MANASSEH mə năs’ ə (מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה, LXX Μανασσης; one who causes to forget). KJV MANASSES (Matt 1:10). 1. The older of two sons born to Joseph and Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the Egyp. priest of On (Heliopolis; Gen 41:50, 51; 46:20). Biblical etymology derives the name from נָשָׁה֒, H5960, “to forget,” and makes it mean, “He who causes one to forget.” Joseph interprets the name by the statement, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (41:51). When Joseph brought his sons Ephraim and Manasseh to his father for his blessing, Jacob adopted them as his own placing them on an equality with his own sons as progenitors of separate tribes. In blessing the two boys Jacob subordinated Manasseh the elder to Ephraim the younger, who thus inherited the position of privilege, the blessing of the firstborn (Gen 48). Notwithstanding his subordination in the inheritance Manasseh was to be blessed by “the angel who has redeemed” Jacob “from all evil” and was to become a great people (Gen 48:16, 19). Jacob’s statement, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” (48:20), is the basis of the benediction Jewish parents pronounce upon their sons on the Sabbath and holy days. It was Manasseh’s Aramean concubine who was the mother of Machir, whose descendants became the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chron 7:14). The Targums Jerusalem and pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 42 are responsible for the Jewish tradition that Manasseh was a steward in the house of Joseph and that he acted as the interpreter for Joseph in his conversation with his brothers (Gen 42:23). The same tradition records that Manasseh was possessed of unusual physical strength which he demonstrated when he retained Simeon (42:24).
2. One of the twelve tribes of Israel descending from Manasseh the grandson of Jacob through Joseph, one of the two Joseph tribes was Manasseh, the other Ephraim. At the time of the Exodus Manasseh numbered 32,200 (Num 1:35; 2:21) while Ephraim had 40,500 (Num 1:32, 33; 2:19). At the time of Israel’s conquest of Canaan forty years later Manasseh had increased to 52,700 (26:34), while Ephraim had fallen to 32,500 (26:37). At the time of the entrance into Canaan Manasseh was sixth in the numerical strength of the twelve tribes being surpassed by Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, and Asher. During the journey through the wilderness the position of Manasseh was on the western side of the Tabernacle with Ephraim and Benjamin (2:18-24). The head of the tribe was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur (1:10; 7:54). The Jerusalem and pseudo-Jonathan Targums say that the standard of the Rachel tribes, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin carried the figure of a boy with the statement, “The cloud of the Lord rested on them until they went forth out of the camp.” The Talmud says that Manasseh’s tribal banner was a black flag carrying the embroidered figure of a unicorn. The tribe of Manasseh was represented by Gaddi, son of Susi when Moses sent the twelve spies to survey the land of Canaan (13:11).
Manasseh took an important part in the victories of Israel over her enemies. The Biblical account describes how the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh took Gilead and conquered the Amorites (32:39). Jair the Manassite took the whole region of Bashan and called the villages Havvoth-jair after his own name (32:41; Deut 3:14; 1 Chron 5:18-22). Nobah “went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name” (Num 32:42). Troops of the tribe of Manasseh crossed to the W bank of the Jordan and contributed effectively to the victories of the conquest under the leadership of Joshua (Josh 22:1, 7). At the conclusion of the fighting the tribe of Manasseh coöperated with the Reubenites and the Gadites in building an altar by the Jordan which nearly led to civil war in Israel because it was misinterpreted by the other tribes (Josh 22:10-34). Other prominent leaders from Manasseh included the judge Gideon who with a small army defeated the Midianites (Judg 6:15). Gideon’s son Abimelech maintained himself at the head of a shortlived kingdom in the territory of Manasseh (ch. 9). Also from Manasseh was the judge Jephthah who defeated the Ammonites (ch. 11).
The territory occupied by Manasseh lay on both banks of the Jordan River. On the E bank its territory was farthest N adjacent to Syria and esp. adapted for the raising of cattle. On the W bank it was on the northern and most fruitful area of the mountain of Ephraim. The boundaries of the two sections of Manasseh cannot be drawn with exactness. Eastern Manasseh seems to have extended from the Jabbok to Mount Hermon in the N, and western Manasseh lay N of Ephraim extending to the slopes of Mount Carmel (cf. Josh 17:15). Thirteen cities in the eastern area of Manasseh were assigned to the Levites, and ten in the western section (21:5, 6). Golan, a city of refuge, was in the eastern area of Manasseh. Although Manasseh was larger numerically than Ephraim about the time of the conquest of Canaan, in later times Ephraim surpassed Manasseh in population, wealth, and power. Western Manasseh apparently was never able to dominate completely the Canaanites in its area (17:12; Judg 1:27). See Location of Tribes.
When David was made king at Hebron 18,000 men came from the western half-tribe of Manasseh to join the movement (1 Chron 12:31) while eastern Manasseh was represented in the 120,000 troops who came together with the men of Reuben and Gad. When David organized his administration under the leadership of “men of great ability” (1 Chron 26:31) he found in western Manasseh Joel, son of Pedaiah, and in eastern Manasseh Iddo, son of Zechariah (1 Chron 27:20, 21). In spite of its being a part of the northern kingdom of Israel, Manasseh participated in the revival and reform movements in the southern kingdom. Men of Manasseh were involved in the revival under Asa, in the Passover celebration in the reign of Hezekiah and in his attack upon idolatry. They were also involved in the reform of Josiah and the restoration of the Temple (2 Chron 15:9; 30:1, 10, 11, 18; 31:1; 34:6, 9). The eastern tribe of Manasseh was more exposed to the attacks of the Syrians and Assyrians than other parts of the country. Manasseh suffered the same fate as the other northern tribes in the deportations by Tiglath-pileser III and later by Sargon at the time of the fall of Samaria in 722 b.c.
Manasseh eventually lost its identity in becoming assimilated with the people of the new environment after the destruction of the northern kingdom whose gods the Manassites came to worship. The Biblical account emphasizes that the children of Manasseh “transgressed against the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land” (1 Chron 5:25).
In Psalms 4:7 and 108:8 Manasseh is called a most precious possession of God. Ezekiel has a place for the tribe of Manasseh in his picture of the future (Ezek 48:4) and John includes the tribe in his vision described in Revelation 7:6.
3. A king of Judah who reigned from c. 696 b.c. to 641 b.c., a reign of fifty-five years (2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chron 33:1). He was the son and successor of Hezekiah and only twelve years of age at the time of his father’s death. His reign of fifty-five years was the longest in Judah’s history and its events are recorded in 2 Kings 21:1-18 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20. Judah, during practically the entire reign of Manasseh, was a tribute-paying province of the Assyrians. This situation began under Tiglath-pileser III when the Assyrian came to the help of Ahaz against Pekah of the northern kingdom and Rezin of Syria, and continued so on through the reign of Esarhaddon (c. 681-669 b.c.) and Ashurbanipal (c. 669-630 b.c.). In the Assyrian inscrs. of these kings Manasseh is specifically referred to as a vassal king. Each of these kings invaded and plundered Egypt and Manasseh sent a contingent of troops to aid their armies in these campaigns.
2 Chronicles 33:10-13 describes the arrest of Manasseh and his deportation to Babylon in chains by “the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria.” The Chronicler declares that from the prophetic point of view Manasseh’s arrest and deportation was the result of the judgment of God upon the king’s wickedness (2 Chron 33:9-11). Scholars disagree as to why the Assyrians forced Manasseh to go to Babylon. It may not necessarily have been because of Manasseh’s rebellion against Assyria for which there is no clear evidence. It may have been the way by which the Assyrians forced the Judean king to demonstrate his loyalty as a vassal. This procedure apparently was an Assyrian policy toward vassals whose loyalty was in doubt. Assyrian inscrs. give no specific suspicious act of Manasseh as the reason for his arrest. In Ashurbanipal’s record of his first campaign against Egypt he lists twenty-two vassal kings among whom is Manasseh. A rebellion of serious proportions erupted in 652 b.c. against Ashurbanipal led by his brother Shamash-shumukin of Babylon. The civil war raged for four years and ended with the defeat of Babylon. If Manasseh had been interested in throwing off the yoke of Ashurbanipal this would have been his time for action.
Some scholars find no problem in Manasseh’s journey by coercion to Babylon, followed by his restoration to his throne. The Assyrian records report the parallel case of Pharaoh Necho I who was also one of the royal prisoners of Ashurbanipal and then restored to Egypt.
The Assyrian kings of this period spent much of their time in Babylon. In the course of his imprisonment Manasseh repented of his sins and was restored to his kingdom (2 Chron 33:12, 13). A penitential psalm attributed to Manasseh is included in the apocryphal “Prayer of Manasseh,” prob. from the Maccabean period. It is an attempt to give expression to Manasseh’s repentance and faith at the time of his arrest by the Assyrians. His religious reforms when he was restored were superficial as he did not remove the high places of paganism (2 Chron 33:17). Upon his return from Babylon, Manasseh gave himself to a program of building, measures of defense, and administration besides the religious reforms. Considering his fifty-five year reign very little is known of these activities. His reign was a period of great material prosperity due to his coöperation with the Assyrians. Assyrian records list Manasseh along with other subjects who paid tribute (2 Chron 33:12-19).
The reign of Manasseh is distinguished by his personal responsibility for the religious syncretism of his time which gained him the reputation of being the typical evil king of Judah. According to the account in 2 Kings 23:26, 27 his was the most immoral reign of all the kings and was the reason for the ultimate collapse of the southern kingdom. He was greatly influenced by Assyria, and inscrs. excavated at Gezer disclose Assyrian presence there and the use of the Assyrian language and methods of dating. Manasseh’s active leadership in the promotion of pagan practices was perhaps prompted by interests that were more political than religious. There was a great surge of paganism involving the spread of the various cults with their mythologies emanating from the great population and culture centers of the Assyrian empire. The resulting religious syncretism as it involved Judah is referred to by Isaiah (Isa 2:6-8). The popular religion of Judah became a medley of Assyrio-Babylonian cults, Canaanite fertility cult Baalism, and Yahwism. Ezekiel’s picture of the situation is quite vivid (Ezek 8). The most degraded aspects of this pagan cultus was human sacrifice, and like Ahaz before him Manasseh “burned his sons as an offering in the valley of the sons of Hinnom” (2 Chron 33:6).
The record in 2 Kings 21:1-18; 24:3, 4 emphasizes three degrading aspects of the regime of Manasseh: upon his accession to the throne he led in a reaction against the reforms instituted by his father Hezekiah; he accelerated the development of heathenism in the country; he instituted a bitter persecution of the prophetic party which opposed the popular syncretism led by the king. He “filled Jerusalem with innocent blood” (2 Kings 24:4), and the prophets were put to the sword (Jer 2:30). Rabbinical lit. places emphasis upon the idea that Manasseh was even more evil than Ahaz, and that he killed Isaiah, who had fled and hid in a tree, by sawing him asunder. When Manasseh’s immediate successor, Josiah, came to the throne the supreme need was religious revival (2 Kings 23:26). Jeremiah said that Manasseh’s sin had yet to be expiated (Jer 15:4; cf. 2 Kings 23:26).
4. The name given for the grandfather of Jonathan in KJV of Judges 18:30 based upon the Heb. text. The RSV has Moses because it is generally presumed that the reading in the MT is an intentional misspelling because the man referred to is said to be a priest of the idolatrous shrine of Micah and of the tribe of Dan. Because the priest’s name was Moses his name was changed to Manasseh to avoid stigmatizing the revered name and sparing Moses the humiliation of having an idolatrous descendant. The change was accomplished by merely inserting a small nun (n) between the first two letters of the name for Moses. This not only removed the stigma but also gave to the man a name familiar to the Hebrews as an idolater. Hubert Grimme’s attempt to equate the names Moses and Manasseh on the basis of the Sinai inscrs. has been generally rejected by scholars.
5. A son of Hashum (Ezra 10:33), the Manasses of 1 Esdras 9:33 who is said to have put away his foreign wife (Ezra 10:44).
6. A son of Pahath-moab (10:30) who is called Manasseas in 1 Esdras 9:31 and, who with others, put away his foreign wife (Ezra 10:44).
7. This Manasseh is referred to in Nehemiah 13:28 as “one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest,” and “the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite” but not mentioned by name. He is named by Josephus who says (Antiq. xi. 7:2) that he married Nicaso, daughter of Sanballat and was consequently deposed from the priesthood by Nehemiah. Josephus describes how the high priest Jaddua, Manasseh’s brother, expressing the feeling of the people of Jerusalem, presented Manasseh with the alternative of putting away his wife or leaving the priesthood. Manasseh went to Sanballat and told him that although he loved his wife he could not leave the priesthood. Upon Sanballat’s promise that he would build with the approval of the king a temple on Mount Gerizim where Manasseh should be the high priest, Manasseh stayed with his wife and father-in-law (Antiq. xi. 8.2-4), and thus became the high priest of the schismatic temple.
Bibliography J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts (1955); G. E. Wright, Biblical Archaeology (1960); W. F. Albright, The Biblical Period from Abraham to Ezra (1963); J. Gray, Archaeology and the Old Testament World (1965).