The reign of King Manasseh in the Deuteronomist history and the Chronicler�s history: A study in reception
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Date
2019
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
One of the most marked differences between the Deuteronomic History and that of the
Chronicler concerns the assessment of King Manasseh�s reign. The Deuteronomist portrays
Manasseh as the most evil of all Judah�s kings (2 Kings 21:1�18) and the main cause for the
doom of Judah. Even the pious Josiah, the paragon of the Deuteronomist (2 Kings 23:25),
could no longer avert this doom (2 Kings 23:26). The Chronicler initially echoes the view of
the Deuteronomist History, repeating some sentences from Kings verbatim (2 Chronicles
33:1�10). But 2 Chronicles 33:11�20 introduces some information not found in 2 Kings. Here
we are told that Manasseh after he had been taken captive by the Assyrians, repented of his
sins and concluded his reign in an aura of sanctity. In this respect, the two accounts differ
fundamentally.
I intend to examine the views of selected scholars from the past roughly fifty years on this
discrepancy. How they assess these two accounts and to what extent their diverse
assessments are based on the different methodologies that they used. I intend to examine,
particularly, their views on the following aspects of Manasseh�s reign: religious customs, the
administrative role, the judicial role and the political role.
Description
Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
Keywords
Kingship, Ideology, Discrepancy, Law, Vassal