And when he was in affliction, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
Manasseh led Judah deep into evil, and this verse finds him in chains, calling on the God he had dishonoured all his life. The turn is sharp, and it raises the question the chapter exists to answer: how far can grace reach?
The chains were not the end of the story. They were the means of a rescue. Manasseh had ignored God's Word, so God used a harder voice.
Manasseh had resisted the Word of God, which sought to correct his evil. So the Lord brought the army of the king of Assyria to take Manasseh captive and carry him off to Babylon (v. 11). It was clearly the goodness of God that brought Manasseh down into this miserable slavery. Romans 2:4 tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. How wonderful that God's discipline brought Manasseh to repentance! No doubt God has used this means many times in seeking to bring people to repentance, yet most do not seem to respond.
The word "greatly" is not decoration. It matches the size of what he had done. He admitted he deserved the punishment.
"He humbled himself greatly," and rightly so, for his guilt was indeed very great. "When he was in distress" — no doubt he admitted that his punishment was just. "I know, O LORD," he could say, "that Your judgments are right, and that You in faithfulness have afflicted me" (Ps. 119:75).
He cried out to the God of his fathers. Our instinct would write such a man off. God did not.
We would tend to say: "he got what he deserved, it is over for him and so much the better!" But God has resources we can hardly imagine. In prison, in distress, Manasseh came to himself and cried out to Jehovah. It is written that he "humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers" (2 Chr. 33:12). God "listened to his prayer and heard his plea, and brought him back to Jerusalem" (2 Chr. 33:13). What marvellous grace of God, which infinitely surpasses our thoughts!
The same reign is told twice in Scripture. The two accounts stop at different points.
God does not desire the death of a sinner, and His purpose was reached. Manasseh humbled himself and judged his whole conduct before God. God brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom… The book of Kings stops once it has recorded the king's responsibility. Chronicles shows us grace working through judgments to restore him. What a blessed thought, that the hearts of the most hardened may become the objects of grace! How many will we meet in the Lord's presence whose lives, like his, seemed broken by judgment, yet who beyond any doubt came to a repentance that leads to salvation.
Other reigns ran the other way, which makes this one stand out.
This is a very unusual history. Others, sadly, began well and ended badly. He began as badly as any had ever done, and worse than any before; but he had a blessed end.
Restoration did not erase every consequence. Writers distinguish between what God did for the man and what still fell on the nation.
He set out to undo his earlier evil works as far as he could… But he could never give back the innocent lives he had taken. He could never fully undo the evil of his past way of life. His sin, and Judah's with him, was so great that God never forgave it as a nation (2 Kings 23:26; 24:4; Jer. 15:4). As an individual, God forgave Manasseh through his confession and humbling before Him… He was the Old Testament chief of sinners — an example in that day of how much patience God shows to anyone who turns to Him in repentance and faith.
These accounts call us to the same humbling.
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6)… God shows us through His Word that He will never be indifferent to our repentance. In grace He will appreciate, in a just measure, the reality of the judgment which we are inclined to apply to our own ways.
- Affliction — The chains were God's last word to a king who ignored His Word. His goodness stood behind the hardship.
- Humbled — The word "greatly" measures the guilt he confessed. Manasseh agreed that God had dealt with him justly.
- Heard — He turned to the God of his fathers, the very God he had insulted, and that God listened and restored him.
- Grace — Kings records the king's responsibility. Chronicles records God's grace, so no hardened heart is beyond reach.
- Fruit — He set out to undo his earlier evil works. He could not undo every consequence: God forgave the man, but judgment still fell on the nation.
and prayed to him. And he was intreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah, he was God.
Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with idols and blood, so God let Assyria drag him away in chains to Babylon. This verse is what happened next: a prayer from prison, a God who listened, and a king who at last knew who the LORD was.
The chains were not an accident of Assyrian politics. Commentators read the whole collapse as God's own work on a hardened man.
It was plainly the goodness of God that brought Manasseh down into this misery of bondage. Romans 2:4 tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. How marvelous that God's discipline brought Manasseh to repentance! No doubt God has used this means many times in seeking to bring people to repentance, yet most do not seem to respond.
From Manasseh's own side, the exchange looked like ruin. It turned out to be gain.
King Manasseh was bound in chains. This was sad to see — a crown of gold changed into fetters. But it worked for his good, for "when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly ... and God was moved by his entreaty" (2 Chr. 33:12-13). He owed more to his iron chain than to his golden crown. The crown made him proud; the chain made him humble.
Judah had refused God's word before the chains came. What changed in prison was Manasseh's own view of his guilt.
They refused to hear the word, so they had to feel the rod. "He humbled himself greatly," as well he might, for his guilt indeed was very great. "When he was in affliction" — no doubt, he owned the justice of his punishment. "I know, O Lord," he could say, "that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me" (Ps. 119:75).
Scripture gives no political reason for the release of a deported king. It credits God alone.
We are not told how the king of Assyria came to release Manasseh from prison and let him return to his place as king over Judah. But God Himself directed this restoration, and Manasseh then knew indeed that the Lord is God. This was a complete transformation, worked by the grace and power of God.
The parallel account in 2 Kings closes Manasseh's story without the prison prayer. The two books have different aims.
The book of Kings stops once it has noted the king's responsibility. Chronicles shows us grace acting through judgments to restore him. What a blessed thought, that the hearts of the most hardened may become objects of grace! How many will we meet in the Lord's presence whose lives, like his, seemed broken by judgment, yet who, beyond any doubt, came through repentance to salvation.
Most kings of Judah began well and finished badly. Manasseh ran the other way.
This is a history most peculiar. Others, sadly, had begun well and ended badly. He began as badly as any had ever done, and worse than any before; but he had a blessed end. He took away the strange gods and idols he had set up himself, and the altars he had made. He repaired the altar, offered peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD.
God heard him, but not every consequence went away. Commentators draw a line between Manasseh himself and the nation he had corrupted.
But he could never restore the innocent lives he had taken, and he could never fully undo the evil of his earlier course. His sin, and Judah's with him, was so great that God never forgave the nation for it (2 Kings 23:26; 24:4; Jer. 15:4). But Manasseh himself was forgiven, through his confession and humbling of himself before God. It is good to see the great change in his later life. He did not forget how much he owed God for His matchless grace to him, as his "thank offerings" on the restored altar show.
God had a reason for keeping this prayer on record.
God valued that prayer for pardon in the prison in Babylon so highly that He had it written down. He did it to encourage other repentant sinners who would come back to the same God — the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and of great kindness.
- Chains. God brought Assyria against Manasseh. The fetters that replaced his crown were discipline aimed at repentance, not just punishment.
- Cry. He humbled himself and agreed that the affliction was just. God was moved by that prayer.
- Crown restored. No politics explains his release. God brought him back to Jerusalem, and there Manasseh learned who the LORD is.
- Consequence. God forgave Manasseh himself. But he could not give back the lives he had taken, and the nation still bore judgment for his sins.
- Comfort. God had the prayer written down for sinners who would come back. The worst beginning in Judah's history ended with idols torn down, a repaired altar, and thank offerings.