King Manasseh, 14th King of Judah;

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

14. King Manasseh (692-638 BCE) of Judah, succeeded his father, Hezekiah at the age of 12, and is depicted in the Bible as one of the worst Jewish monarchs.   Manasseh was the fourteenth and grandfather  of King Josiah. 

Alternative Identifications:
• Some older or alternate traditions link it to Juttah (modern Yatta, south of Hebron) or confuse the name with Jotbathah (an Exodus wilderness encampment). Jotbah is mentioned in 2 Kings 21:19 as the hometown of Meshullemeth, the mother of King Amon of Judah and grandmother of King Josiah
• Archaeological and scholarly consensus frequently points to Khirbet Jefat (Yodefat), which later became a major site of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 67 CE.

They had a son Amon, who succeeded him as king of Judah upon his death. Hezekiah, Manasseh and Amon appear in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew's gospel, a section we Jews do not have in our tree.                                     

He canceled his father's reforms, reintroduced pagan practices, and so shocked the faithful that the destruction of the Temple was attributed to his wickedness (II Kings 21: 11-17). 

He is also mentioned in Jeremiah 15:4, where the prophet Jeremiah predicts "four forms of destruction" for the people of Judah because of the evil done by Manasseh in Judah

Apparently, he was forcefully opposed by the loyal monotheists, many of whom he put to death. 

Ashurbanipal inspects the prisoners after subduing his brother at the siege of Babylon. The cuneiform inscription reads, ” I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, king of the land of Ashur, who, at the command of the great gods has attained the desires of his heart: the garments and ornaments – the royal insignia of Shamash-shum-ukin, the faithless brother – his harem, his officials, his battle troops, his (battle) chariot, his processional chariot – his state vehicle, all the provisions which were in his palace, the people, male and female, great and small – they made to pass before me.” Photo: Anthony Huan / Wikimedia Commons via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

 Manasseh was the first king of Judah who was not contemporary with the northern kingdom of Israel, which the Assyrians had destroyed c. 720 BCE, deporting much of its population.

 He re-instituted polytheistic worship and reversed the religious changes made by his father Hezekiah – hence his condemnation in several biblical verses.

When Manasseh's reign began, Sennacherib was king of Assyria, who reigned until 681 BCE. Manasseh is mentioned in Assyrian records as a contemporary and loyal vassal of Sennacherib's son and successor, Esarhaddon. Assyrian records list Manasseh among twenty-two kings required to provide materials for Esarhaddon's building projects. Esarhaddon died in 669 BC and was succeeded by his son, Ashurbanipal, who also names Manasseh as one of a number of vassals who assisted his campaign against Egypt.

Manasseh paid tribute to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal of Assyria and, according to one report, spent some time  as a captive in Babylon (II Chron. 33:11-19).  

It has been suggested that his pagan innovations were the result of Assyrian pressure.  

Despite the criticisms of his religious policies in the biblical texts, archaeologists such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman credit Manasseh with reviving Judah's rural economy, arguing that a possible Assyrian grant of most favoured nation status stimulated the creation of an export market. They argue that changes to the economic structure of the countryside would have required the cooperation of the "countryside aristocracy", with restoration of worship at the high places a quid pro quo for this.

 Apparent devastation of the fertile Shephelah, coupled with growth of the population of the highlands and the southeast of the kingdom (especially in the Beersheba valley) during Manasseh's reign, point to this possibility.

 Finkelstein has also suggested that Manasseh's extensive trade activity as a vassal of Assyria may have provided the basis for some of the biblical stories about King Solomon's great acquisition of wealth through foreign trade relationships.

                                                        

15. King Amon of Judah (reigned from 642-640 BCE) He took the throne at the age of 22 in succession to his father, Manasseh and ruled for only 2 years before being killed or assassinated by conspirators. Amon of Judah was the fifteenth King of Judah  He was the son of King Manasseh and Meshullemeth, and the father of King Josiah.         Idolatry: The Amon of Judah - Wikipedia record notes he followed his father's early wicked ways, worshiping idols and turning away from God.  

Unrepentant: Unlike his father Manasseh, who later repented in life, Amon did not humble himself and increased his guilt.
Death and Succession
Assassination: His own servants or palace officers conspired against him and killed or assassinated  him in his palace. 
Aftermath: The people of the land killed the conspirators.
Succession: They made Amon's eight-year-old son, Josiah, the next king,

16. Josiah, 16th King of Judah b c.645  BCE (637-608 BCE reigned ).  Following the murder of his father, Amon, the populace had the 8 year old, Josiah, crowned                               

               Bringing down the idols of high places
On attaining manhood, he began a program of religious reform,  removing foreign cults which had taken hold in Judah and re-establishing the pure monotheistic religion.  His actions  were helped, and maybe motivated by the decline of Assyrian influence over the country, and doubtless received the support of the contemporary prophets including Nahum, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah.  
In the course of repairing the Temple, the high priest Hilkiah, announced the discovery of a BOOK OF THE LAW, which so influenced Josiah that he convened an assembly of the entire people during Passover in c.619 BCE, at which a solemn covenant was made with Deuteronomy.                  

             Hilkiah's discovery of the Book of the Law
 King Josiah celebrated a grand Passover in Jerusalem during the 18th year of his reign (around age 26), right after high priest Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law during temple repairs.
Josiah removed the high places and centralized worship at the Jerusalem Temple.  His reign was one of  cultural, religious, and political prosperity.  



During a period of heavy geopolitical conflict between the Babylonian and Assyrian empires, Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt marched his army northward to assist the Assyrians. King Josiah attempted to block the Egyptian army's passage through his territory.   In 608, he attempted to bar the passage of the Egyptian army under Necho II which was moving to assist Assyria against his Babylonian allies.



Despite warnings from Pharaoh Necho to stand down, Josiah faced the Egyptian forces at Megiddo. During the battle, Josiah was mortally wounded by Egyptian archers.                               

He was placed in a chariot, brought back to Jerusalem, and died from his wounds.  In the battle in Megiddo, Josiah's army was defeated as he was  mortally wounded. 
 His religious reforms were of far-reaching importance for the development of Judaism, and formed a basis for the work of Ezra and Nehemiah.  
Resource:
Stone Edition of Bible
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedioa