Pt1 Wicked Kings of Judah: Talmudic Insights into Idolatry and Atrocities by Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, and Jehoiakim (Sanhedrin 103b)

This is the first installment of a two-part series. The outline is below.¹

The aggadic sugya discussed in this piece examines four Judean kings from the Bible, who lived over a thousand years before the writing of the Talmud:

1. Ahaz (c. late 8th century BCE)

2. Manasseh (c. early 7th century BCE)

3. Amon (c. late 7th century BCE)

4. Jehoiakim (c. late 7th century BCE -  one of the final Judean kings)

Outline

1. Manasseh’s Atrocities

2. Manasseh’s Idolatry

3. Idolatry in the Temple: Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon

4. Religious Corruption: Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon

5. Jehoiakim’s Insolence Against God

6. Jehoiakim's Tattooed Name on His Penis: Either of a Pagan god, or of God

The Passage

Sanhedrin.103b.6-13

Manasseh’s Atrocities

The verse “Manasseh shed a great deal of innocent blood, filling Jerusalem from end to end” (II Kings 21:16) is interpreted differently in Babylonia and Eretz Yisrael:

In Babylonia,² it is understood that Manasseh killed the prophet Isaiah. 

In Eretz Yisrael,³ they explain that he crafted an idol so large it required a thousand people to carry it daily, resulting in their deaths.⁴ 

(מלכים ב כא, טז)

"וגם דם נקי שפך מנשה הרבה מאד 

עד אשר מלא את ירושלים פה לפה 

לבד מחטאתו אשר החטיא את יהודה 

לעשות הרע בעיני ה'"

הכא תרגימו: שהרג ישעיה 

במערבא אמרי: שעשה צלם משאוי אלף בני אדם, ובכל יום ויום הורג (את) כולם 

[...]

It is stated: 

“And Manasseh shed a great deal of innocent blood, 

until he filled Jerusalem from one end to another [peh lafeh], 

beside his sin that he made Judea sin, 

to do evil in the eyes of the Lord” (II Kings 21:16). 

Here, in Babylonia, they interpret the verse to mean that he killed the prophet Isaiah (see Yevamot 49b). 

In the West, Eretz Yisrael, they say that Manasseh crafted an idol so large that it was a burden requiring one thousand people to carry it, and each and every day he would require them to carry it, which would kill all of them. 

[...]

Manasseh’s Idolatry

R' Yoḥanan explains a discrepancy in descriptions of Manasseh’s idol: initially, it had one face,⁵ but he later modified it to have four faces,⁶ intending that the Shekhina (Divine Presence) would observe it from all directions and become angered.

כתיב (דברי הימים ב לג, ז): "פסל" 

וכתיב (דברי הימים ב לג, כב): "פסילים"

א"ר יוחנן: 

בתחלה עשה לו פרצוף אחד 

ולבסוף עשה לו ארבעה פרצופים 

כדי שתראה שכינה ותכעוס

It is written that Manasseh crafted “an idol” (II Chronicles 33:7), 

and it is written that Manasseh crafted “idols” (II Chronicles 33:19). 

R' Yoḥanan says: 

Initially, he crafted one face [partzuf ] for the idol, 

and ultimately, he crafted four faces for it 

so that the Divine Presence would see it from each side and become angry.

Idolatry in the Temple: Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon

Kings Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon progressively desecrated the Temple:

Ahaz placed an idol in the Upper Chamber of the Sanctuary,⁷ Manasseh set it in the Sanctuary itself (היכל), and Amon introduced it into the Holy of Holies.

אחז -- העמידו בעלייה, 

שנאמר (מלכים ב כג, יב): 

"ואת המזבחות אשר על הגג עליית אחז וגו'"

מנשה -- העמידו בהיכל, 

שנאמר (מלכים ב כא, ז): 

"וישם את פסל האשרה אשר עשה 

בבית אשר אמר ה' אל דוד ואל שלמה [בנו] 

בבית הזה ובירושלים 

אשר בחרתי מכל שבטי ישראל 

אשים את שמי לעולם"

אמון -- הכניסו לבית קדשי הקדשים, 

שנאמר (ישעיהו כח, כ): 

"כי קצר המצע מהשתרע 

והמסכה צרה כהתכנס"

[...]

Ahaz placed that idol in the upper chamber in the Temple, 

as it is stated: 

“And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz” (II Kings 23:12). 

Manasseh placed it in the Sanctuary itself, 

as it is stated: 

“And he set the graven image of the ashera that he had crafted, 

in that house of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: 

In this house, and in Jerusalem, 

which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, 

will I put My name forever” (II Kings 21:7). 

Amon introduced it into the Holy of Holies, 

as it is stated: 

“For the bed is too short for spreading, 

and the covering too narrow for when he gathers himself” (Isaiah 28:20).

1. See my previous series (pt2 here) on the Talmud’s elaboration on the wicked kings of Judah, specifically regarding Jeroboam.

2. הכא - literally: “here”.

3. מערבא - literally: “the West”.

4. Alternatively: "Menasseh would kill them." The pronoun in "he/it killed them" is ambiguous, leaving it unclear whether the idol or Menasseh was the one killing them.

5. פרצוף - from Greek prosopon.

6. Compare the cherubim in Ezekiel, who also have four faces, in Ezekiel.1.6:

וארבעה פנים לאחת

וארבע כנפים לאחת להם

each had four faces,

and each of them had four wings;

7. עלייה ; on the Upper Chamber / second floor of the Sanctuary, see Mishnah_Middot.4.5 (in my formatting of Tractate Middot, pp. 32-33):

היה מהלך בדרום, עד שהוא מגיע לפתחה של עליה, שפתחה של עליה פתוח לדרום. 

ובפתחה של עליה היו שני כלונסות של ארז, שבהן היו עולין לגגה של עליה. 

וראשי פספסין מבדילים בעליה בין הקדש לבין קדש הקדשים. 

ולולין היו פתוחין בעליה לבית קדש הקדשים, שבהן היו משלשלין את האמנים בתבות, כדי שלא יזונו עיניהן מבית קדשי הקדשים

When he reached the south he turned to face eastwards and then traversed the south side till he reached the door of the upper chamber (עליה), since the door of the upper chamber opened to the south. 

In the doorway of the upper chamber were two columns of cedar by which they used to climb up to the roof of the upper chamber, 

and at the top of them was a row of stones showing the division in the upper chamber between the holy part and the Holy of Holies. 

There were trap doors in the upper chamber opening into the Holy of Holies by which the workmen were let down in baskets so that they should not feast their eyes on the Holy of Holies.