King of Judah
c. 709 BCE–c. 643 BCE · Biblical era · Jerusalem
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Menashe son of Chizkiyahu became king at twelve and reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:1). The book of Kings presents him as the opposite of his father. He rebuilt the shrines Chizkiyahu had destroyed, set up an Asherah image as Achav had, and built altars to Baal and to the 'host of heaven', even in the Temple courts (21:2-7). It says he 'filled Jerusalem with innocent blood' (21:16) and later blames the fall of Judah on his sins (24:3-4). Chronicles adds an episode that Kings does not have. Assyrian commanders took him in chains to Babylon, where he humbled himself and prayed. God brought him back to his kingdom, and he then rebuilt Jerusalem's outer wall and removed the foreign gods (2 Chronicles 33:10-16). Assyrian records of the period list 'Manasseh king of Judah' as a tribute-paying vassal. The Mishnah names him among three kings with no share in the World to Come, but Rabbi Yehudah disagrees because of his repentance (Sanhedrin 10:2). Rabbi Yochanan warns that denying Menashe a share discourages those who repent (Sanhedrin 103a). The Talmud also records a tradition that he put the prophet Yeshayahu to death (Yevamot 49b).
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JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
He reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:1) and built altars to foreign gods in the Temple courts (21:4-5).
Jerusalem in this era
In the Hebrew Bible, David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital, Solomon builds the First Temple there, and Nehemiah rebuilds its walls after the return from Babylon; in 164 BCE Judah Maccabee rededicated the Temple, the origin of Hanukkah. Archaeologists debate how large the city was in the 10th century BCE; it is well attested as the capital of Judah by the 8th century BCE, and Babylon destroyed it in 586 BCE.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with King of Judah’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
Michah HaNavi, King of Judah, Nachum HaNavi, Gedaliah ben Achikam
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with King of Judah’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Jewish world
Mesopotamian world
Graeco-Roman world
Hindu world
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.