Melakhim II Chapters 21–22 | Menashe and Yoshiyahu

In today’s chapters, we encounter two opposite figures. In Chapter 21, we come across Menashe, the worst of the kings of Yehuda. The verses paint a picture of a king zealously devoted to idolatry: he reinstates the Ashera and worship of Baal. He bows to the heavenly hosts, passes his son through fire, practices augury and divination, and systematically violates every prohibition. Moreover, Menashe introduces idolatry directly into the Temple itself: “He built altars for all the heavenly hosts in both courtyards of the House of the Lord.” (21:5) and “He placed the statue of Ashera that he had made in the very House of which the Lord said to David and his son Shlomo: ‘In this House, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My name forever’” (21:7). The verses emphasize the horror of bringing abominations into the House where the Lord placed His name. “Menashe led them astray to commit even worse evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites” (21:9). Yehuda reached such a low point that the people became worse than the inhabitants before them, whom the land had displaced due to their sins. Consequently, for the first time, we hear of the decree of exile: “I will abandon the remnant of My share and hand them over to their enemies” (21:14).

In Chapter 22, we meet Yoshiyahu, Menashe’s grandson. From the outset, Yoshiyahu is described as a righteous king — like David his forefather (he does not even use high shrines). He works energetically to repair the Temple. Tomorrow, we will see the extensive religious reform he implements, perhaps the most thorough in Yehuda’s history.

The narratives of Menashe and Yoshiyahu reveal significant discrepancies between what is recounted in Melakhim and what is recorded in Divrei HaYamim. Regarding Menashe, Divrei HaYamim surprisingly mentions a process of repentance: “In his distress, he pleaded for the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself deeply before the God of his ancestors... Menashe recognized that the Lord is God... He removed the foreign gods…” (Divrei HaYamim II 33:12–15). For Yoshiyahu, Divrei HaYamim indicates that his religious reform unfolded in two stages: while in Melakhim the reform begins only after the discovery of the Torah scroll in the 18th year of Yoshiyahu’s reign, Divrei HaYamim (Chapter 34) recounts an earlier stage of purging idolatry starting in Yoshiyahu’s 12th year, before the Torah scroll was found.

These discrepancies offer a significant window into the methodological relationship between Melakhim and Divrei HaYamim. Rav Medan is known to view Divrei HaYamim as a book focused on historical documentation, while Melakhim serves a prophetic perspective. This allows us to interpret Menashe’s story as follows: historically, Menashe indeed repented at the end of his life. However, from the perspective of Yehuda’s religious state, Menashe’s repentance was ineffective. Yehuda had already sunk to an unprecedented low under his leadership, and his personal repentance could not reverse the damage (as evidenced by Yehuda’s condition during the reign of Amon, which mirrored the sins of Menashe prior to his repentance).

Similarly, the first stage of Yoshiyahu’s religious reform can be understood in this light. Yoshiyahu indeed sought to make corrections early in his reign, but these efforts were insufficient from a prophetic standpoint. Thus, Melakhim does not mention this initial attempt. To support this, Rav Medan references verses from Sefer Yirmeyahu describing a superficial attempt of correction: “Although you scrub yourself with natron and heap soap on yourselves, your guilt is stained before Me, declares the Lord God” (Yirmeyahu 2:22). The text also describes people claiming to have rectified their sins, while secretly continuing idolatrous practices: “How can you say that you were never defiled? That you never followed the Be’alim? Look back upon your path in the valley… Like the shame of a thief when he is found out, so will the House of Israel be shamed: They, their kings, their noblemen, their priests, and their prophets” (Yirmeyahu 2:23, 26). This indicates that sins persisted in secret. Perhaps at this stage Yoshiyahu attempted to rectify the sins and purge the idolatry, but it was not sufficiently thorough. In Chapter 23, we will see the second stage of Yoshiyahu’s reform — a deep, extensive, and thorough process.

It is worth noting that literary approaches of Tanakh study often analyze Melakhim independently of Divrei HaYamim, using Divrei HaYamim to illuminate Melakhim while leaving historical questions aside.

Rav Medan’s shiur on Menashe >>

Rav Medan’s shiur on Yoshiyahu >>