2 Chronicles 33:19

2Ch 33:19 His prayer also, and [how God] was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they [are] written among the sayings of the seers.

Ver. 19. His prayer also] Which was sure some excellent and eximious prayer, and is therefore so much mentioned. Affliction exciteth devotion: and then, if ever, men "pray in the Holy Ghost."

And all his sin, and his trespass.] His transgression against God, and his trespass against men. So St Paul, I was - as to the first table - "a blasphemer," saith he, and - as to the second - "a persecutor": and - as to both - "injurious," one that wronged both God and man. {1Ti 1:13}

Among the sayings of the seers.] Or, Of Hosai, who might be some prophet, whose book is not now extant. Some Rabbis hold that Hosai is Isaiah. Others of them say, that Isaiah was slain by Manasseh, before his captivity. Seder Olam maketh mention of Ozai as a prophet under the reign of Amon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 33:19. His prayer also — Which is twice mentioned as remarkable. We have a prayer which, it is pretended, he made in prison. The church does not receive it as canonical; but it has a place among the apocryphal pieces, and, in our collection, stands before the books of Maccabees. The Greek church has received it into its book of prayers, and it is there sometimes used as a devout form, and which contains nothing in it deserving censure. And how God was entreated of him — Which was written for the generations to come, that the people that should be created might praise the Lord, for his readiness to receive returning prodigals. They are written among the sayings of the seers — To those seers that spake to him, (2Ch 33:18,) to reprove him for his sin, he sent his confession, when he repented, to be inserted in their memoirs, as a token of his gratitude to them for their kindness in reproving him. Thus it becomes penitents to take shame to themselves, and to give thanks to their reprovers, and warning to others.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33:19 The Record of the Seers: This record no longer exists.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, Hozai.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 19. His prayer also] What is called the Prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, when he was holden captive in Babylon, being found among our apocryphal books, I have inserted it at the end of the chapter, without either asserting or thinking that it is the identical prayer which this penitent king used when a captive in Babylon. But, as I have observed in another place, there are many good sentiments in it; and some sinners may find it a proper echo of the distresses of their hearts; I therefore insert it.

Written among the sayings of the seers.] "They are written in the words of Chozai." - Targum. So says the Vulgate. The Syriac has Hunan the prophet; and the Arabic has Saphan the prophet.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) His prayer also . . . of him.—And his prayer, and the hearing him. Literally, and the being propitious to him (the same verb as in 2Ch_33:13 and Gen_25:21).

All his sins, and his trespass.—All his sin and his unfaithfulness. 2Ki_21:17 has, “And his sin that he sinned.” The chronicler, as usual, heightens the expression.

Groves.—The Ashçrim. (See Note on 2Ch_33:3.)

Among the sayings of the seers.—In the history of Hozai. This work was, therefore, the source from which the chronicler derived his additional information about the reign of Manasseh. (See Introduction.) The LXX. has “the seers;” but the Vulg., “in sermonibus Hozai,” and the Syriac, “in the story of Hanan the prophet.” It is pretty clear that Hozai is simply a mutilated form of ha-hôzîm, “the seers,” a term which occurred in 2Ch_33:17.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. groves and graven images, before he was humbled] R.V. the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself.

among the sayings of the seers] Render, in the history of his seers; cp. R.V. mg. and LXX., slightly emending the Hebrew text. To take the Heb. word (ḥôzai) as a proper name (so R.V.) is unsuitable, since the same word occurs as a common noun (“seers”) in the preceding verse.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house,.... That is, in the garden of his house; see Gill on Kg2 21:18; there; to which may be added, that the Jews (s) in later times buried in a garden; though it was the custom of the ancients, both Greeks (t) and Romans (u), to bury the dead in their own houses; hence sprung the worship of the Lares and Penates, the household gods: from hence to the end of the chapter is the same with Kg2 21:18.

(s) Cippi Heb. p. 43. (t) Plato in Minoe. (u) Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. 5. "praeterea si nova", & in l. 6. "sedibus hunc refer", &c.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 34

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The seers - Most moderns adopt the translation given in the margin of the Authorized Version, making Hosai (or rather, Chozai) a proper name. The point is a doubtful one.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Contempt. Heb. "prevarication." Sept. "apostacy." M. --- Chozai means "seers." Sept. Protestants) H. --- But it more probably signifies some particular prophet, (C.) Isaias, (S. Jerom, Trad.) "Hanan," (Syriac) or "Saphan." Arabic version) C. --- This work, less than the book of the kings of Israel, is now lost. M.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Or rather, of Hosai, a writer so called; for when the sacred penmen make a reference, they constantly refer us to some particular book or certain author, as to the chronicles of the kings of Israel, or Judah; to the prophecy of Ahijah, or Oded, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. His prayer also — The same prayer referred to in the previous verse. The writer simply adds in this verse that the prayer and other things concerning Manasseh were also written among the sayings of the seers — Our translators took this to be a general reference to several well-known prophetical works which contained accounts of Manasseh’s reign, for the Hebrew word is the same as that rendered seers in the preceding verse. But the form of the word is different, and to sustain the common version we must assume a textual error, and read החזיםinstead of חוזי. For this there is no external authority, and we have no other instance of such a general reference to written authorities. Whenever the chronicler refers to a written document he always mentions its author. Hence most modern critics take חוזיas a proper name, Chozai, (or Hosai, as in the margin,) and understand that the acts of Manasseh were written by one named Hozai, of whom, however, we have no other mention.

2Ch_33:21-25 describe the reign of Amon, but add nothing of importance to the account in 2Ki_21:19-26, where see notes.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hosai - A writer so called.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and his prayer how he prayed.

and its acceptance and his return to his kingdom.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.