Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The impious Manasseh reigns and restores idols, and kills the prophets. He is succeeded, verse 18, by his impious son Amon, who after two years is killed by his own servants, being succeeded by his pious son Josiah.
Vulgate Text: 4 Kings 21:1-26
1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Hephzibah. 2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations which the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 3. And he turned back, and built the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed: and he erected altars to Baal, and made groves as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served it. 4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said: In Jerusalem I will put My name. 5. And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. 6. And he made his son pass through the fire: and he used divination, and observed auguries, and made mediums, and multiplied soothsayers, so as to do evil before the Lord, and provoke Him. 7. He also set up an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord, concerning which the Lord had spoken to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8. And I will no more cause the foot of Israel to be removed from the land which I gave to their fathers: if only they will keep all that I have commanded them, and the whole law which My servant Moses commanded them. 9. But they did not listen: but were seduced by Manasseh, to do evil beyond the nations which the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10. And the Lord spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets, saying: 11. Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorites did before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his uncleannesses; 12. therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: Behold, I will bring evils upon Jerusalem and Judah, so that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as tablets are wiped clean; and wiping I will turn, and draw the stylus more frequently over its face. 14. And I will forsake the remnants of My inheritance, and deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a waste, and a prey to all their adversaries: 15. because they have done evil before Me, and have continued to provoke Me, from the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. 16. Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins by which he made Judah to sin, to do evil before the Lord. 17. And the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are not these things 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 house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his place. 19. Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign: and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. 21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the unclean things which his father had served, and worshipped them, 22. and forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23. And his servants laid snares for him, and killed the king in his own house. 24. And the people of the land struck all those who had conspired against King Amon: and they made Josiah his son king in his place. 25. And the rest of the deeds of Amon which he did, are not these things written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26. And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigned in his place.
Verse 7: He Set Up an Idol of the Grove in the Temple
7. He also set up an idol of the grove, which he had made, (an idol placed in the grove previously constructed by him, that is, an idol surrounded by a carved grove, he set up) in the temple, — that is, Manasseh had first constructed a grove, namely a wood sacred to the gods, and in it had placed an idol, which he then transferred from the grove into the temple; but because he could not transfer the grove with the idol, therefore in place of the grove, he made an image or likeness of the grove from gold, silver, or bronze, and in it placed the idol, and transferred it with the grove into the temple, so that there now not God in the temple, but a demon in the grove would be worshipped. Whence both were afterward destroyed by Josiah, Manasseh's grandson, chapter 23, verses 6 and 7.
Verse 10: The Lord Spoke by the Hand of His Servants the Prophets
10. And the Lord spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets, — namely through Hosea, Amos, Joel, Nahum, Jonah, Obadiah, and especially Isaiah, Manasseh's father-in-law, who was therefore sawn apart by Manasseh with a wooden saw, and was a type of Christ crucified on the wood, as I said in the preface to Isaiah, and many other prophets, so much so that Josephus, book 10, chapter 14, asserts that "from their number every single day someone was punished by Manasseh."
Verse 13: I Will Stretch Over Jerusalem the Measuring Line of Samaria
13. I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, — The "measuring line" metaphorically signifies the same measure of punishment, that is: By the same measure by which I punished, devastated, and carried away the Israelites from Samaria into Assyria, by the same I will punish, devastate, and carry away the Jews from Jerusalem into Babylon: for just as they were equal in guilt and idolatry, so they will be equal in punishment and captivity. It is a metaphor from craftsmen, who use an iron tool or line, which they extend with a mass of lead, so that according to its perpendicular they may construct a building, or tear down and destroy one already built, that is: I will destroy Jerusalem, and level it to the ground as with a measuring line, just as a craftsman is accustomed to demolish houses, and to level and flatten them to the ground by a measuring line; whence, explaining the same thing by another simile from wax, He declares, saying: "I will wipe out Jerusalem, as tablets are wiped clean; and wiping I will turn, and draw the stylus more frequently over its face," that is: I will wipe out Jerusalem as letters written on a wax tablet are wiped away. For in ancient times, before the invention of paper, they used to write on tablets covered with wax, and form letters in it with a stylus as with a pen. Therefore this stylus was pointed at the bottom: but blunt at the top, so that with the same instrument they might smooth over letters written in the wax when they wished, and with the wax leveled write other letters in it; if therefore only one word or letter was to be erased, they did it with one or two strokes of the stylus through the wax; but if more, with more strokes; but if all, with all strokes, until with the letters erased the wax was restored clean and smooth. So God did here in the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem. For first He brought upon it the hostile stylus of the king of Babylon, when He carried away Manasseh and the leaders of the kingdom as captives to Babylon, 2 Chronicles 33:11. Second, when Pharaoh Necho killed Josiah, who was the entire hope of the Jews, and seized his son Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, chapter 23:33. Third, when Nebuchadnezzar captured and bound Jehoiakim, the brother of Jehoahaz. Fourth, when the same Nebuchadnezzar sent Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, with a great number of nobles and people to Babylon. Fifth and last, when the same carried away Zedekiah, the last king, with the remnant, and burned the city and the temple.
The sense therefore is: "I will stretch the measuring line over Jerusalem," that is: Not only will I demolish the city, but I will dig up the foundations, and leveling them to the ground as if by a measuring line I will make them equal, so that no trace or original outline of it remains; just as happens when the lines or characters on waxed tablets are erased. For "tablet" the Hebrew is tsallachat, which is commonly translated as dish, frying pan, basin, or cauldron. Whence Vatablus translates it thus: I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it over. And he explains it thus, that is: I will cleanse Jerusalem of wicked men, and when I have driven them out, I will overturn it, as a dish is accustomed to be overturned by farmers after being cleaned. But our Jerome, and Prado on Ezekiel chapter 5, verse 11, translates and explains it thus: "I will wipe Jerusalem as a cauldron is accustomed to be cleaned by wiping and turned upon its face." That is, as is customary, when it has been thoroughly wiped, it is turned upside down, so that no residue of cleaning water remains, but the last drop drips onto the ground: thus I will cleanse Jerusalem by wiping away from it all inhabitants and houses, and overturning it from its foundations.
Verse 16: Manasseh Shed Very Much Innocent Blood
16. Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, — especially of those who resisted his impiety and rebuked him for it, as were Isaiah and the other prophets; so that every day he killed some prophet, says Josephus. Hence he was aptly called "Manasseh," that is "from one rising up or from forgetfulness," says the Author of the Imperfect Work, homily 4 on Matthew: "For the providence of God ordained that he should be so called, because he was going to forget all the holy conduct of his father, and all the benefits of God bestowed upon him for his father's merit, and, stirred up by the rising devil, who is accustomed to rise up against the human race to overthrow it, he was going to do all things that would provoke God to anger." The same author adds something new and wonderful about Manasseh, and says: "Finally when Hezekiah had fallen sick at a certain time, and Isaiah the prophet had come to visit him, Hezekiah called his son Manasseh, and began to instruct him, that he should fear God, how to rule the kingdom, and many other things. And Isaiah said to him: Truly, your words will not descend into his heart, but it is also necessary that I be killed by his hand. When Hezekiah heard this, he wanted to kill his son, saying: It is better for me to die without a son, than to leave such a son, who will provoke God and persecute His saints. But Isaiah the prophet barely restrained him, saying: May God make void this plan of yours, seeing the piety of Hezekiah, because he loved God more than his own son." But this seems to be a fable of the Rabbis. For when Hezekiah was sick, Manasseh was not yet born, because after his illness Hezekiah survived 15 years, and Manasseh succeeding him at his death was twelve years old. Therefore Manasseh was born in the third year after his father Hezekiah's illness and recovery of health.
Verse 18: He Slept With His Fathers
18. And he slept (with the sleep of death) with his fathers. — Note that in 2 Chronicles 33:11, the punishment inflicted by God on Manasseh is related, namely captivity in Babylon, and thence his serious repentance and conversion to God. Moreover, Manasseh seems to have been carried off to Babylon by Merodach Baladan: for he was then reigning in Babylon: whence Hezekiah, Manasseh's father, had shown him his treasures, and thereby enticed him to seize them; which God also predicted would happen to him, chapter 20:17, and shortly after this was accomplished, when He caused Manasseh on account of his crimes to be carried off bound to Babylon with the royal treasure by the same Baladan. So Bellarmine, Salianus and others. Manasseh is said, however, to have been captured by the king of the Assyrians, either because the Babylonians are called Assyrians, or because Merodach was tributary to Esarhaddon king of the Assyrians, whose yoke he afterwards threw off.
And he was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, — where namely Uzza was struck down by God, because he had rashly touched the tottering ark, 2 Kings 6:8. This garden was near Jerusalem, and connected to the royal gardens, in which Manasseh, returning from Babylon, built himself a royal mausoleum, and in it he himself and his son Amon were buried.
Verse 20: He Did Evil
20. And he did evil. — Thus Scripture calls idolatry, as the greatest evil of evils; for as the Wise Man says, chapter 14, verse 27: "The worship of unspeakable idols is the cause, and the beginning, and the end of all evil." Amon imitated his father Manasseh in sinning, but not in repenting. Glycas adds that he said: "My father committed many crimes from his youth, and in his old age he repented; therefore I too in this age will conduct myself according to the desire of my soul, and afterward I will turn to the Lord." Wherefore God punished this presumption of his with a swift death: for after two years he was killed by his own servants. Hear St. Clement, book 2 of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter 23: "Such, he says, was Amon son of Manasseh, of whom Scripture says: Amon deceived himself with the evil thought of transgression, and said: My father committed many sins from his youth, and when he was old, he repented of having committed them; and now I will walk as my soul desires, and afterward I will turn to the Lord: and he acted wickedly before the Lord above all born before him, and God swiftly destroyed him from his good land, and his servants rushed upon him, and killed him in his house, and he reigned only two years."
Let young people note this, who indulge in pleasures and luxuries in their youth, and devote it to the devil, promising that they will devote their old age to God: for most of such persons are cut off by the various accidents of human life and die, and by the just judgment of God do not reach old age, and thence do not attain to the amendment of life and eternal salvation.