King James Bible Dictionary

Who makes to forget. "God hath made me forget" (Heb. nashshani), Genesis 41:51.

1. The elder of the two sons of Joseph. He and his brother Ephraim were afterwards adopted by Jacob as his own sons (48:1). There is an account of his marriage to a Syrian (1 Chronicles 7:14); and the only thing afterwards recorded of him is, that his grandchildren were "brought up upon Joseph's knees" (Genesis 50:23; R.V., "born upon Joseph's knees") i.e., were from their birth adopted by Joseph as his own children.

The tribe of Manasseh was associated with that of Ephraim and Benjamin during the wanderings in the wilderness. They encamped on the west side of the tabernacle. According to the census taken at Sinai, this tribe then numbered 32,200 (Numbers 1:10, 35; 2:20, 21). Forty years afterwards its numbers had increased to 52,700 (26:34, 37), and it was at this time the most distinguished of all the tribes.

The half of this tribe, along with Reuben and Gad, had their territory assigned them by Moses on the east of the Jordan (Joshua 13:7-14); but it was left for Joshua to define the limits of each tribe. This territory on the east of Jordan was more valuable and of larger extent than all that was allotted to the nine and a half tribes in the land of Palestine. It is sometimes called "the land of Gilead," and is also spoken of as "on the other side of Jordan." The portion given to the half tribe of Manasseh was the largest on the east of Jordan. It embraced the whole of Bashan. It was bounded on the south by Mahanaim, and extended north to the foot of Lebanon. Argob, with its sixty cities, that "ocean of basaltic rocks and boulders tossed about in the wildest confusion," lay in the midst of this territory.

The whole "land of Gilead" having been conquered, the two and a half tribes left their wives and families in the fortified cities there, and accompanied the other tribes across the Jordan, and took part with them in the wars of conquest. The allotment of the land having been completed, Joshua dismissed the two and a half tribes, commending them for their heroic service (Joshua 22:1-34). Thus dismissed, they returned over Jordan to their own inheritance. (See ED.)

On the west of Jordan the other half of the tribe of Manasseh was associated with Ephraim, and they had their portion in the very centre of Palestine, an area of about 1,300 square miles, the most valuable part of the whole country, abounding in springs of water. Manasseh's portion was immediately to the north of that of Ephraim (Joshua 16). Thus the western Manasseh defended the passes of Esdraelon as the eastern kept the passes of the Hauran.

2. The only son and successor of Hezekiah on the throne of Judah. He was twelve years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 21:1), and he reigned fifty-five years (B.C. 698-643). Though he reigned so long, yet comparatively little is known of this king. His reign was a continuation of that of Ahaz, both in religion and national polity. He early fell under the influence of the heathen court circle, and his reign was characterized by a sad relapse into idolatry with all its vices, showing that the reformation under his father had been to a large extent only superficial (Isaiah 7:10; 2 Kings 21:10-15). A systematic and persistent attempt was made, and all too successfully, to banish the worship of Jehovah out of the land. Amid this wide-spread idolatry there were not wanting, however, faithful prophets (Isaiah, Micah) who lifted up their voice in reproof and in warning. But their fidelity only aroused bitter hatred, and a period of cruel persecution against all the friends of the old religion began. "The days of Alva in Holland, of Charles IX. in France, or of the Covenanters under Charles II. in Scotland, were anticipated in the Jewish capital. The streets were red with blood." There is an old Jewish tradition that Isaiah was put to death at this time (2 Kings 21:16; 24:3, 4; Jeremiah 2:30), having been sawn asunder in the trunk of a tree. Psalms 49, 73, 77, 140, and 141 seem to express the feelings of the pious amid the fiery trials of this great persecution. Manasseh has been called the "Nero of Palestine."

Esarhaddon, Sennacherib's successor on the Assyrian throne, who had his residence in Babylon for thirteen years (the only Assyrian monarch who ever reigned in Babylon), took Manasseh prisoner (B.C. 681) to Babylon. Such captive kings were usually treated with great cruelty. They were brought before the conqueror with a hook or ring passed through their lips or their jaws, having a cord attached to it, by which they were led. This is referred to in 2 Chronicles 33:11, where the Authorized Version reads that Esarhaddon "took Manasseh among the thorns;" while the Revised Version renders the words, "took Manasseh in chains;" or literally, as in the margin, "with hooks." (Comp. 2 Kings 19:28.)

The severity of Manasseh's imprisonment brought him to repentance. God heard his cry, and he was restored to his kingdom (2 Chronicles 33:11-13). He abandoned his idolatrous ways, and enjoined the people to worship Jehovah; but there was no thorough reformation. After a lengthened reign extending through fifty-five years, the longest in the history of Judah, he died, and was buried in the garden of Uzza, the "garden of his own house" (2 Kings 21:17, 18; 2 Chronicles 33:20), and not in the city of David, among his ancestors. He was succeeded by his son Amon.

In Judges 18:30 the correct reading is "Moses," and not "Manasseh." The name "Manasseh" is supposed to have been introduced by some transcriber to avoid the scandal of naming the grandson of Moses the great lawgiver as the founder of an idolatrous religion.

forgetfulness; he that is forgotten

1. Son of Joseph and Asenath:

General references
Genesis 41:50-51; Genesis 46:20

Adopted by Jacob on his deathbed
Genesis 48:1; Genesis 48:5-20

Called Manasses
Revelation 7:6

2. Tribe of, descendants of Joseph. (The two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, were reckoned among the primogenitors of the twelve tribes, taking the places of Joseph and Levi)

Prophecy concerning
Genesis 49:25-26

Enumeration of
Numbers 1:34-35; Numbers 26:29-34

Place of, in camp and march
Numbers 2:18; Numbers 2:20; Numbers 10:22-23

Blessing of Moses on
Deuteronomy 33:13-17

Inheritance of:

One-half of tribe east of Jordan
Numbers 32:33; Numbers 32:39-42

One-half of tribe west of Jordan
Joshua 16:9; Joshua 17:5-11

The eastern half assist in the conquest of the country west of the Jordan
Deuteronomy 3:18-20; Joshua 1:12-15; Joshua 4:12-13

Join the other eastern tribes in erecting a monument to testify to the unity of all Israel; misunderstood; make satisfactory explanation
Joshua 6:22

Join Gideon in war with the Midianites
Jude 1:6-7

Malcontents of, join David
1 Chronicles 12:19; 1 Chronicles 12:31

Smitten by Hazael
2 Kings 10:33

Return from captivity
1 Chronicles 9:3

Reallotment of territory to, by Ezekiel
Ezekiel 48:4

Affiliate with the Jews in the reign of Hezekiah
Ezekiel 14:30

Incorporated into kingdom of Judah
2 Chronicles 15:9; 2 Chronicles 34:6-7
Israel, 3, Tribes of

3. Father of Gershom
Judges 18:30

4. King of Judah, history of
2 Kings 21:1-18; 2 Chronicles 33:1-20

5. Two Jews who put away their Gentile wives after the captivity
Ezra 10:30; Ezra 10:33

1. (forgetting), the eldest son of Joseph, (Genesis 41:51; 46:20) born 1715-10 B.C. Both he and Ephraim were born before the commencement of the famine. He was placed after his younger brother, Ephraim, by his grandfather Jacob, when he adopted them into his own family, and made them heads of tribes. Whether the elder of the two sons was inferior in form or promise to the younger, or whether there was any external reason to justify the preference of Jacob, we are not told. In the division of the promised land half of the tribe of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan in the district embracing the hills of Gilead with their inaccessible heights and impassable ravines, and the almost impregnable tract of Argob. (Joshua 13:29-33) Here they throve exceedingly, pushing their way northward over the rich plains of Jaulan and Jedur to the foot of Mount Hermon. (1 Chronicles 5:23) But they gradually assimilated themselves with the old inhabitants of the country, and on them descended the punishment which was ordained to he the inevitable consequence of such misdoing. They, first of all Isr'l, were carried away by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, and settled in the Assyrian territories. (1 Chronicles 5:25,26) The other half tribe settled to the west of the Jordan, north of Ephraim. (Joshua 17:1) ... For further particulars see EPHRAIM, EPHRAIM.
2. (forgetting).

1. The thirteenth king of Judah, son of Hezekiah, (2 Kings 21:1) ascended the throne at the age of twelve, and reigned 55 years, from B.C. 608 to 642. His accession was the signal for an entire change in the religious administration of the kingdom. Idolatry was again established to such an extent that every faith was tolerated but the old faith of Isr'l. The Babylonian alliance which the king formed against Assyria resulted in his being made prisoner and carried off to Babylon in the twenty-second year of his reign, according to a Jewish tradition. There his eyes were opened and he repented, and his prayer was heard and the Lord delivered him, (2 Chronicles 33:12,13) and he returned after some uncertain interval of time to Jerusalem. The altar of the Lord was again restored, and peace offerings and thank offerings were sacrificed to Jehovah. (2 Chronicles 38:15,16) But beyond this the reformation did not go. On his death, B.C. 642, he was buried as Ahaz had been, not with the burial of a king, in the sepulchres of the house of David, but in the garden of Uzza, (2 Kings 21:26) and long afterward, in suite of his repentance, the Jews held his name in abhorrence.
2. One of the descendants of Pahathmoab, who in the days of Ezra had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:30)
3. One of the laymen, of the family of Hashum who put away his foreign wife at Ezra command. (Ezra 10:33)