1map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

2tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

3tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

4tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הֲַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

5tn Or “served.”

6tn Heb “In Jerusalem my name will be permanently.”

7tn Or “he sacrificed his sons in the fire.” This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB, NASV “made his sons pass through the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.

8tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with a conjurer.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת אוֹב (baalat ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

9tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, angering him.”

10tn Heb “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name permanently” (or perhaps “forever”).

11tn Heb “I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I established for their fathers.”

12tn Heb “misled Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.

13tn Heb “spoke to.”

14tn Heb “and they seized him with hooks.”

15tn Or “distress.”

16tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

17tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord his God.”

18tn Or “greatly.”

19tn Heb “fathers.”

20tn Heb “him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

21tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

22tn Heb “was entreated by him,” or “allowed himself to be entreated by him.”

23tn Heb “heard.”

24tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

25tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

26sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

27tn Heb “told Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.

28tn Or “seers.”

29tn Heb “look, they are.”

30tn Heb “and his prayer and being entreated by him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness and the places where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself – behold, they are written on the words of his seers.”

31tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

32map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

33tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

34tn Or “served.”

35tn Heb “as Manasseh his father had humbled himself.”

36tn Heb “for he, Amon, multiplied guilt.”

37tn Heb “and the people of the land.”