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简体中文
英語原文
In this chapter we have a short but sad account of the reigns of two of the kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon. I. Concerning Manasseh, all the account we have of him here is, 1. That he devoted himself to sin, to all manner of wickedness, idolatry, and murder, 2Ki 21:1-9,16. 2. That therefore God devoted him, and Jerusalem for his sake, to ruin, 2Ki 21:10-18. In the book of Chronicles we have an account of his troubles, and his repentance. II. Concerning Amon we are only told that he lived in sin (2Ki 21:19-22), died quickly by the sword, and left good Josiah his successor, 2Ki 21:23-26. By these two reigns Jerusalem was much debauched and much weakened, and so hastened apace towards its destruction, which slumbered not.
1-9
Manasseh's Impious Reign (698 BC)
简体中文
玛拿西的悖逆统治（主前698年）
¹ 玛拿西登基的时候年十二岁，在耶路撒冷作王五十五年。他母亲名叫协西巴。
² 玛拿西行耶和华眼中看为恶的事，效法耶和华在以色列人面前赶出的外邦人所行可憎的事。
³ 重新建筑他父希西家所毁坏的邱坛，又为巴力筑坛，作亚舍拉像，效法以色列王亚哈所行的，且敬拜事奉天上的万象。
⁴ 在耶和华殿宇中筑坛。耶和华曾指着这殿说，我必立我的名在耶路撒冷。
⁵ 他在耶和华殿的两院中为天上的万象筑坛。
⁶ 并使他的儿子经火，又观兆，用法术，立交鬼的和行巫术的，多行耶和华眼中看为恶的事，惹动他的怒气。
⁷ 又在殿内立雕刻的亚舍拉像。耶和华曾对大卫和他儿子所罗门说，我在以色列众支派中所选择的耶路撒冷和这殿，必立我的名，直到永远。
⁸ 以色列人若谨守遵行我一切所吩咐的，和我仆人摩西所吩咐他们的一切律法，我就不再使他们挪移离开我所赐给他们列祖之地。
⁹ 他们却不听从。玛拿西引诱他们行恶，比耶和华在以色列人面前所灭的列国更甚。
我们默想前一朝的统治，何等使人喜悦！我们曾何等屡屡得见锡安的荣美（就是她的纯洁与得胜），得见那荣美中的君王！（因赛33:17所指乃是希西家），又如那里随后所记（参王下21:20，注：此处指赛33:20），耶路撒冷是「安静的居所」，因为是「公义之城」（赛1:26）。如今我们手中却有凄惨之事，要行的乃是不悦人的路途，不能不沉重而行。「黄金何其失光，纯金何其变色！」耶路撒冷的荣美已被玷污，她一切的荣耀、一切的喜乐，皆已沉没消逝。这几节经文如此描述这一朝的统治，使它在各方面都成为前一朝的反面，可说是把前一朝的成就尽都毁去。
一、玛拿西年幼登基。他「登基的时候年十二岁」（王下21:1），是他父亲约四十二岁、患病三年之后所生的。他若先前有别的儿子，或是已死，或是因不堪重用而被撇在一旁。当时人尚未看出「他」有何不好，且盼望他必将成为良君；他却变得极坏，或许他这般年幼便登上王位，也助成了此事；然而这绝不能为他开脱，因他的孙子约西亚登基比他更早，却行事正直。但他既年幼，1、便因自己的尊荣而自高自大，又自以为甚是聪明，因他甚是显贵，便以拆毁他父亲所立的为自己的得意之事。初出茅庐的人因骄傲而自高，以致「陷在魔鬼所受的刑罚里」，原是常有的事。2、他易被那些埋伏要诱惑人的引诱者所摆布、所引入歧途。那些与希西家的改革为敌、仍眷恋旧日偶像崇拜的人，谄媚他，由此得着他的耳朵，随己意运用他的权柄。许多人都因过早承受尊荣与产业而败坏了自己。
二、他在位甚久，是犹大列王中最久的，共五十五年。这是惟一既极坏又甚久的统治；约兰的不过八年，亚哈斯的十六年；至于玛拿西，我们盼望在他在位之初，国事尚有一段时日仍按他父亲所留下的轨道运行，又盼望在他在位之末、他悔改之后，敬虔之事重又抬头；且毫无疑问，当事态最坏之时，神仍有他那持守纯正的余民。他虽在位甚久，其中却有一段时日是在巴比伦作囚犯，这大可看作是从这些年日中扣除的部分，虽然仍计入年数之内，因那时他悔改，并开始改革。
三、他统治极其邪恶。
1、总而言之，（1.）「他行耶和华眼中看为恶的事」，他既受过良好教养，便不能不知这是恶的（王下21:2）：「他多行耶和华眼中看为恶的事」，仿佛存心要惹他发怒（王下21:6）。（2.）「他效法外邦人所行可憎的事」（王下21:2），又效法亚哈所行的（王下21:3），并不因迦南列国和亚哈家因拜偶像而遭毁灭便引以为戒；不但如此（王下21:9），他「比耶和华在以色列人面前所灭的列国行恶更甚」。圣洁的后裔一旦堕落，通常比那些最坏的不敬虔之人更坏。
2、更详细地说，（1.）他「重建他父亲所毁坏的邱坛」（王下21:3）。他如此践踏他可敬之父的尘土、羞辱他的纪念，虽然他深知他父亲是何等蒙神恩眷、为众人所尊崇。他多半赞同拉伯沙基的论调（王下18:22），以为希西家毁坏那些邱坛是行了恶事，便假托尊荣神、又为百姓的造就与便利，重建这些坛。他以此为发端，却进而行那更坏得多的事；因为，（2.）他另立别神，就是「巴力」和「亚斯他录」（我们译作「亚舍拉」），又敬拜天上的万象，就是日月、其余的行星与众星宿；这些他都敬拜事奉（王下21:3），把它们的名给他所造的像，然后向它们叩拜、向它们求助。他为这些筑坛（王下21:5），又在这些坛上献祭，这是毫无疑问的。（3.）他「使他的儿子经火」，藉此把他献给摩洛作祭物，公然藐视那曾把他献给神的割礼之印记。（4.）他以魔鬼为他求问的对象，并且藐视乌陵与先知，「用法术，交鬼」（王下21:6），如同扫罗一般。术士与卜者（就是那些假托星象云气、吉日凶日、佳兆恶兆、飞鸟之翔或牲畜内脏来预言将来之事的人）在他面前都是大有体面之人，是他的密友、心腹；他们的法术取悦他的心思、博得他的信服，他的谋算都在他们的指引之下。（5.）我们随后看见（王下21:16），他大大流无辜人的血，以满足自己的私欲与报复之心；其中有些人或许是被暗暗杀害，另有些则假借律法之名被除掉。他所流的血，多半是那些反对拜偶像、为真道作见证、不肯向巴力屈膝下拜之人的血。「先知的血」尤其归在耶路撒冷的账上，他多半也将其中许多先知处死。犹太人的传说乃是：他使先知以赛亚被锯锯死；许多人认为使徒在来11:37说到那些如此受苦的人时，所指的正是此事。
3、这里举出三件事，作为玛拿西拜偶像的加重之罪：——（1.）他把他的偶像和祭坛立「在耶和华的殿」中（王下21:4），立在圣殿的两院里（王下21:5），就立在神曾对所罗门说「我必立我的名于此」（王下21:7）的那殿里。他如此当面公然抗拒神，厚颜地把他的劲敌径直摆在他眼前与他相争，仿佛既不惧神的忿怒、也不以自己的愚妄与罪恶为耻。他如此亵渎那曾分别为圣归给神之物，实在是把神逐出他自己的殿，让悖逆者占据其中。这样，当神忠心的敬拜者来到神所指定他们当向他尽本分的地方时，他们却惊惶忧伤地发现，已另有别神在那里预备承受他们的供物。神曾说他要在此处立他的名，要永远立在那里，而这名也确实在那里得以保存，那些拜偶像的坛本是被摒于殿外的；玛拿西却把它们引入神的殿，竭力要更改其归属，叫人不再记念以色列神的名。（2.）他如此大大轻慢神的话语，以及他与以色列所立的圣约。要看神向那民所施的恩眷，就是把他的名立在他们中间，——他向他们所怀的美意，绝不「使他们挪移离开那美地」，——以及他向他们所怀合理的期望，「只要他们谨守遵行我一切所吩咐的」（王下21:7-8）。以色列与神所立的关系本是这般美好，得享福乐的指望，本不亚于任何邦国；他们却「不听从」（王下21:9）。无论是神的诫命还是他的应许，都不能使他们紧紧依附于神；这两样都被他们撇在背后。（3.）他如此引诱神的百姓，败坏他们，把他们引入拜偶像（王下21:9）。他「使犹大人陷在罪里」（王下21:11），正如耶罗波安使「以色列人陷在罪里」一样。单他的榜样，便足以败坏一般不加思想的百姓中的大多数，他们必效法他们的王而行，无论是非。凡图谋升迁的，必随朝廷之风而动；其余的人则以为顺从乃是上策，惟恐与王为敌。这样，无论如何，那圣城终成了淫妇，乃是玛拿西使她如此的。那些不但自己作恶、还助人作恶的人，将来必有极重的账要交代。
英語原文
Manasseh's Impious Reign (698 BC)
¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
² And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
³ For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
⁴ And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
⁶ And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
⁷ And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
⁸ Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
⁹ But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
How delightful were our meditations on the last reign! How many pleasing views had we of Sion in its glory (that is, in its purity and in its triumphs), of the king in his beauty! (for Isa 33:17 refers to Hezekiah), and (as it follows there, 2Ki 21:20) Jerusalem was a quiet habitation because a city of righteousness, Isa 1:26. But now we have melancholy work upon our hands, unpleasant ground to travel, and cannot but drive heavily. How has the gold become dim and the most fine gold changed! The beauty of Jerusalem is stained, and all her glory, all her joy, sunk and gone. These verses give such an account of this reign as make it, in all respects, the reverse of the last, and, in a manner, the ruin of it.
I. Manasseh began young. He was but twelve years old when he began to reign (2Ki 21:1), born when his father was about forty-two years old, three years after his sickness. If he had sons before, either they were dead, or set by as unpromising. As yet they knew of nothing bad in him, and they hoped he would prove good; but he proved very bad, and perhaps his coming to the crown so young might help to make it so, which yet will by no means excuse him, for his grandson Josiah came to it younger than he and yet acted well. But being young, 1. He was puffed up with his honour and proud of it; and thinking himself very wise, because he was very great, valued himself upon his undoing what his father had done. It is too common for novices to be lifted up with pride, and so to fall into the condemnation of the devil. 2. He was easily wrought upon and drawn aside by seducers, that lay in wait to deceive. Those that were enemies to Hezekiah's reformation, and retained an affection for the old idolatries, flattered him, and so gained his ear, and used his power at their pleasure. Many have been undone by coming too soon to their honours and estates.
II. He reigned long, longest of any of the kings of Judah, fifty-five years. This was the only very bad reign that was a long one; Joram's was but eight years, and Ahaz's sixteen; as for Manasseh's, we hope that in the beginning of his reign for some time affairs continued to move in the course that his father left them in, and that in the latter end of his reign, after his repentance, religion got head again; and, no doubt, when things were at the worst God had his remnant that kept their integrity. Though he reigned long, yet some of this time he was a prisoner in Babylon, which may well be looked upon as a drawback from these years, though they are reckoned in the number because then he repented and began to reform.
III. He reigned very ill.
1. In general, (1.) He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and which, having been well educated, he could not but know was so (2Ki 21:2): He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, as if on purpose to provoke him to anger, 2Ki 21:6. (2.) He did after the abominations of the heathen (2Ki 21:2) and as did Ahab (2Ki 21:3), not taking warning by the destruction both of the nations of Canaan and the house of Ahab for their idolatry; nay (2Ki 21:9), he did more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed. When the holy seed degenerate, they are commonly worse than the worst of the profane.
2. More particularly, (1.) He rebuilt the high places which his father had destroyed, 2Ki 21:3. Thus did he trample upon the dust, and affront the memory, of his worthy father, though he knew how much he was favoured of God and honoured of men. He concurred, it is probable, with Rabshakeh's sentiments (2Ki 18:22), that Hezekiah had done ill in destroying those high places, and pretended the honour of God, and the edification and convenience of the people, in rebuilding them. This he began with, but proceeded to that which was much worse; for, (2.) He set up other gods, Baal and Ashtaroth (which we translate a grove), and all the host of heaven, the sun and moon, the other planets, and the constellations; these he worshipped and served (2Ki 21:3), gave their names to the images he made, and then did homage to them and prayed for help from them. To these he built altars (2Ki 21:5), and offered sacrifices, no doubt, on these altars. (3.) He made his son pass through the fire, by which he dedicated him a votary to Moloch, in contempt of the seal of circumcision by which he had been dedicated to God. (4.) He made the devil his oracle, and, in contempt both of urim and prophecy, he used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits (2Ki 21:6) like Saul. Conjurers and fortune-tellers (who pretended, by the stars or the clouds, lucky and unlucky days, good and bad omens, the flight of birds, or the entrails of beasts, to foretel things to come) were great men with him, his intimates, his confidants; their arts pleased his fancy, and gained his belief, and his counsels were under their direction. (5.) We find afterwards (2Ki 21:16) that he shed innocent blood very much in gratification of his own passion and revenge; some perhaps were secretly murdered, others taken off by colour of law. Probably much of the blood he shed was theirs that opposed idolatry and witnessed against it, that would not bow the knee to Baal. The blood of the prophets is, in a particular manner, charged upon Jerusalem, and it is probable that he put to death many of them. The tradition of the Jews is that he caused the prophet Isaiah to be sawn asunder; and many think the apostle refers to this in Heb 11:37, where he speaks of those that had so suffered.
3. Three things are here mentioned as aggravations of Manasseh's idolatry:—(1.) That he set up his images and altars in the house of the Lord (2Ki 21:4), in the two courts of the temple (2Ki 21:5), in the very house of which God had said to Solomon, Here will I put my name, 2Ki 21:7. Thus he defied God to his face, and impudently affronted him with his rivals immediately under his eye, as one that was neither afraid of God's wrath nor ashamed of his own folly and wickedness. Thus he desecrated what had been consecrated to God, and did, in effect, turn God out of his own house and put the rebels in possession of it. Thus, when the faithful worshippers of God came to the place he had appointed for the performance of their duty to him, they found, to their great grief and terror, other gods ready to receive their offerings. God had said that here he would record his name, here he would put it for ever, and here it was accordingly preserved, while the idolatrous altars were kept at a distance; but Manasseh, by bringing them into God's house, did what he could to alter the property, and to make the name of the God of Israel to be no more in remembrance. (2.) That hereby he put a great slight upon the word of God, and his covenant with Israel. Observe the favour he had shown to that people in putting his name among them,—the kindness he intended them, never to make them move out of that good land,—and the reasonableness of his expectations from them, only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, 2Ki 21:7,8. Upon these good terms did Israel stand with God, and had as fair a prospect of being happy as any people could have; but they hearkened not, 2Ki 21:9. They would not be kept close to God either by his precepts or by his promises; both were cast behind their back. (3.) That hereby he seduced the people of God, debauched them, and drew them into idolatry, 2Ki 21:9. He caused Judah to sin (2Ki 21:11), as Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. His very example was enough to corrupt the generality of unthinking people, who would do as their king did, right or wrong. All that aimed at preferment would do as the court did; and others thought it safest to comply, for fear of making their king their enemy. Thus, one way or other, the holy city became a harlot, and Manasseh made her so. Those will have a great deal to answer for that not only are wicked themselves, but help to make others so.
10-18
Manasseh's Ruin Foretold (643 BC)
简体中文
玛拿西遭毁灭的预言（公元前643年）
¹⁰ 主藉他仆人众先知说：
¹¹ 因犹大王玛拿西行这些可憎的恶事，比先前亚摩利人所行的更甚，使犹大人拜他的偶像，陷在罪里；
¹² 所以主以色列的神如此说：我必降祸与耶路撒冷和犹大，叫一切听见的人无不耳鸣。
¹³ 我必用量撒玛利亚的准绳和亚哈家的线铊拉在耶路撒冷上，必擦净耶路撒冷，如人擦盘，将盘倒扣。
¹⁴ 我必弃掉所余剩的子民，把他们交在仇敌手中，使他们成为一切仇敌掳掠之物，
¹⁵ 是因他们自从列祖出埃及直到如今，常行我眼中看为恶的事，惹动我的怒气。
¹⁶ 玛拿西行主眼中看为恶的事，使犹大人陷在罪里，又流许多无辜人的血，充满了耶路撒冷，从这边直到那边。
¹⁷ 玛拿西其余的事，凡他所行的和他所犯的罪都写在犹大列王记上。
¹⁸ 玛拿西与他列祖同睡，葬在自己宫院乌撒的园内；他儿子亚们接续他作王。
这里宣读了犹大和耶路撒冷的判决，那是沉重的判决。先知受差遣，首先是要把神的知识教导他们，提醒他们当尽的本分，引导他们去尽。他们若在这事上不成功，下一步的工作就是为他们的罪责备他们，将罪摆在他们眼前，使他们或可悔改、归正、回到本分上。他们若在这事上仍不见效，罪人反倒乖僻而行，他们下一步的工作就是预言神的审判，叫这些审判的可怕或可唤醒那些不肯因他慈爱的约束而醒悟的人去悔改；或者，这些审判在其时候的应验，也可证明那预言它们的先知确有从神来的差遣。先知对那些不肯听从、不肯接待他们为教师的人，就成了奉派的审判官。我们在这里看见：
一、罪状的陈述。判决所根据的控状被宣读出来（王下21:11）。玛拿西自己行了恶，虽然他本知道更好的道理；他甚至作了亚摩利人的辩护，因为他效法他们的样式，在各样恶行上胜过了他们；他又败坏了神的子民，教导他们犯罪、强迫他们犯罪；除此之外（虽然单这一项已经够坏了），他又使耶路撒冷满了无辜人的血（王下21:16），他的杀戮遍布城中各个角落，使耶路撒冷流血的罪盈满（太23:32）直到杯口；这一切都是干犯万王之王的尊荣冠冕、他国度的平安，以及这等案件所定的律例。
二、神为此要降在他们身上之审判的预言：他们行了恶事，所以我要降祸与他们（王下21:12）；这祸必来，而且不远了。这审判将是：1、极其可怕、令人惊骇的；单是它的风声，就要使人耳鸣（王下21:12），就是使人心战兢。它要在世上闹得满城风雨，引起许多议论。2、它要从撒玛利亚和亚哈家照样描摹下来（正如耶路撒冷的罪也是从那里描摹的），王下21:13。神既以公义为准绳，那准绳必是量撒玛利亚的准绳，把曾临到撒玛利亚的份量给耶路撒冷量出来；他既以审判为线铊，那线铊必是亚哈家的线铊，把那悲惨之家所遭的同样毁灭也标画给耶路撒冷。参赛28:17。要注意：凡在罪上与别人相似、效法别人的，就当指望落得与他们一样的下场。3、它要是彻底的毁灭：我必擦净耶路撒冷，如人擦盘。这表明：（1.）一切都要被搅乱，他们的国必倾覆；他们要被倒翻过来，他们一切的根基都要错乱。（2.）城要倒空其中的居民，就是城中的污秽，如同擦盘时把盘倒空：他们都要被掳去，那地就在荒凉中享受它的安息，被搁在一旁，如盘被擦净后搁起。（3.）然而这要为着洁净耶路撒冷，而非毁灭它。盘不至于被摔落，不至于被打成碎片或被熔化，乃不过被擦净。这要结出的果子，就是先除去罪人，然后除去罪。4、他们所以要被毁灭，是因他们要被撇弃（王下21:14）：我必弃掉所余剩的产业。那些离弃神的人被神离弃，乃是公义的；他也从不离弃任何人，除非他们先离弃了他：但当神离弃了一族百姓，他们的防卫就离去了，他们就成了一切仇敌的掠物，容易掳取的掠物。罪在此被说成是他们诸般苦难的开始与终结。（1.）旧日的罪咎被记念起来，作为那开始盈满量器的（王下21:15）：他们从立国为民的孕育与诞生之时起，自从他们列祖出埃及之日起，就惹我发怒。这一代的人既踏着列祖的脚踪，为他们列祖的罪受追讨，乃是公义的。（2.）流血的罪咎是那使量器盈满的（王下21:16）。没有什么比这罪呼声更大，也没有什么比这罪招致更惨痛的报应。
关于玛拿西，这里所有的就是这些；他被定罪、被宣判；但我们指望在历代志一书里听见他的悔改，以及他蒙神悦纳。同时，我们在此处只得满足于一点关乎他悔改的暗示（因我们乐意如此领会），就是他被葬——大概是按他自己的吩咐——在自己宫院的园内（王下21:18）；因为他既为自己的罪真心忧伤，就自审为不再配称为子，不配称为大卫的子孙，因此也不配将他的尸首葬在他列祖的坟墓里。真正悔改的人取羞辱归于自己，而非取尊荣；然而他既已失了无辜者的声誉，悔改者的声誉就是他所能得着的次好之名了。一个罪人在悔改中死去、被葬在园中，总比在不悔改中死去、被葬在大殿里，更美、更荣耀。
英語原文
Manasseh's Ruin Foretold (643 BC)
¹⁰ And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
¹¹ Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
¹² Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
¹⁴ And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
¹⁵ Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
¹⁶ Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
¹⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not 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 own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Here is the doom of Judah and Jerusalem read, and it is heavy doom. The prophets were sent, in the first place, to teach them the knowledge of God, to remind them of their duty and direct them in it. If they succeeded not in that, their next work was to reprove them for their sins, and to set them in view before them, that they might repent and reform, and return to their duty. If in this they prevailed not, but sinners went on frowardly, their next work was to foretel the judgments of God, that the terror of them might awaken those to repentance who would not be made sensible of the obligations of his love, or else that the execution of them, in their season, might be a demonstration of the divine mission of the prophets that foretold them. The prophets were deputed judges to those that would not hear and receive them as teachers. We have here,
I. A recital of the crime. The indictment is read upon which the judgment is grounded, 2Ki 21:11. Manasseh had done wickedly himself, though he knew better things, had even justified the Amorites, whose copy he wrote after, by outdoing them in impieties, and debauched the people of God, whom he had taught to sin and forced to sin; and besides that (though that was bad enough) he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood (2Ki 21:16), had multiplied his murders in every corner of the city, and filled the measure of Jerusalem's blood-guiltiness (Mt 23:32) up to the brim, and all this against the crown and dignity of the King of kings, the peace of his kingdom, and the statutes in these cases made and provided.
II. A prediction of the judgment God would bring upon them for this: They have done that which was evil, and therefore I am bringing evil upon them (2Ki 21:12); it will come and it is not far off. The judgment should be, 1. Very terrible and amazing; the very report of it should make men's ears to tingle (2Ki 21:12), that is, their hearts to tremble. It should make a great noise in the world and occasion many speculations. 2. It should be copied out (as the sins of Jerusalem had been) from Samaria and the house of Ahab, 2Ki 21:13. When God lays righteousness to the line it shall be the line of Samaria, measuring out to Jerusalem that which had been the lot of Samaria; when he lays judgment to the plummet it shall be the plummet of the house of Ahab, marking out for the same ruin to which that wretched family was devoted. See Isa 28:17. Note, Those who resemble and imitate others in their sins must expect to fare as they fared. 3. That it should be an utter destruction: I will wipe it as a man wipes a dish. This intimates, (1.) That every thing should be put into disorder, and their state subverted; they should be turned upside down, and all their foundations put out of course. (2.) That the city should be emptied of its inhabitants, which had been the filth of it, as a dish is emptied when it is wiped: "They shall all be carried captive, the land shall enjoy her sabbaths, and be laid by as a dish when it is wiped." See the comparison of the boiled pot, not much unlike this, Eze 24:1-14. (3.) That yet this should be in order to the purifying, not the destroying, of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be dropped, not broken to pieces, or melted down, but only wiped. This shall be the fruit, the taking away of the sinners first, and then of the sin. 4. That therefore they should be destroyed, because they should be deserted (2Ki 21:14): I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance. Justly are those that forsake God forsaken of him; nor does he ever leave any till they have first left him: but, when God has forsaken a people, their defence has departed, and they become a prey, an easy prey, to all their enemies. Sin is spoken of here as the alpha and omega of their miseries. (1.) Old guilt came in remembrance, as that which began to fill the measure (2Ki 21:15): "They have provoked me to anger from their conception and birth as a people, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt." The men of this generation, treading in their fathers' steps, are justly reckoned with for their fathers' sins. (2.) The guilt of blood was that which filled the measure, 2Ki 21:16. Nothing has a louder cry, nor brings a sorer vengeance, than that.
This is all we have here of Manasseh; he stands convicted and condemned; but we hope in the book of Chronicles to hear of his repentance, and acceptance with God. Meantime, we must be content, in this place, to have only one intimation of his repentance (for so we are willing to take it), that he was buried, it is likely by his own order, in the garden of his own house (2Ki 21:18); for, being truly humbled for his sins, he judged himself no more worthy to be called a son, a son of David, and therefore not worthy to have even his dead body buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. True penitents take shame to themselves, not honour; yet, having lost the credit of an innocent, the credit of a penitent was the next best he was capable of. And better it is, and more honourable, for a sinner to die repenting, and be buried in a garden, than to die impenitent, and be buried in the abbey.
19-26
Amon's Reign and Death (643 BC)
简体中文
亚们的统治与死亡（主前643年）
¹⁹ 亚们登基的时候年二十二岁，在耶路撒冷作王二年。他母亲名叫米书利密，是约提巴人哈鲁斯的女儿。
²⁰ 亚们行耶和华眼中看为恶的事，与他父亲玛拿西所行的一样。
²¹ 他行他父亲一切所行的，事奉他父亲所事奉的偶像，跪拜他们；
²² 离弃耶和华他列祖的神，不遵行耶和华的道。
²³ 亚们的臣仆背叛他，在王宫里杀了王。
²⁴ 但国民杀了背叛亚们王的那一切人，国民立他儿子约西亚接续他作王。
²⁵ 亚们其余所行的事，岂不都写在犹大列王记上么？
²⁶ 亚们葬在自己的坟园里，在乌撒的园中；他儿子约西亚接续他作王。
此处对玛拿西之子亚们那短暂而不光彩的统治有一简短记载。玛拿西因对偶像盲目的、兽性的狂热，是否曾将自己的众子献为祭——或这些既已献给偶像的众子是否被百姓所拒——无论如何，他的继位者是一个直到他四十五岁才出生的儿子。论到他，此处告诉我们：1. 他的统治极其邪恶：他离弃了他列祖的神（王下21:22），违背了赐给他列祖的诫命，弃绝了与他列祖所立的约，不遵行耶和华的道，却行他父亲一切所行的（王下21:20、21）。他步其父拜偶像的后尘，重新挑起他父晚年所已废除的恶事。当注意，凡立坏榜样的人，自己虽然可能悔改，却不能保证因他们的榜样而被引入罪中的人也会悔改；情形往往相反。2. 他的结局极其悲惨。他既背叛神，自己的臣仆也背叛他，将他杀了——可能因对他人品的某种嫌恶——那时他只作了两年王（王下21:23）。本该保护他的臣仆谋杀了他；本该作他保障的自己的王宫，却成了他受刑之地。他既用偶像亵渎了神的殿，神如今也容让自己的殿——他的家——被他的血所玷污。无论行这事的人何等不义，容许这事发生的神却是公义的。其后国民借他们的代表作了两件事：(1.) 他们向弑君的叛徒施行公义，将之处死；因为虽然他是坏王，却是他们的王；为他报仇，乃是他们向他尽忠的本分。这样，他们便洗清了自己与此罪有份的嫌疑，也尽了当尽的本分，以警戒他人不可效法这等恶行。(2.) 他们善待自己，立他儿子约西亚接续他作王；阴谋者大概有意将他排除在外，但国民拥护他，使他安坐宝座；这也许是因约西亚在早年便已显出良好品性的迹象而得勉励。如此，他们便从犹大众王中最坏的一王，幸福地过渡到最好的一王。"再给他们一次机会，"神说，"用改革试一试他们；若改革成功，甚好；若不然，此后我必砍下他们。"亚们葬在他父亲所葬的那同一个园子里（王下21:26）。他父亲既已甘心自卑，百姓便也要他承受此辱。
英語原文
Amon's Reign and Death (643 BC)
¹⁹ Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
²⁰ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
²¹ And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
²² And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
²³ And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
²⁴ And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
²⁶ And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
Here is a short account of the short and inglorious reign of Amon, the son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and brutish zeal for his idols, had sacrificed his other sons—or whether, having been dedicated to his idols, they were refused by the people—so it was that his successor was a son not born till he was forty-five years old. And of him we are here told, 1. That his reign was very wicked: He forsook the God of his fathers (2Ki 21:22), disobeyed the commands given to his fathers, and disclaimed the covenant made with his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord, but in all the way which his father walked in, 2Ki 21:20,21. He trod in the steps of his father's idolatry, and revived that which he, in the latter end of his days, had put down. Note, Those who set bad examples, though they may repent themselves, yet cannot be sure that those whom they have drawn into sin by their example will repent; it is often otherwise. 2. That his end was very tragical. He having rebelled against God, his own servants conspired against him and slew him, probably upon some personal disgust, when he had reigned but two years, 2Ki 21:23. His servants, who should have guarded him, murdered him; his own house, that should have been his castle of defence, was the place of his execution. He had profaned God's house with his idols, and now God suffered his own house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous soever those were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be done. Two things the people of the land did, by their representatives, hereupon:—(1.) They did justice on the traitors that had slain the king, and put them to death; for, though he was a bad king, he was their king, and it was a part of their allegiance to him to avenge his death. Thus they cleared themselves from having any hand in the crime, and did what was incumbent on them to deter others from the like villainous practices. (2.) They did a kindness to themselves in making Josiah his son king in his stead, whom probably the conspirators had a design to put by, but the people stood by him and settled him in the throne, encouraged, it may be, by the indications he gave, even in his early days, of a good disposition. Now they made a happy change from one of the worst to one of the best of all the kings of Judah. "Once more," says God, "they shall be tried with a reformation; and, if that succeed, well; if not, then after that I will cut them down." Amon was buried in the same garden where his father was, 2Ki 21:26. If his father put himself under that humiliation, the people will put him under it.
本章简短而令人悲伤地记述了犹大两位君王——玛拿西与亚们——的统治。一、关于玛拿西，此处所记的一切就是：1. 他放纵自己犯罪，行各样的邪恶、拜偶像和凶杀，2Ki 21:1-9,16。2. 因此神也定意使他、并使耶路撒冷为他的缘故遭毁灭，2Ki 21:10-18。在历代志中，我们读到关于他的患难，以及他的悔改。二、关于亚们，我们只被告知他活在罪中（2Ki 21:19-22），不久便死于刀剑之下，留下良善的约西亚作他的继承人，2Ki 21:23-26。借着这两段统治，耶路撒冷大大地堕落、大大地削弱，于是急速地奔向那并不打盹的毁灭。