person · P0412
Menashe מנשה
Son of Chizkiyahu and the longest-reigning king of Yehudah — fifty-five years — and, for Kings, its worst: he rebuilt the high places, set an image in the Temple, and filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. Divrei HaYamim adds his captivity in Bavel, his prayer, and his restoration — the Bible's great narrative of repentance. Assyrian records name him among their tributary kings.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- מנשה
- Also known as
- Manasseh
- Era
- bible
- Parents
- Chizkiyahu
- Children
- Amon
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3216–3283 AM (reigned 3228–3283, fifty-five years; twelve at accession)
- Academic
- reigned c. 697–643 BCE (perhaps co-regent from c. 697, sole from 687)
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈67 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menashe was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; he did evil in the eyes of God, like the abominations of the nations dispossessed before Israel.
Directly stated in the cited source.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Menashe also shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from end to end — apart from his sin of making Yehudah sin. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Divrei HaYamim recounts that the officers of the king of Assyria took Menashe with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and led him to Bavel; in his distress he humbled himself greatly and prayed, and God returned him to Jerusalem and his kingdom — "and Menashe knew that Hashem is God."
The captivity and repentance appear only in Divrei HaYamim.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Esarhaddon's Prism B lists "Manasseh (Me-na-si-i) king of Judah" among twenty-two western kings conscripted to haul materials for Nineveh, and Ashurbanipal's annals name him again among tributaries — external attestation of the king and his Assyrian subjection. | external archaeology | ★★★★☆ | |
| The placement (reigned 3228–3283 AM) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction: the regnal years stated in Kings are chained backward from the First Temple's destruction in 3338 AM, with sub- year reigns counted as zero — the same rule that yields Chizkiyahu 3199–3228. The cited source states the reign's length, not absolute dates.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |