MANASSE

**MANASSEH**

**I. The Elder (Heb. *Mēnahēm*, prob. *Mēnahēm-el* = "God makes one forget" [the sorrows] of Joseph and Aseneth (*Gen. 41:51*), adopted by the patriarch Jacob but subordinate to his brother Ephraim (*Gen. 41:51; 46:70; 48:5, 13-20*).**

The tribe of M. consisted of seven families; one was founded by the sole son Machir. The genealogy of the others, given the lacunose nature of the texts, cannot be established with certainty and seems to represent, beyond family affinities, also political and regional dependencies (*Num. 26:28-34; Josh. 17:1-2*).

In the first census in the desert, the tribe of M. numbered 37,000 warriors (*Num. 1:34-35*); in the second, it exceeded 52,000 (*ibid. 26:34*). After the conquest of the territory of the kingdoms of Sihon and Og in Transjordan, half of the tribe joined that of Reuben and Gad in requesting from Moses permission to settle in the conquered territory, which they obtained on the condition of participating with all the tribes in the conquest of Canaan (*ibid. 32:33-42; cf. 1:32; 34:14-15; Deut. 3:12-13; 29:8; Josh. 1:12-18; 12:4-6; 18:7*). The territory assigned by Moses in Transjordan extended from the south at Mahanaim (q.v.) on the Jabbok to the slopes of Mount Hermon in the north, including Upper Gilead (*Aglūn*) and all of Bashan (*Deut. 3:13-15; Josh. 13:29-33*).

The other half of M., after the conquest of Canaan, received in the west of the Jordan, together with Ephraim, the central part of the region. A very fluctuating line divided the two tribes. The southern boundary, the northern of Ephraim, ran from Janoah, Tinnath-sherah, near Shechem, and along the Wadi Qanah to the Mediterranean (*Josh. 17:5-10*); to the west it bordered the tribe of Asher and to the north that of Issachar. It also infiltrated into the tribes of Asher and Issachar (*ibid. 17:11; 1 Chron. 7:20*), though without managing to occupy the fortified cities of Beth-shan, Ibleam, Dor, Taanach, and Megiddo (*Josh. 17:12-13; Judg. 1:27-28*).

Gideon was a Manassite (*Judg. 6:14*). After the death of Saul, the Manassites gathered around David (*1 Chron. 12:19*). Those east of the Jordan joined other tribes to fight the Hagrites (*ibid. 5:18*), but their history ended with the deportation to Assyria carried out by Tiglath-pileser (*ibid. 5:18-26*).

---

**2. King of Judah, son and successor of King Hezekiah (*2 Kings 21:1-17; 2 Chron. 33:1-20*).** His reign was fatal to monotheistic religion. Ascending the throne at the age of twelve, under the influence of the anti-Yahwist party—suppressed by his father but still very popular—and to secure the favor of Assyria, he reestablished "the high places," built altars to Baal and Asherah, introduced astral worship, favored by the Babylonians and Assyrians, with altars placed in the courtyards of the Temple.

He welcomed the Canaanite gods, including Molech, to whom he sacrificed his own son, revived the practices of divination and magic, adding to them great moral corruption, with both male and female sacred prostitution. Opposition was crushed without mercy (*2 Kings 21:15*), and according to a rabbinic tradition, even the prophet Isaiah was killed by order of M. In the struggle between Assyria and Egypt, M. was for a long time a vassal and tributary of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal; from the latter, he was likely taken captive to Babylon (*2 Chron. 33:11-20*).

There he repented of his sins and, perhaps demonstrating the loyalty he always maintained toward Assyria, regained his freedom. Returning to his homeland, he restored Yahwistic religion, removed "the foreign gods," the "idol from the Temple" (*2 Chron. 33:15-17*), and to show his allegiance to Assyria, fortified Jerusalem and other cities (*ibid. 33:12-13*). He died after a long reign of fifty-five years and was buried in the garden of his palace, succeeded by his son Amon (q.v.).

In the atrium of the basilica of SS. John and Paul on the Caelian, among the representations of heaven that adorned it, Pope Symmachus had depicted King M. obtaining forgiveness and the kingdom after destroying the idols he had introduced into the Temple of the Lord (*2 Chron. 33:13*). The scene has been lost, but the Cambridge collection has preserved the text of the two hexameters that illustrated II.
**

---

**PRAYER OF MANASSEH**

A short poem in fifteen verses, intended to express the soul of the imprisoned and repentant king for his idolatry (cf. *2 Chron. 33:11-13, 18-19*). It is one of the most sympathetic apocryphal works (q.v.) of the Old Testament for its profound piety.

The Prayer of Manasseh begins with praise of God as Creator, full of predilection and mercy toward the Hebrew people (vv. 1-7); then, after a mention of divine generosity in forgiveness (v. 8), the king implores mercy also by virtue of the sufferings of his imprisonment (vv. 9-14). The Prayer of Manasseh ends with the resolve of continual praise and thanksgiving (v. 15).

It is commonly believed to have been composed by a pious Israelite shortly before the common era in Greek. Many ancients considered it authentic, though not inspired. Even the Greek manuscripts that contain it usually place it in the appendix of liturgical songs following the Psalms. It is found in nearly all ancient versions of the Bible due to its beauty and because it was included in the widely diffused *Didascalia* and the *Apostolic Constitutions*.

Such diffusion is still attested today by the use of some of its verses in the liturgy (the first responsory on Wednesday after Trinity Sunday; the seventh responsory on the third Sunday after Pentecost; the first responsory on Wednesday after the Second Sunday after Epiphany).

In the Vulgate, the Prayer of Manasseh is printed in an appendix, while the Septuagint maintains the arrangement of the codices (cf. A. Rahlfs, *Septuaginta*, II, Stuttgart 1935, pp. 180-81).

**