1Although the Prayer of Manasseh is not regarded as canonical by Judaism, Protestantism, or Roman Catholicism, it is accepted as authoritative by the Eastern Orthodox churches. This document is not uniformly a part of Septuagint manuscripts. However, at the end of the Psalter the Greek manuscript codex Alexandrinus has some fourteen Odes, one of which is the Prayer of Manasseh. Apart from the title, the prayer itself does not indicate the name of the supplicant. It is thus possible to envision the prayer as appropriate to situations other than that of king Manasseh. Whether there may have been an original Hebrew or Aramaic form of this text is not known for certain. Most scholars seem to think that Jerome was unfamiliar with the Prayer of Manasseh, since he makes no mention of it when commenting on the biblical account of Manasseh. In addition to the Greek text of this prayer there are also translations into Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Old Slavonic, and Armenian. The present translation is based on the Greek text of the Göttingen edition. Of all the Davidic kings of the Old Testament none reigned longer than Manasseh (698-642 B.C.). He came to the throne as a twelve-year-old boy and reigned for some fifty-five years (2 Kgs 21:1; 2 Chr 33:1). However, his administration was not one viewed with favor by the biblical writers due to the enormity of his religious failures and his advocacy of many pagan practices. Reversing the reforms of his father Hezekiah, Manasseh encouraged the building of pagan altars and the worship of foreign deities; he was also responsible for putting to death many innocent people (2 Kgs 21:16). The following summary of his life is not encouraging: He did evil before the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites (2 Kgs 21:2; 2 Chr 33:2). Eventually Manasseh was deposed by the Assyrians who took him captive to Babylon, a humbling fate that the biblical historians interpreted as a fitting consequence of his sins. But while captive in Babylon Manasseh is said to have repented of his prior sins, praying for the Lords mercy and forgiveness. In answer to his prayer the Lord forgave him and restored him to his throne in Jerusalem (2 Chr 33:12-13). Although his prayer is not recorded in the Hebrew Bible, it is said to have been preserved in the archival records of the kings of Israel and in those of the prophets, neither of which has been preserved (2 Chr 33:18-19). It is the absence of this prayer from the biblical record that the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh seeks to rectify. The author of this work voices a petition of the sort that Manasseh might have prayed while repenting and turning to the Lord during his stay in Babylon. The sincere piety so beautifully expressed in this prayer led to its finding considerable acceptance in early Christian liturgy. Apparently the earliest appearance of this work is found in the third century A.D. writing known as the Didascalia, which a couple of centuries later was included in the Apostolic Constitutions. The inclusion of the Prayer of Manasseh in these works probably played a significant role in later Christian familiarity with this work. The date of composition for the Prayer of Manasseh is uncertain, although most scholars favor a date in the first or second century B.C. The provenance of the Prayer is unknown, although some scholars suggest that its theology more closely resembles that of Palestinian Judaism during this period than that of Hellenistic Judaism (so, e.g., B. M. Metzger, Introduction to the Apocrypha, 125). 8tc The Syriac translation has an additional verb here: and established it. 9tc The Syriac translation reverses the order of this phrase, reading by the command of his word. 10sn Cf. Job 38:8, 10, 11; Ps 104:9. 12tn Or fearful, terrible. 13tn Grk from before your power. 15tn Grk the magnificence of your glory. 17tn Or is overwhelming. Cf. Ps 123 [124]:5. 18tn Grk the mercy of your promise. 19tc The Syriac translation lacks Most High. 25tn Grk I have sinned beyond the number of. 31tn Grk objects of wrath, offenses, provocations. 33tn Grk the kindness from you. 36tc The Syriac translation does not repeat the appeal for forgiveness. 38sn Presumably a reference to Sheol, or Hades, the unseen world of those who have died. 44tc The Syriac translation has and to you they sing forever and ever. 45sn Cf. the doxology at the end of the Lords prayer (Matt 6:13).