Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 33:2 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 2. 2But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations.
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 33:1–33:9
Evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations. Read 2 Chronicles 33:2 within 33:1–33:9. The complete unit records: Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships heavenly bodies, installs altars and an image in the temple, practices divination, burns children, and leads Judah beyond the nations' evils.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The reign systematically reverses Hezekiah's work and profanes the house whose promises are explicitly recalled. In this exact position, the line beginning “But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto…” evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations.
Follow the Context
- Manasseh rebuilds high places, worships heavenly bodies, installs altars and an image in the temple, practices divination, burns children, and leads Judah beyond the nations' evils.
- The reign systematically reverses Hezekiah's work and profanes the house whose promises are explicitly recalled.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto…”
In plain language: Evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations.
The line beginning “But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto…” evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations.
Why it matters: The wording carries a material literary, historical, temple, royal-power, violence, ethnic, illness, gender, exile, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The account does not authorize antisemitism, ethnic comparison that dehumanizes other peoples, child abuse, occult panic, or collective blame of descendants.
What Remains True
Evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations. This concrete detail supports a bounded truth: Faithful memory tells the truth about worship and power together: it preserves covenant hope while naming labor, victims, institutional limits, human agency, and uncertainty.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because this verse evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations, keep it inside 33:1–33:9, compare its Samuel-Kings relationship honestly, protect affected people from coercion or stigma, and apply only the accountable principle the complete unit supports.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 33:2 evaluates him through practices associated with displaced nations. Use 33:1–33:9, paraphrase “But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 33:1–33:9 — Manasseh reverses reform and sacrifices childrenSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
2 Chronicles 33:2 remains within this thought-unit limit: Chronicles and Kings share the apostasy but differ sharply over Manasseh's later story; neither account should be dismissed or harmonized by invention.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 33:1–33:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 33:1–33:9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 33:1–33:9, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗