2.3 KiB
+++ title = "2 Chronicles 33:21–25" date = "2025-07-25" +++
Read the passage.
Manasseh's son Amon might have the shortest account of all the kings in 2 Chronicles, but that may be because his reign was the shortest of all of Judah's kings. The Chronicler also had nothing good to say about him, and with his purpose of encouraging the returning exiles to worship the Lord properly, there was no reason for dwelling on Amon's reign.
Amon followed in his father's idolatrous practices, but did not repent and humble himself before the Lord as his father had done. I am not certain, but I think this makes sense from what I can gather of the historical timeline. According to verse 1, Manasseh was seventy-two when he died. Amon was only twenty-two when he became king, so his father was old even when he was born. The real question is when did Manasseh get captured and taken to Babylon, and how long was he there? My guess is after Amon was born, around 664 b.c., and not so long that there was a succession crisis. Babylon's rebellion against Assyria occured in 652–648 b.c., so Manasseh probably came home around this time.
I'm speculating, but I imagine Manasseh was captured in Amon's formative years, at the height of the idolatry he was pursuing. Amon is left in Jerusalem, still steeped in a pagan culture. Manasseh returns while Amon is a teenager, and suddenly (to Amon's mind) upends all the religious practices he has known his whole life. Amon may even have thought he was about to take the throne, and now resents Manasseh returning and "taking" it away from him. (Who did rule Judah while Manasseh was away, anyway?)
Whatever the reasons and motivations, it is clear that Amon did not agree with Manasseh's reforms upon his return. After Manasseh's death, Amon set back up the altars and images for his gods and worshipped before them. Some of his servants decided to put a stop to this, or some other misdeed maybe, and conspired to kill their king. They were successful, but the people of Judah killed them in return, and they made Amon's son Josiah the king after him.
Help us to teach others Your ways because they alone lead to life.