. That therefore God devoted him, and Jerusalem
for his sake, to ruin, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.10-2Kgs.21.18" parsed="|2Kgs|21|10|21|18" passage="2Ki 21:10-18">ver.
10-18</scripRef>. In the book of Chronicles we have an account of
his troubles, and his repentance. II. Concerning Amon we are only
told that he lived in sin (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.19-2Kgs.21.22" parsed="|2Kgs|21|19|21|22" passage="2Ki 21:19-22">ver.
19-22</scripRef>), died quickly by the sword, and left good Josiah
his successor, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.23-2Kgs.21.26" parsed="|2Kgs|21|23|21|26" passage="2Ki 21:23-26">ver.
23-26</scripRef>. By these two reigns Jerusalem was much debauched
and much weakened, and so hastened apace towards its destruction,
which slumbered not.</p>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xxii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21" parsed="|2Kgs|21|0|0|0" passage="2Ki 21" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xxii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.1-2Kgs.21.9" parsed="|2Kgs|21|1|21|9" passage="2Ki 21:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.21.1-2Kgs.21.9">
<h4 id="iiKi.xxii-p1.7">Manasseh's Impious Reign. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 698.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xxii-p2">1 Manasseh <i>was</i> twelve years old when he
began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And
his mother's name <i>was</i> Hephzibah.   2 And he did <i>that
which was</i> evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.1">Lord</span>, after the abominations of the heathen,
whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.2">Lord</span> cast out before the
children of Israel.   3 For he built up again the high places
which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars
for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and
worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.   4 And he
built altars in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.3">Lord</span>, of which the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.4">Lord</span> said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
  5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two
courts of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.5">Lord</span>.
  6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed
times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and
wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.6">Lord</span>, to provoke <i>him</i> to anger.
  7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in
the house, of which the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.7">Lord</span> said to
David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem,
which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name
for ever:   8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any
more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will
observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and
according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
  9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do
more evil than did the nations whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p2.8">Lord</span> destroyed before the children of
Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p3">How delightful were our meditations on the
last reign! How many pleasing views had we of Sion in its glory
(that is, in its purity and in its triumphs), of the king in his
beauty! (for <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.17" parsed="|Isa|33|17|0|0" passage="Isa 33:17">Isa. xxxiii.
17</scripRef> refers to Hezekiah), and (as it follows there,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.20" parsed="|2Kgs|21|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>) Jerusalem
was <i>a quiet habitation</i> because <i>a city of
righteousness,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.26" parsed="|Isa|1|26|0|0" passage="Isa 1:26">Isa. i.
26</scripRef>. But now we have melancholy work upon our hands,
unpleasant ground to travel, and cannot but drive heavily. <i>How
has the gold become dim and the most fine gold changed!</i> The
beauty of Jerusalem is stained, and all her glory, all her joy,
sunk and gone. These verses give such an account of this reign as
make it, in all respects, the reverse of the last, and, in a
manner, the ruin of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p4">I. Manasseh began young. He was but
<i>twelve years old when he began to reign</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.1" parsed="|2Kgs|21|1|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), born when his father was about
forty-two years old, three years after his sickness. If he had sons
before, either they were dead, or set by as unpromising. As yet
they knew of nothing bad in <i>him,</i> and they hoped he would
prove good; but he proved very bad, and perhaps his coming to the
crown so young might help to make it so, which yet will by no means
excuse him, for his grandson Josiah came to it younger than he and
yet acted well. But being young, 1. He was puffed up with his
honour and proud of it; and thinking himself very wise, because he
was very great, valued himself upon his undoing what his father had
done. It is too common for novices to be lifted up with pride, and
so to <i>fall into the condemnation of the devil.</i> 2. He was
easily wrought upon and drawn aside by seducers, that lay in wait
to deceive. Those that were enemies to Hezekiah's reformation, and
retained an affection for the old idolatries, flattered him, and so
gained his ear, and used his power at their pleasure. Many have
been undone by coming too soon to their honours and estates.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p5">II. He reigned long, longest of any of the
kings of Judah, fifty-five years. This was the only very bad reign
that was a long one; Joram's was but eight years, and Ahaz's
sixteen; as for Manasseh's, we hope that in the beginning of his
reign for some time affairs continued to move in the course that
his father left them in, and that in the latter end of his reign,
after his repentance, religion got head again; and, no doubt, when
things were at the worst God had his remnant that kept their
integrity. Though he reigned long, yet some of this time he was a
prisoner in Babylon, which may well be looked upon as a drawback
from these years, though they are reckoned in the number because
then he repented and began to reform.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p6">III. He reigned very ill.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p7">1. In general, (1.) <i>He did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord,</i> and which, having been well
educated, he could not but know was so (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.2" parsed="|2Kgs|21|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>He wrought much wickedness
in the sight of the Lord,</i> as if on purpose to provoke him to
anger, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.6" parsed="|2Kgs|21|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. (2.)
<i>He did after the abominations of the heathen</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.2" parsed="|2Kgs|21|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) and as did Ahab
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.3" parsed="|2Kgs|21|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), not taking
warning by the destruction both of the nations of Canaan and the
house of Ahab for their idolatry; nay (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.9" parsed="|2Kgs|21|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), he <i>did more evil than did
the nations whom the Lord destroyed.</i> When the holy seed
degenerate, they are commonly worse than the worst of the
profane.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p8">2. More particularly, (1.) He <i>rebuilt
the high places which his father had destroyed,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.3" parsed="|2Kgs|21|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Thus did he trample upon
the dust, and affront the memory, of his worthy father, though he
knew how much he was favoured of God and honoured of men. He
concurred, it is probable, with Rabshakeh's sentiments (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.22" parsed="|2Kgs|18|22|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:22"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 22</scripRef>), that Hezekiah
had done ill in destroying those high places, and pretended the
honour of God, and the edification and convenience of the people,
in rebuilding them. This he began with, but proceeded to that which
was much worse; for, (2.) He set up other gods, <i>Baal</i> and
<i>Ashtaroth</i> (which we translate <i>a grove</i>), and all the
host of heaven, the sun and moon, the other planets, and the
constellations; these he worshipped and served (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.3" parsed="|2Kgs|21|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), gave their names to the images
he made, and then did homage to them and prayed for help from them.
To these he built altars (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.5" parsed="|2Kgs|21|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), and offered sacrifices, no doubt, on these altars.
(3.) He <i>made his son pass through the fire,</i> by which he
dedicated him a votary to Moloch, in contempt of the seal of
circumcision by which he had been dedicated to God. (4.) He made
the devil his oracle, and, in contempt both of urim and prophecy,
he <i>used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.6" parsed="|2Kgs|21|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) like Saul.
Conjurers and fortune-tellers (who pretended, by the stars or the
clouds, lucky and unlucky days, good and bad omens, the flight of
birds, or the entrails of beasts, to foretel things to come) were
great men with him, his intimates, his confidants; their arts
pleased his fancy, and gained his belief, and his counsels were
under their direction. (5.) We find afterwards (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.16" parsed="|2Kgs|21|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) that he shed innocent blood
very much in gratification of his own passion and revenge; some
perhaps were secretly murdered, others taken off by colour of law.
Probably much of the blood he shed was theirs that opposed idolatry
and witnessed against it, that would not bow the knee to Baal. The
<i>blood of the prophets</i> is, in a particular manner, charged
upon Jerusalem, and it is probable that he put to death many of
them. The tradition of the Jews is that he caused the prophet
Isaiah to be sawn asunder; and many think the apostle refers to
this in <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.37" parsed="|Heb|11|37|0|0" passage="Heb 11:37">Heb. xi. 37</scripRef>, where
he speaks of those that had so suffered.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p9">3. Three things are here mentioned as
aggravations of Manasseh's idolatry:—(1.) That he set up his
images and altars <i>in the house of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.4" parsed="|2Kgs|21|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), in the two courts of
the temple (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.5" parsed="|2Kgs|21|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),
in the very house of which God had said to Solomon, <i>Here will I
put my name,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.7" parsed="|2Kgs|21|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. Thus he defied God to his face, and impudently
affronted him with his rivals immediately under his eye, as one
that was neither afraid of God's wrath nor ashamed of his own folly
and wickedness. Thus he desecrated what had been consecrated to
God, and did, in effect, turn God out of his own house and put the
rebels in possession of it. Thus, when the faithful worshippers of
God came to the place he had appointed for the performance of their
duty to him, they found, to their great grief and terror, other
gods ready to receive their offerings. God had said that here he
would record his name, here he would put it for ever, and here it
was accordingly preserved, while the idolatrous altars were kept at
a distance; but Manasseh, by bringing them into God's house, did
what he could to alter the property, and to make the name of the
God of Israel to be no more in remembrance. (2.) That hereby he put
a great slight upon the word of God, and his covenant with Israel.
Observe the favour he had shown to that people in putting his name
among them,—the kindness he intended them, never to <i>make them
move out of that good land,</i>—and the reasonableness of his
expectations from them, <i>only if they will observe to do
according to all that I have commanded them,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.7-2Kgs.21.8" parsed="|2Kgs|21|7|21|8" passage="2Ki 21:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. Upon these good terms did
Israel stand with God, and had as fair a prospect of being happy as
any people could have; but <i>they hearkened not,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.9" parsed="|2Kgs|21|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. They would not be kept
close to God either by his precepts or by his promises; both were
cast behind their back. (3.) That hereby he seduced the people of
God, debauched them, and drew them into idolatry, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.9" parsed="|2Kgs|21|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. He caused Judah to sin
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.11" parsed="|2Kgs|21|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), as
Jeroboam had caused <i>Israel to sin.</i> His very example was
enough to corrupt the generality of unthinking people, who would do
as their king did, right or wrong. All that aimed at preferment
would do as the court did; and others thought it safest to comply,
for fear of making their king their enemy. Thus, one way or other,
the holy city became a harlot, and Manasseh made her so. Those will
have a great deal to answer for that not only are wicked
themselves, but help to make others so.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xxii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.10-2Kgs.21.18" parsed="|2Kgs|21|10|21|18" passage="2Ki 21:10-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.21.10-2Kgs.21.18">
<h4 id="iiKi.xxii-p9.9">Manasseh's Ruin Foretold. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p9.10">b. c.</span> 643.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xxii-p10">10 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p10.1">Lord</span>
spake by his servants the prophets, saying,   11 Because
Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, <i>and</i>
hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which
<i>were</i> before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his
idols:   12 Therefore thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p10.2">Lord</span> God of Israel, Behold, I <i>am</i> bringing
<i>such</i> evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth
of it, both his ears shall tingle.   13 And I will stretch
over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of
Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as <i>a man</i> wipeth a dish,
wiping <i>it,</i> and turning <i>it</i> upside down.   14 And
I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them
into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a
spoil to all their enemies;   15 Because they have done
<i>that which was</i> evil in my sight, and have provoked me to
anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even
unto this day.   16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very
much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside
his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing <i>that which
was</i> evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p10.3">Lord</span>.   17 Now the rest of the acts of
Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned,
<i>are</i> they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?   18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and
was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza:
and Amon his son reigned in his stead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p11">Here is the doom of Judah and Jerusalem
read, and it is heavy doom. The prophets were sent, in the first
place, to teach them the knowledge of God, to remind them of their
duty and direct them in it. If they succeeded not in that, their
next work was to reprove them for their sins, and to set them in
view before them, that they might repent and reform, and return to
their duty. If in this they prevailed not, but sinners went on
frowardly, their next work was to foretel the judgments of God,
that the terror of them might awaken those to repentance who would
not be made sensible of the obligations of his love, or else that
the execution of them, in their season, might be a demonstration of
the divine mission of the prophets that foretold them. The prophets
were deputed judges to those that would not hear and receive them
as teachers. We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p12">I. A recital of the crime. The indictment
is read upon which the judgment is grounded, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.11" parsed="|2Kgs|21|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Manasseh had done wickedly
himself, though he knew better things, had even justified the
Amorites, whose copy he wrote after, by outdoing them in impieties,
and debauched the people of God, whom he had taught to sin and
forced to sin; and besides that (though that was bad enough) <i>he
had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.16" parsed="|2Kgs|21|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), had multiplied his murders in
every corner of the city, and filled the measure of Jerusalem's
blood-guiltiness (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.32" parsed="|Matt|23|32|0|0" passage="Mt 23:32">Matt. xxiii.
32</scripRef>) up to the brim, and all this against the crown and
dignity of the King of kings, the peace of his kingdom, and the
statutes in these cases made and provided.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p13">II. A prediction of the judgment God would
bring upon them for this: <i>They have done that which was
evil,</i> and therefore <i>I am bringing evil upon them</i>
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.12" parsed="|2Kgs|21|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); it will
come and it is not far off. The judgment should be, 1. Very
terrible and amazing; the very report of it should <i>make men's
ears to tingle</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.12" parsed="|2Kgs|21|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), that is, their hearts to tremble. It should make a
great noise in the world and occasion many speculations. 2. It
should be copied out (as the sins of Jerusalem had been) from
Samaria and the house of Ahab, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.13" parsed="|2Kgs|21|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. When God lays righteousness to
the line it shall be the line of Samaria, measuring out to
Jerusalem that which had been the lot of Samaria; when he lays
judgment to the plummet it shall be <i>the plummet of the house of
Ahab,</i> marking out for the same ruin to which that wretched
family was devoted. See <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.17" parsed="|Isa|28|17|0|0" passage="Isa 28:17">Isa. xxviii.
17</scripRef>. Note, Those who resemble and imitate others in their
sins must expect to fare as they fared. 3. That it should be an
utter destruction: <i>I will wipe it as a man wipes a dish.</i>
This intimates, (1.) That every thing should be put into disorder,
and their state subverted; they should be turned upside down, and
all their foundations put out of course. (2.) That the city should
be emptied of its inhabitants, which had been the filth of it, as a
dish is emptied when it is wiped: "They shall all be carried
captive, the <i>land shall enjoy her sabbaths,</i> and be laid by
as a dish when it is wiped." See the comparison of the boiled pot,
not much unlike this, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.24.1-Ezek.24.14" parsed="|Ezek|24|1|24|14" passage="Eze 24:1-14">Ezek. xxiv.
1-14</scripRef>. (3.) That yet this should be in order to the
purifying, not the destroying, of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be
dropped, not broken to pieces, or melted down, but only wiped. This
shall be the fruit, the taking away of the sinners first, and then
of the sin. 4. That <i>therefore</i> they should be destroyed,
because they should be deserted (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.14" parsed="|2Kgs|21|14|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>I will forsake the remnant
of my inheritance.</i> Justly are those that forsake God forsaken
of him; nor does he ever leave any till they have first left him:
but, when God has forsaken a people, their defence has departed,
and they become a prey, an easy prey, to all their enemies. Sin is
spoken of here as the alpha and omega of their miseries. (1.) Old
guilt came in remembrance, as that which began to fill the measure
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.15" parsed="|2Kgs|21|15|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): "<i>They
have provoked me to anger</i> from their conception and birth as a
people, <i>since the day their fathers came out of Egypt.</i>" The
men of this generation, treading in their fathers' steps, are
justly reckoned with for their fathers' sins. (2.) The guilt of
blood was that which filled the measure, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.16" parsed="|2Kgs|21|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Nothing has a louder cry, nor
brings a sorer vengeance, than that.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p14">This is all we have here of Manasseh; he
stands convicted and condemned; but we hope in the book of
Chronicles to hear of his repentance, and acceptance with God.
Meantime, we must be content, in this place, to have only one
intimation of his repentance (for so we are willing to take it),
that he was buried, it is likely by his own order, <i>in the garden
of his own house</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.18" parsed="|2Kgs|21|18|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>); for, being truly humbled for his sins, he judged
himself <i>no more worthy to be called a son,</i> a son of David,
and therefore not worthy to have even his dead body buried <i>in
the sepulchres of his fathers.</i> True penitents take shame to
themselves, not honour; yet, having lost the credit of an innocent,
the credit of a penitent was the next best he was capable of. And
better it is, and more honourable, for a sinner to die repenting,
and be buried in a garden, than to die impenitent, and be buried in
the abbey.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xxii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.19-2Kgs.21.26" parsed="|2Kgs|21|19|21|26" passage="2Ki 21:19-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.21.19-2Kgs.21.26">
<h4 id="iiKi.xxii-p14.3">Amon's Reign and Death. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p14.4">b. c.</span> 643.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xxii-p15">19 Amon <i>was</i> twenty and two years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name <i>was</i> Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of
Jotbah.   20 And he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the
sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p15.1">Lord</span>, as his father
Manasseh did.   21 And he walked in all the way that his
father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and
worshipped them:   22 And he forsook the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p15.2">Lord</span> God of his fathers, and walked not in the
way of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xxii-p15.3">Lord</span>.   23 And the
servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his
own house.   24 And the people of the land slew all them that
had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made
Josiah his son king in his stead.   25 Now the rest of the
acts of Amon which he did, <i>are</i> they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?   26 And he was
buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son
reigned in his stead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xxii-p16">Here is a short account of the short and
inglorious reign of Amon, the son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in
his blind and brutish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other
sons—or whether, having been dedicated to his idols, they were
refused by the people—so it was that his successor was a son not
born till he was forty-five years old. And of him we are here told,
1. That his reign was very wicked: <i>He forsook the God of his
fathers</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.22" parsed="|2Kgs|21|22|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>), disobeyed the commands given to his fathers, and
disclaimed the covenant made with his fathers, <i>and walked not in
the way of the Lord,</i> but <i>in all the way which his father
walked in,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.20-2Kgs.21.21" parsed="|2Kgs|21|20|21|21" passage="2Ki 21:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20,
21</scripRef>. He trod in the steps of his father's idolatry, and
revived that which he, in the latter end of his days, had put down.
Note, Those who set bad examples, though they may repent
themselves, yet cannot be sure that those whom they have drawn into
sin by their example will repent; it is often otherwise. 2. That
his end was very tragical. He having rebelled against God, his own
servants <i>conspired against him and slew him,</i> probably upon
some personal disgust, when he had reigned but two years, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.23" parsed="|2Kgs|21|23|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. His servants, who
should have guarded him, murdered him; his own house, that should
have been his castle of defence, was the place of his execution. He
had profaned God's house with his idols, and now God suffered his
own house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous soever
those were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be
done. Two things the people of the land did, by their
representatives, hereupon:—(1.) They did justice on the traitors
that had slain the king, and put them to death; for, though he was
a <i>bad</i> king, he was <i>their</i> king, and it was a part of
their allegiance to him to avenge his death. Thus they cleared
themselves from having any hand in the crime, and did what was
incumbent on them to deter others from the like villainous
practices. (2.) They did a kindness to themselves in <i>making
Josiah his son king in his stead,</i> whom probably the
conspirators had a design to put by, but the people stood by him
and settled him in the throne, encouraged, it may be, by the
indications he gave, even in his early days, of a good disposition.
Now they made a happy change from one of the worst to one of the
best of all the kings of Judah. "Once more," says God, "they shall
be tried with a reformation; and, if that succeed, well; if not,
then after that I will cut them down." Amon was buried in the same
garden where his father was, <scripRef id="iiKi.xxii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.26" parsed="|2Kgs|21|26|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. If his father put himself
under that humiliation, the people will put him under it.</p>
</div></div2>