So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. – 2 Chronicles 33:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2020): 2 Chronicles 33

Sometimes, reading history is like trying to understand the message printed on a glass ball that someone has smashed into uncountable fragments on the sidewalk. The problem is that there is never any assurance that you have found all of the pieces. In fact, the gaps left on the glass ball once you have put it back together prove that some of the pieces are either missing or too small to find. So, as you attempt to read the message presented on the ball, you are left with the task of inserting your imagination or making guesses in those places where you found the gaps. And it is quite likely that if you are trying to complete the puzzle with a friend, the two of you will come up with two very different solutions.

History works much the same way. We know that we do not have all of the historical documents that have ever been written. And even the materials that we do have are written with an unstated purpose in mind. For instance, some have argued, without any substantial evidence of which I am aware, that the Biblical book of Kings was purposefully written to present Israel in a bad light and Judah, the descendants of David, in a better, although definitely not perfect, light. Is this possible? Sure. But it is also just someone placing a motive which cannot be supported, on the writings which probably had a purpose, but not the ones we put on them. It gets confusing, and the problem is that we just don’t know.

All of this historical trouble comes to a head with the story of Manasseh’s redemption. It is a story only told in Chronicles. Kings, which was written earlier and likely used as a template by the author of Chronicles, mentions no such redemption of Manasseh. Added to that fact is that the Assyrian annals, which love to boast about the leaders that they defeated and brought into captivity, makes no mention of the imprisonment of Manasseh. And yet the author of Chronicles adds this unique element of the story.

So, the question we are left with is why; why would Kings omit the story of Manasseh’s redemption and why would the Assyrian Annals omit the story of the King’s capture, and yet both stories are included at a later date by the author of Chronicles? And the more profound question is, do we need to conclude that the author of Chronicles is wrong in this assumption.

The answer is that there is no need to cast doubt on the Chronicles account. Going back to our broken ball analogy, we know that we are missing critical pieces to the historical puzzle. There was likely a tradition that the author of Chronicles knew, and the author of Kings had missed, that told the story of Manasseh’s redemption. Or, the redemption of Manasseh was just an unnecessary detail in a book that was intended to present a theological explanation as to why Judah fell to Babylonians in the early years of the 6^th-century B.C.E.

The question about why the story is missing in the Assyrian annals might be an even more straightforward explanation. While the Assyrians may have captured Manasseh, it seems that he was found innocent of any rebellion and restored to his throne, not exactly a story that perpetuates the desired Assyrian motif of an evil empire. So it is a story that is simply not worth the mention.

But regardless of the reason, Chronicles does give us a clear account of Manasseh’s crisis, and his resulting repentance and willingness to go back to the reforms that had been started by his father, Hezekiah.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 22