Prayer of Manasseh

Biblical Text and Content

The prayer of Manasseh appears in 2 Chronicles 33. Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, is portrayed as a king who served idols and defiled the temple. According to 2 Chronicles 33:11-13, he was captured by the army of Assyria, bound with fetters, and carried off to Babylon. There he humbled himself greatly before God and prayed, and God heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem and to his throne. Afterward he removed the foreign gods and restored the altar of the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:15-16). Second Chronicles 33:18-19 states only that this prayer was preserved in other records of the period; it does not reproduce the text of the prayer itself.

Background

2 Kings 21 also covers Manasseh's reign, but it says nothing of his captivity or repentance and records only his sins. Second Kings 24:3-4 links the fall of Judah to the sins of Manasseh. Scholars therefore differ over why the two books present his reign differently and over what historical basis underlies the account in 2 Chronicles. Manasseh, king of Judah, is known to appear in Assyrian records as a tribute-paying king, but his deportation to Babylon has not been confirmed by sources outside the Bible. Translations also differ on whether the word "Hozai" in 2 Chronicles 33:19 should be taken as a personal name or rendered "the seers."

The Apocryphal "Prayer of Manasseh"

Because 2 Chronicles does not include the text of the prayer, a short Greek prayer of about fifteen verses was later transmitted under the title "Prayer of Manasseh." The prayer opens with praise to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as Creator. It goes on to confess that the petitioner's sins are more than the sand of the sea, asks for forgiveness in the words "I bow the knee of mine heart," and closes with a doxology. In some manuscripts of the Septuagint, it is included in the collection of odes appended to the Psalms. Scholars differ on when it was written.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The account of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles is read as an example of repentance and grace, showing that God receives even the most wicked of kings when he humbly turns back. The New Testament does not quote this prayer directly. It is, however, often read alongside passages about God's welcome of returning sinners, such as the parable of the prodigal son.

Interpretation and Debates

• Canonical status: The apocryphal prayer is not found in the Hebrew Bible. The Roman Catholic Church did not include it in its list of canonical books at the Council of Trent, and the Clementine Vulgate placed it in an appendix. Within the Eastern Orthodox Church, the treatment of this prayer is reported to vary from church to church.
• Protestantism: Martin Luther's German Bible included the prayer in its Apocrypha section. The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England classify it among the books that may be read for example of life but are not to be used to establish doctrine. The Westminster Confession of Faith, followed by Presbyterians, holds that the Apocrypha are not divinely inspired and have no authority in the church.
• Distinguishing text from tradition: What 2 Chronicles attests goes no further than the fact that Manasseh prayed and that God heard him. The apocryphal prayer is generally regarded not as a record of the prayer he actually offered but as a later composition.

In the Korean Church

Korean Protestant preaching usually takes 2 Chronicles 33 as its text and presents Manasseh as an example of repentance and restoration. Because the Protestant Bibles in wide use in Korea do not include the apocryphal "Prayer of Manasseh," church members rarely have occasion to encounter this prayer.