II Kings 21
מלכים ב׳ פרק כ״א
Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Kings | Chapter: 21 of 25 | Day: 143 of 742
Date: July 4, 2026
קלאוד על הנ״ך
Chapter 21 is the great reversal of the book of Kings: the long, idolatrous reign of Manasseh undoes in a single generation everything his father Hezekiah had built. Where Hezekiah had been the king of whom it was said that none trusted in God like him, his son Manasseh becomes, in the historian’s reckoning, the worst king Judah ever produced — and the one whose sins seal the eventual doom of Jerusalem. The chapter falls into two unequal parts: the fifty-five-year reign of Manasseh (verses 1-18), the longest of any Judean king, and the brief two-year reign of his son Amon (verses 19-26), which ends in assassination and sets the stage for the boy-king Josiah.
The catalogue of Manasseh’s apostasy (verses 2-9) is a systematic reversal of his father’s reform. He rebuilds the high places Hezekiah had torn down, erects altars to Baal and a sacred post (an Asherah) “as Ahab king of Israel had done” — the comparison to the house of Ahab is itself an indictment, for Ahab was the archetype of Northern idolatry. He worships the host of heaven and, most outrageously, builds altars to these foreign cults within the very House of the Lord, the place of which God had said “I will establish My name in Jerusalem” (verse 4), even setting a carved image of Asherah in the Temple itself (verse 7). He passes his son through fire, practices soothsaying and divination, and consults ghosts and familiar spirits (verse 6). The verdict is that he led Judah to do worse than the very Canaanite nations God had dispossessed (verse 9) — a damning inversion, for the people now out-sin the peoples whose abominations had cost them the land.
The theological heart of the chapter is the prophetic oracle of doom (verses 10-15). God speaks through His servants the prophets: because Manasseh has surpassed even the Amorites in wickedness and drawn Judah into sin, God will bring a disaster on Jerusalem so terrible that “both ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle” (verse 12). The imagery is unsparing — He will stretch over Jerusalem “the measuring line of Samaria and the weights of the House of Ahab,” subjecting the southern capital to the same fate as the fallen North, and will “wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down” (verse 13). This is the decisive announcement that the exile is now sealed; the later tradition (reflected in the commentators and the Talmud) holds that even Josiah’s great reform could only postpone, not avert, the decree set in motion here. Verse 16 adds that Manasseh also shed innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from end to end — by tradition including the blood of the prophet Isaiah himself.
Manasseh dies and is buried in the garden of Uzza, succeeded by his son Amon (verse 18), who walks fully in his father’s idolatrous ways and forsakes the God of his ancestors (verses 19-22). Notably, the chapter records Manasseh’s sins without the account of his repentance preserved in II Chronicles 33 — the book of Kings holds him up purely as the cause of the coming catastrophe. Amon’s reign is cut short when his own courtiers assassinate him in the palace (verse 23); the people of the land then execute the conspirators and place his young son Josiah on the throne (verses 24-26). The chapter thus ends poised between two poles: the irreversible decree of destruction, and the rise of Josiah, the last great reformer, whose story will occupy the chapters to come.
פרק כ״א · Chapter 21
פסוק א׳ · Verse 1
Hebrew:
בֶּן־שְׁתֵּ֨ים עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה בְמׇלְכ֔וֹ וַחֲמִשִּׁ֤ים וְחָמֵשׁ֙ שָׁנָ֔ה מָלַ֖ךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְשֵׁ֥ם אִמּ֖וֹ חֶפְצִי־בָֽהּ׃
English:
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2
Hebrew:
וַיַּ֥עַשׂ הָרַ֖ע בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כְּתֽוֹעֲבֹת֙ הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר֙ הוֹרִ֣ישׁ יְהֹוָ֔ה מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
English:
He did what was displeasing to GOD, following the abhorrent practices of the nations that GOD had dispossessed before the Israelites.
פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3
Hebrew:
וַיָּ֗שׇׁב וַיִּ֙בֶן֙ אֶת־הַבָּמ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִבַּ֖ד חִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ אָבִ֑יו וַיָּ֨קֶם מִזְבְּחֹ֜ת לַבַּ֗עַל וַיַּ֤עַשׂ אֲשֵׁרָה֙ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֗ה אַחְאָב֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֙חוּ֙ לְכׇל־צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֖ד אֹתָֽם׃
English:
He rebuilt the shrines that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for Baal and made a sacred post,asacred post See note at 13.6; cf. v. 7. as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the host of heaven and worshiped them,
פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4
Hebrew:
וּבָנָ֥ה מִזְבְּחֹ֖ת בְּבֵ֣ית יְהֹוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה בִּירוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם אָשִׂ֥ים אֶת־שְׁמִֽי׃
English:
and he built altars for them in the House of GOD, of which GOD had said, “I will establish My name in Jerusalem.”
פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5
Hebrew:
וַיִּ֥בֶן מִזְבְּח֖וֹת לְכׇל־צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם בִּשְׁתֵּ֖י חַצְר֥וֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָֽה׃
English:
He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the House of GOD.
פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6
Hebrew:
וְהֶעֱבִ֤יר אֶת־בְּנוֹ֙ בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְעוֹנֵ֣ן וְנִחֵ֔שׁ וְעָ֥שָׂה א֖וֹב וְיִדְּעֹנִ֑ים הִרְבָּ֗ה לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת הָרַ֛ע בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה לְהַכְעִֽיס׃
English:
He consigned his son to the fire; he practiced soothsaying and divination, and consulted ghosts and familiar spirits; he did much that was displeasing to GOD—and provoked anger.
פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7
Hebrew:
וַיָּ֕שֶׂם אֶת־פֶּ֥סֶל הָאֲשֵׁרָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה בַּבַּ֗יִת אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָמַ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־דָּוִד֙ וְאֶל־שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה בְנ֔וֹ בַּבַּ֨יִת הַזֶּ֜ה וּבִירוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּחַ֙רְתִּי֙ מִכֹּל֙ שִׁבְטֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אָשִׂ֥ים אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י לְעוֹלָֽם׃
English:
The sculptured image of Asherahbsculptured image of Asherah See v. 4. that he made he placed in the House concerning which GOD had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this House and in Jerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My name forever.
פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8
Hebrew:
וְלֹ֣א אֹסִ֗יף לְהָנִיד֙ רֶ֣גֶל יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לַאֲבוֹתָ֑ם רַ֣ק ׀ אִם־יִשְׁמְר֣וּ לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת כְּכֹל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתִ֔ים וּלְכׇ֨ל־הַתּוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה אֹתָ֖ם עַבְדִּ֥י מֹשֶֽׁה׃
English:
And I will not again cause the feet of Israel to wander from the land that I gave to their ancestors, if they will but faithfully observe all that I have commanded them—all the Teachings with which My servant Moses charged them.”
פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9
Hebrew:
וְלֹ֖א שָׁמֵ֑עוּ וַיַּתְעֵ֤ם מְנַשֶּׁה֙ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אֶת־הָרָ֔ע מִ֨ן־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר֙ הִשְׁמִ֣יד יְהֹוָ֔ה מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
English:
But they did not obey, and Manasseh led them astray to do greater evil than the nations that GOD had destroyed before the Israelites.
פסוק י׳ · Verse 10
Hebrew:
וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה בְּיַד־עֲבָדָ֥יו הַנְּבִיאִ֖ים לֵאמֹֽר׃
English:
Therefore GOD spoke through the prophets—God’s servants:
▶Commentaries (1)
פסוק י״א · Verse 11
Hebrew:
יַ֩עַן֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֜ה מְנַשֶּׁ֤ה מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה֙ הַתֹּעֵב֣וֹת הָאֵ֔לֶּה הֵרַ֕ע מִכֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֥וּ הָאֱמֹרִ֖י אֲשֶׁ֣ר לְפָנָ֑יו וַיַּחֲטִ֥א גַֽם־אֶת־יְהוּדָ֖ה בְּגִלּוּלָֽיו׃ {ס}
English:
“Because King Manasseh of Judah has done these abhorrent things—he has outdone in wickedness all that the Amorites did before his time—and because he led Judah to sin with his fetishes,
פסוק י״ב · Verse 12
Hebrew:
לָכֵ֗ן כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הִנְנִי֙ מֵבִ֣יא רָעָ֔ה עַל־יְרֽוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם וִֽיהוּדָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֙ כׇּל־[שֹׁ֣מְעָ֔הּ] (שמעיו) תִּצַּ֖לְנָה שְׁתֵּ֥י אׇזְנָֽיו׃
English:
assuredly, thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that both ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle.
▶Commentaries (1)
פסוק י״ג · Verse 13
Hebrew:
וְנָטִ֣יתִי עַל־יְרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם אֵ֚ת קָ֣ו שֹׁמְר֔וֹן וְאֶת־מִשְׁקֹ֖לֶת בֵּ֣ית אַחְאָ֑ב וּמָחִ֨יתִי אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ֜͏ִם כַּאֲשֶׁר־יִמְחֶ֤ה אֶת־הַצַּלַּ֙חַת֙ מָחָ֔ה וְהָפַ֖ךְ עַל־פָּנֶֽיהָ׃
English:
I will apply to Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the weights of the House of Ahab;capply to Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the weights of the House of Ahab I.e., I will bring the same fate upon it. I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down.
▶Commentaries (1)
פסוק י״ד · Verse 14
Hebrew:
וְנָטַשְׁתִּ֗י אֵ֚ת שְׁאֵרִ֣ית נַחֲלָתִ֔י וּנְתַתִּ֖ים בְּיַ֣ד אֹיְבֵיהֶ֑ם וְהָי֥וּ לְב��֛ז וְלִמְשִׁסָּ֖ה לְכׇל־אֹיְבֵיהֶֽם׃
English:
And I will cast off the remnant of My own people and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They shall be plunder and prey to all their enemies
פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15
Hebrew:
יַ֗עַן אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשׂ֤וּ אֶת־הָרַע֙ בְּעֵינַ֔י וַיִּהְי֥וּ מַכְעִסִ֖ים אֹתִ֑י מִן־הַיּ֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָצְא֤וּ אֲבוֹתָם֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם וְעַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃
English:
because they have done what is displeasing to Me and have been provoking My anger from the day that their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day.”
פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16
Hebrew:
וְגַם֩ דָּ֨ם נָקִ֜י שָׁפַ֤ךְ מְנַשֶּׁה֙ הַרְבֵּ֣ה מְאֹ֔ד עַ֛ד אֲשֶׁר־מִלֵּ֥א אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם פֶּ֣ה לָפֶ֑ה לְבַ֤ד מֵֽחַטָּאתוֹ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֶחֱטִ֣יא אֶת־יְהוּדָ֔ה לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת הָרַ֖ע בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
English:
Moreover, Manasseh put so many innocent persons to death that he filled Jerusalem [with blood] from end to end—besides the sin he committed in causing Judah to do what was displeasing to GOD.
פסוק י״ז · Verse 17
Hebrew:
וְיֶ֨תֶר דִּבְרֵ֤י מְנַשֶּׁה֙ וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְחַטָּאת֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָטָ֑א הֲלֹא־הֵ֣ם כְּתוּבִ֗ים עַל־סֵ֛פֶר דִּבְרֵ֥י הַיָּמִ֖ים לְמַלְכֵ֥י יְהוּדָֽה׃
English:
The other events of Manasseh��s reign, and all his actions, and the sins he committed, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah.
פסוק י״ח · Verse 18
Hebrew:
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֤ב מְנַשֶּׁה֙ עִם־אֲבֹתָ֔יו וַיִּקָּבֵ֥ר בְּגַן־בֵּית֖וֹ בְּגַן־עֻזָּ֑א וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ אָמ֥וֹן בְּנ֖וֹ תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ {פ}
English:
Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his palace, in the garden of Uzza; and his son Amon succeeded him as king.
פסוק י״ט · Verse 19
Hebrew:
בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִ֨ים וּשְׁתַּ֤יִם שָׁנָה֙ אָמ֣וֹן בְּמׇלְכ֔וֹ וּשְׁתַּ֣יִם שָׁנִ֔ים מָלַ֖ךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְשֵׁ֣ם אִמּ֔וֹ מְשֻׁלֶּ֥מֶת בַּת־חָר֖וּץ מִן־יׇטְבָֽה׃
English:
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20
Hebrew:
וַיַּ֥עַשׂ הָרַ֖ע בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה מְנַשֶּׁ֥ה אָבִֽיו׃
English:
He did what was displeasing to GOD, as his father Manasseh had done.
פסוק כ״א · Verse 21
Hebrew:
וַיֵּ֕לֶךְ בְּכׇל־הַדֶּ֖רֶךְ אֲשֶׁר־הָלַ֣ךְ אָבִ֑יו וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֗ד אֶת־הַגִּלֻּלִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֣ד אָבִ֔יו וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ לָהֶֽם׃
English:
He walked in all the ways of his father, worshiping the fetishes that his father had worshiped and bowing down to them.
פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22
Hebrew:
וַיַּעֲזֹ֕ב אֶת־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹתָ֑יו וְלֹ֥א הָלַ֖ךְ בְּדֶ֥רֶךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃
English:
He forsook the ETERNAL, the God of his ancestors, and did not follow the way of GOD.
פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23
Hebrew:
וַיִּקְשְׁר֥וּ עַבְדֵי־אָמ֖וֹן עָלָ֑יו וַיָּמִ֥יתוּ אֶת־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ בְּבֵיתֽוֹ׃
English:
Amon’s courtiers conspired against him; and they killed the king in his palace.
פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24
Hebrew:
וַיַּךְ֙ עַם־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַקֹּשְׁרִ֖ים עַל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אָמ֑וֹן וַיַּמְלִ֧יכוּ עַם־הָאָ֛רֶץ אֶת־יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ בְנ֖וֹ תַּחְתָּֽיו׃
English:
But the people of the land put to death all who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his stead.
פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25
Hebrew:
וְיֶ֛תֶר דִּבְרֵ֥י אָמ֖וֹן אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה הֲלֹא־הֵ֣ם כּ��תוּבִ֗ים עַל־סֵ֛פֶר דִּבְרֵ֥י הַיָּמִ֖ים לְמַלְכֵ֥י יְהוּדָֽה׃
English:
The other events of Amon’s reign [and] his actions are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah.
פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26
Hebrew:
וַיִּקְבֹּ֥ר אֹת֛וֹ בִּקְבֻרָת֖וֹ בְּגַן־עֻזָּ֑א וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ בְנ֖וֹ תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ {פ}
English:
He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.
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