Manasseh

Two unrelated Manassehs are kept together under one heading: Manasseh the firstborn son of Joseph (and the tribe that bears his name), and Manasseh king of Judah, the long-reigning Davidic apostate whose blood- and idol-guilt the narrators of Kings name as the cause of Jerusalem's fall. The two share a name and nothing else; this page treats them in turn. Two minor figures listed at the foot of the entry — a Manasseh who appears at Jud 18:30 in some textual traditions, and the two post-exilic Manassehs of Ezra 10 — close out the page.

The Son of Joseph

Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt before the famine, "whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him" (Gen 41:50). The naming-clause for the firstborn carries a forgetting-clause: "Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For, [he said], God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house" (Gen 41:51). The Genesis genealogies fill in the descendants: Asenath bore both sons "in the land of Egypt," and "the sons of Manasseh: his wife bore Asriel, and his Aramean concubine bore Machir. And Machir begot Gilead" (Gen 46:20). At the close of Joseph's life, "the sons also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born on Joseph's knees" (Gen 50:23).

Adoption by Jacob

When word came that Jacob was sick, "[Joseph] took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim" (Gen 48:1). The patriarch claimed the two Egypt-born boys as his own at the level of the earliest sons: "your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine" (Gen 48:5). At the blessing itself the order of hands was inverted. Joseph "took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand" (Gen 48:13), but "Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn" (Gen 48:14). Joseph protested the order — "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head" — and his father answered, "I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great: nevertheless his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations" (Gen 48:18-19). The blessing-formula closes the scene with Manasseh second by name: "God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (Gen 48:20). At the apostolic vision the tribe is sealed by the older form of the name ("MANASSES"): "Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand" (Rev 7:6).

The Tribe: Numbering, Camp, and Blessing

The two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, were reckoned equally among the heads of the twelve tribes, taking the places of Joseph and Levi. The tribe is enumerated twice in the wilderness. At Sinai, "of the sons of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses... those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred" (Num 1:34-35). On the plains of Moab the count rises: "These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty and two thousand and seven hundred" (Num 26:34); the same roll fixes the Machir-Gilead descent and names the daughters of Zelophehad — "Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah" (Num 26:33).

In camp and on the march the tribe stands on the west side under Ephraim's standard: "next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh: and the prince of the sons of Manasseh will be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Num 2:20). The same order governs the line of march: "over the host of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Num 10:23).

Jacob's earlier prophecy over Joseph fixes the tribe's blessing under the patriarchal blessings of "heaven above," "the deep that crouches beneath," and "the breasts, and of the womb"; "they will be on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of him who was separate from his brothers" (Gen 49:25-26). Moses' final blessing renews the same line and ends with the tribal pair: "The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his; and his horns are the horns of the wild-ox: with them he will push the peoples all of them, [even] the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deut 33:17).

Inheritance: East and West of the Jordan

The tribe was split by the Jordan. Moses gave the eastern half "the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan" (Num 32:33), and the conquest of Gilead is credited to a Manassite line: "the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it" (Num 32:39); "Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair" (Num 32:41); "Nobah went and took Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name" (Num 32:42).

West of the Jordan, "the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance" (Jos 16:4). Ephraim's allotment included enclave-cities "in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh" (Jos 16:9). For Manasseh proper, "there fell ten parts to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons" (Jos 17:5-6). The border ran from Asher and Michmethath through the brook of Kanah to the sea, "southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's" (Jos 17:10), and the tribe held a string of fortified towns inside Issachar and Asher: "Beth-shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns" (Jos 17:11).

The Eastern Half and the Conquest of the West

The trans-Jordan tribes were under standing orders to cross over with their brothers. Moses commanded them, "you⁺ will pass over armed before your⁺ brothers the sons of Israel, all the men of valor... until Yahweh gives rest to your⁺ brothers, as to you⁺" (Deut 3:18-20), and Joshua repeated the command at the Jordan: "Remember the word which Moses the slave of Yahweh commanded you⁺... your⁺ wives, your⁺ little ones, and your⁺ cattle, will remain in the land which Moses gave you⁺ beyond the Jordan; but you⁺ will pass over before your⁺ brothers armed" (Jos 1:13-14). The crossing is recorded as fulfilled: "the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the sons of Israel, as Moses spoke to them: about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before Yahweh to battle, to the plains of Jericho" (Jos 4:12-13).

The Witness-Altar at the Jordan

When the eastern tribes returned home, "the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at" (Jos 22:10). The west misread the act and "the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war" (Jos 22:12). The eastern tribes' explanation was that the altar was a witness, not a rival sanctuary: "Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice: but it will be a witness between us and you⁺, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings" (Jos 22:26-27). Phinehas the priest accepted the explanation: "This day we know that [the Speech of] Yahweh is in the midst of us, because you⁺ haven't committed this trespass" (Jos 22:31), and the altar was named "It is a witness between us that Yahweh is God" (Jos 22:34).

Gideon and the Midianite War

In the Midianite oppression, the deliverer was a Manassite. Gideon protests his call by his standing in the tribe — "my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house" (Jud 6:15) — but at the muster he "sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali" (Jud 6:35). After the rout in the camp the pursuit was tribal: "the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian" (Jud 7:23).

David's Reign and Northern Decline

A Manassite contingent fell away to David at Aphek: "Of Manasseh also there fell away some to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they didn't help them" (1Ch 12:19). At the Hebron muster the half-tribe sent its contingent in force: "Of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were mentioned by name, to come and make David king" (1Ch 12:31). Centuries later, Hazael's territorial sweep across the trans-Jordan struck the same half-tribe: the king of Aram took "from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan" (2Ki 10:33).

Affiliation with Judah and Restoration

Even after the schism the tribe is repeatedly drawn south. Asa "gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him" (2Ch 15:9). Hezekiah's Passover invitation reached the same tribes — "Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem" (2Ch 30:1) — and although "the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them," "certain men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem" (2Ch 30:10-11). Many "of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it is written" (2Ch 30:18). Josiah's reform in turn pushed north "in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali" (2Ch 34:6), where "he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder" (2Ch 34:7).

After the captivity the Chronicler's Jerusalem-resettlement roll keeps the Joseph-pair together: "in Jerusalem dwelt of the sons of Judah, and of the sons of Benjamin, and of the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh" (1Ch 9:3). Ezekiel's restoration-allotment leaves a portion for the tribe in the renewed land: "by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one [portion]" (Ezek 48:4).

Manasseh in Judges 18:30

A separate Manasseh appears at Jud 18:30 — older entries head it "(MOSES, R. V.)" to flag the textual question. The UPDV reads, "the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land" (Jud 18:30). The Manasseh-reading of older versions is the variant catalogued here.

Manasseh King of Judah

The other Manasseh of the entry is Hezekiah's son and heir. The Kings annal opens his reign: "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hephzibah" (2Ki 21:1). The summary is set against his father's reform: "he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them" (2Ki 21:3). The altar-restoration was carried inside the temple itself: "he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Yahweh" (2Ki 21:4-5). Beyond these rites he added forbidden practices: "he made his son to pass through the fire, and interpreted omens, and used magic, and dealt with spiritists and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger" (2Ki 21:6); the Chronicler's parallel locates the fire-offering "in the valley of the son of Hinnom" (2Ch 33:6). The narrator's judgment is blunt: "Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel" (2Ki 21:9).

The judgment-oracle that follows fixes Manasseh as the cause of the coming destruction: "Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these disgusting things, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him... 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 wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down" (2Ki 21:11-13). To the idol-guilt the narrator adds bloodguilt: "Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin" (2Ki 21:16). The Kings reign-summary closes with an irregular burial: "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" (2Ki 21:18). The narrator returns to the same cause-clause one chapter before the fall: "according to the mouth of Yahweh this came upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did" (2Ki 24:3).

The Chronicler's parallel adds the captivity-and-restoration arc that Kings does not. "Yahweh brought on them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon" (2Ch 33:11), and in the fetters his self-humbling is recorded: "when he was in distress, he implored Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he prayed to him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh he was God" (2Ch 33:12-13). The post-restoration program is the inverse of his earlier reign: "he built an outer wall to the city of David... he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Yahweh, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Yahweh, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he built up the altar of Yahweh, and offered on it sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel" (2Ch 33:14-16). The reign closes with a natural-death notice: "Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead" (2Ch 33:20).

The Two Manassehs of Ezra 10

In the post-exilic divorce-roll, two men named Manasseh are listed among those who "put away" their foreign wives: one "of the sons of Pahath-moab... Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh" (Ezr 10:30), and one "of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei" (Ezr 10:33). They appear nowhere else in the UPDV.