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Chapter 21: The reign of Menashe and Amon
- The reign of Menashe:
- The age at which he became king: Menashe was twelve years old when he became king.
- The years of his reign: Menashe reigned in Jerusalem for a period of fifty-five years.
- His mother’s name: His mother’s name was Cheftzibah.
- The evil deeds of Menashe:
- Menashe did evil in the eyes of Hashem and performed the abominations of the Gentile nations that Hashem had driven out of the land of Israel.
- Rebuilding the Bamos and altars of idolatry: He rebuilt the Bamos that Chizkiyah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for the idolatry of the Baal, and he made an Asherah tree for idolatry as Achav the previous king of Israel had made.
- Worshiping the heavens: Menashe prostrated himself and worshipped the legions of the heavens.
- Building altars for idolatry in the temple: He even built altars for idolatry in the temple of G-d, where G-d had promised to dwell His presence. He built altars for worshiping all the legions of the heavens, and placed them in the two courtyards of the temple [i.e. Ezras Yisrael and Ezras Kohanim[1]].
- The idolatry of Molech: He performed the idolatry of Molech and passed his son through fire.
- Practicing sorcery and Ov Veyidoni: He practiced sorcery and divination, and he performed the sorcery of Ov and Yidoni.
- Performing evil simply to provoke G-d: He performed evil simply to provoke Hashem. He placed the Asherah idolatry in the Temple. Menashe also led the rest of the Jewish people astray to follow the evil acts of the Gentile nations.
[1] Metzudos Dovid 21:5