Bible Verse Lookup
The Manasseh Traditions.
According to both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, Manasseh's sins were mainly related to the cult, and 2 Kings states that these sins caused the destruction of the temple in 587 BCE. Scholars dispute whether the Chronicler's mention of Manasseh's prayer (which he ascribes to a source) and repentance are an attempt to explain his long reign, or whether the author of 2 Kings expurgated the incident from a form of the Deuteronomistic history that was subsequently used by the Chronicler (McKenzie 1984: 191–3). Some later Jewish texts depict Manasseh wholly in a bad light (Mart. Isa.; 2 Apoc. Bar. 64–5; Apoc. Abr. 25), while others emphasize his repentance (e.g. Josephus, Ant. 10.3.2 §§ 40–6; see Bogaert 1969: ii. 296–304). One Qumran text (4Q381 33:8–11 ) preserves fragments of a prayer ascribed to Manasseh but it has no certain relationship to Prayer of Manasseh (Schuller 1986: 151–62).
