Chapter 33 of Divrei HaYamim II deals with Menasheh, the son of Chizkiyahu, and his son Amon. The Malbim explains that from the beginning of the chapter until verse 10, the text is largely drawn from Melachim II, chapter 21, and there he already explained the textual variations; here we will focus on what the text adds for us. What is stated here, "And Hashem spoke to Menasheh" - in Melachim it is explicitly detailed what this divine message conveyed through the prophets was. The primary novelty of our chapter is the entire account of Menasheh's exile, his captivity, and his repentance, which does not appear at all in the Book of Melachim.
בֶּן־שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מְנַשֶּׁה בְמׇלְכוֹ וַחֲמִשִּׁים וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Menasheh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Yerushalayim.
וַיַּעַשׂ הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה כְּתוֹעֲבוֹת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הוֹרִישׁ יְהֹוָה מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, like the abominations of the nations whom Hashem had dispossessed before the Children of Israel.
He does what is evil in the eyes of Hashem and imitates the nations - the very same nations that Hashem drove out before the Children of Israel, he follows in their deeds.
וַיָּשׇׁב וַיִּבֶן אֶת־הַבָּמוֹת אֲשֶׁר נִתַּץ יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ אָבִיו וַיָּקֶם מִזְבְּחוֹת לַבְּעָלִים וַיַּעַשׂ אֲשֵׁרוֹת וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לְכׇל־צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיַּעֲבֹד אֹתָם׃ - And he rebuilt the high places that Chizkiyahu his father had broken down, and he erected altars for the Ba'alim, made asherot, and bowed down to all the host of heaven and served them.
He returns and rebuilds the high places that Chizkiyahu had broken down. Because his father was righteous and shattered the altars, now that Menasheh wished to revive idolatry, he had to rebuild what had been destroyed before him. "And made asherot" - trees that were worshipped. "And bowed down to all the host of heaven" - they would worship all manner of stars.
וּבָנָה מִזְבְּחוֹת בְּבֵית יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהֹוָה בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם יִהְיֶה־שְּׁמִי לְעוֹלָם׃ - And he built altars in the House of Hashem, of which Hashem had said, "In Yerushalayim My Name shall be forever."
"In the House of Hashem" - right inside the Beis HaMikdash itself. The commentary attributed to Rashi explains that the verse here comes to lament Menasheh's actions: see where he went and built altars for idolatry - in the very House concerning which the Holy One, Blessed is He, said, "In Yerushalayim My Name shall be forever," there of all places he erected altars for idolatry. And there he also placed the carved idol that he made, which was also part of the wickedness he committed.
וַיִּבֶן מִזְבְּחוֹת לְכׇל־צְבָא הַשָּׁמָיִם בִּשְׁתֵּי חַצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה׃ - And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the House of Hashem.
"The two courtyards of the House of Hashem" - the Courtyard of the Kohanim and the Courtyard of the Israelites. "For all the host of heaven" - all the celestial forces: the sun, moon, and stars, all of which they worshipped.
וְהוּא הֶעֱבִיר אֶת־בָּנָיו בָּאֵשׁ בְּגֵי בֶן־הִנֹּם וְעוֹנֵן וְנִחֵשׁ וְכִשֵּׁף וְעָשָׂה אוֹב וְיִדְּעוֹנִי הִרְבָּה לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה לְהַכְעִיסוֹ׃ - He also passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, divination, and sorcery, and consulted ghosts and familiar spirits. He did much evil in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.
The commentary attributed to Rashi notes that the word ve'asah (ועשה - and he made/consulted) in connection with the necromancer (ov) is written in full (malei) with a vav, indicating that he engaged in this extensively. As a rule, when a word is written in full script, it points to abundance or excess, whereas when written defectively (chaser), it indicates a deficiency - such as the name Ephron being written without a vav to signify his diminished stature. Menashe performed the worship of Molech - passing his sons through the fire - as well as practicing soothsaying, divination, and witchcraft, all of which fall under the category of sorcery.
Onen (soothsaying) refers to one who calculates times and seasons (onot), declaring: "This season is suitable for this action, while that season is suitable for another." This is the very opposite of the commandment, "You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your God." Nichesh (divination) refers to one who relies on omens - such as someone who says, "My staff fell from my hand, a sign that I will not succeed today," or "A piece of bread fell from my mouth, a sign that there will be no livelihood today," and similar superstitions.
Some people say: "Do not come to collect debts from me at the beginning of the week, so you do not give me a bad start." Hearing this for the first time, one might be taken aback and wonder what the person wants, assuming he is merely trying to evade payment, only later realizing that this is an entrenched superstition among certain merchants. In truth, however, this is a gentile custom. What does a "bad start" have to do with anything? If one owes money, one must pay. People view this as a matter of luck, whereas the truth is that one's livelihood is decreed from Heaven, and it makes no difference whether money goes out first or last. This is a form of divination (nichush), no different from someone saying, "A black cat crossed my path," and the like.
וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת־פֶּסֶל הַסֶּמֶל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה בְּבֵית הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר אָמַר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־דָּוִיד וְאֶל־שְׁלֹמֹה בְנוֹ בַּבַּיִת הַזֶּה וּבִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתִּי מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אָשִׂים אֶת־שְׁמִי לְעֵילוֹם׃ - He placed the carved image of the idol that he had made into the House of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon: "In this House and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever."
Here too, the text continues its indictment against him: see what he did. "The carved image of the idol (pesel hasemel)" refers to the image of jealousy - an idol that he fashioned and placed directly inside the House of God, the very place concerning which Hashem had told David and his son Solomon, "I will put My Name forever." In the very sanctuary that the Holy One, blessed be He, designated for Himself, where His Name was to be remembered forever, Menashe went and placed an idol. It was done, as it were, purely out of defiance - his entire objective was nothing other than to provoke God to anger.
וְלֹא אֹסִיף לְהָסִיר אֶת־רֶגֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱמַדְתִּי לַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶם רַק אִם־יִשְׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִים לְכׇל־הַתּוֹרָה וְהַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה׃ - "Nor will I again remove the foot of Israel from the land that I established for your fathers, if only they take care to do all that I have commanded them, according to all the Torah, the statutes, and the ordinances given by the hand of Moses."
This is the continuation of the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, to David and Solomon: here in this place will stand the House of God, and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land that I established for your fathers - provided that they take care to observe all that I have commanded them. We know, of course, that exile was decreed as a direct result of Menashe's sins, as stated explicitly in the Book of Kings, "because of the sins of Menashe" - even though in our chapter we will see that he repented. His repentance was either not fully complete, or in any event, the decree had already been sealed. Here Menashe heard such a promise, yet in this very place he rebelled against the word of Hashem, built pagan altars, and erected the idol of jealousy - there is no greater wickedness than this.
וַיֶּתַע מְנַשֶּׁה אֶת־יְהוּדָה וְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם לַעֲשׂוֹת רָע מִן־הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁמִיד יְהֹוָה מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - Menashe led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom Hashem had destroyed before the Children of Israel.
"And he led astray" (vayeta) - he misled Judah, leading them down an errant path. "To do evil more than the nations" (la'asot ra min hagoyim) can be understood to mean that he learned these practices from them; or, as the Metzudat David explains, to do more evil than the nations - that he led Judah astray to act even more wickedly than the nations whom Hashem had destroyed before the Children of Israel.
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל־מְנַשֶּׁה וְאֶל־עַמּוֹ וְלֹא הִקְשִׁיבוּ׃ - And Hashem spoke to Menashe and to his people, but they did not listen.
Note that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent prophets to him, and He also sent prophets to the people - "but they did not listen."
וַיָּבֵא יְהֹוָה עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת־שָׂרֵי הַצָּבָא אֲשֶׁר לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר וַיִּלְכְּדוּ אֶת־מְנַשֶּׁה בַּחֹחִים וַיַּאַסְרֻהוּ בַּנְחֻשְׁתַּיִם וַיּוֹלִיכֻהוּ בָּבֶלָה׃ - So Hashem brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, and they captured Menashe with hooks, bound him with copper chains, and led him away to Babylon.
Chochim (hooks) are rings placed in an animal's cheek to drag it along against its will; if it refuses to follow, the hook tears its flesh, so it is forced to move forward. This is similar to what is said regarding Gog, "And I will put hooks in your jaws" (Yechezkel 38:4), where the Holy One, blessed be He, says He will drag him along so that he will fall in the Land of Israel. This is a metaphorical and poetic expression describing the humiliating manner in which Menashe was taken. "With copper chains" (banechushtayim) - fetters made of copper. The entire narrative from here through the end of the chapter is an addition recorded only here, and does not appear in the Book of Melachim at all.
וּכְהָצֵר לוֹ חִלָּה אֶת־פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָיו וַיִּכָּנַע מְאֹד מִלִּפְנֵי אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתָיו׃ - And when he was in distress, he entreated the countenance of Hashem his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
"And when he was in distress" (u-k'hatzer lo) - in the time of his agony. "He entreated the countenance of Hashem" (chillah et pnei Hashem) is an expression of supplication, as in, "Entreat now the countenance of Hashem your God" (Melachim I 13:6). Malbim explains the precise distinction between chilu'i (entreating the countenance) and tefillah (prayer): the purpose of chalot panim is to remove anger - to entreat His countenance means to turn His wrath away from me; whereas tefillah is aimed at attaining goodwill and blessing. When a person seeks to receive some benefit, he prays (mitpallel); when he seeks to appease wrath, he entreats (mechalleh panim). Therefore, Scripture says here: "And when he was in distress, he entreated the countenance of Hashem his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers."
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֵלָיו וַיֵּעָתֶר לוֹ וַיִּשְׁמַע תְּחִנָּתוֹ וַיְשִׁיבֵהוּ יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם לְמַלְכוּתוֹ וַיֵּדַע מְנַשֶּׁה כִּי יְהֹוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים׃ - And he prayed to Him, and He was entreated by him and heard his supplication, and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom; then Menashe knew that Hashem is God.
Chazal expound (Sanhedrin 103a): Do not read vaye'ater ("and He was entreated"), but rather vayachter ("and He carved out an opening") - that the Holy One, blessed be He, carved an opening for him beneath the Throne of Glory. The Gemara recounts how he reached this point: they placed him inside a copper cauldron and heated the cauldron from below. In such a predicament, a person starts dancing even without music. He began crying out to all the false deities: "O god of Edom, answer me! O god of Chemosh, answer me! O god of Ammon, answer me!" But no one answered; the god he called upon was unavailable. He went through deity after deity and realized there was no hope.
Then he remembered that in his childhood, when his father Chizkiyahu took him to Talmud Torah, he had learned: "When you are in distress and all these things come upon you... you will return to Hashem your God." Yet in the height of his insolence and audacity, he began setting conditions with the Holy One, blessed be He: if there is a Creator of the universe and He is stronger than all the other deities, let Him save me; and if not, Heaven forbid, what is the difference between Him and them? Dust in his mouth! You are in no position to make conditions. In such a predicament, you ought to return to Hashem with a broken heart, yet he tells the Master of the Universe: Know that You are risking Your honor if You do not save me, for then people will say that You are just like all other deities.
Because of this brazen chutzpah, the ministering angels locked the gates of repentance and the gates of heaven before him. But the Holy One, blessed be He, carved out a tunnel for him beneath the Throne of Glory - so people would not say that repentance does not work, or say that Menashe sought to repent and Hashem would not accept his repentance. Therefore, He acceded to his prayer and ultimately restored him to his kingship. The word eter is also an implement used for turning over grain and for digging, which is the source of the exposition connecting vaye'ater lo ("and He was entreated of him") to vayachtor lo (He dug a tunnel for him).
וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן בָּנָה חוֹמָה חִיצוֹנָה לְעִיר־דָּוִיד מַעְרָבָה לְגִיחוֹן בַּנַּחַל וְלָבוֹא בְשַׁעַר הַדָּגִים וְסָבַב לָעֹפֶל וַיַּגְבִּיהֶהָ מְאֹד וַיָּשֶׂם שָׂרֵי־חַיִל בְּכׇל־הֶעָרִים הַבְּצֻרוֹת בִּיהוּדָה׃ - Afterward he built an outer wall for the City of David, west of Gichon in the valley, and to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he encircled the Ophel and raised it very high; and he placed army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
"West of Gichon in the valley" - on the western side of Jerusalem; "and to the entrance of the Fish Gate" - the wall reached all the way to the eastern side, where the Ophel was located. Metzudat David explains that the Ophel was the name of a tower, while others maintain that ophel simply refers to an elevated place, not necessarily a specific structure. He raised the wall very high, and also stationed army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
וַיָּסַר אֶת־אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר וְאֶת־הַסֶּמֶל מִבֵּית יְהֹוָה וְכׇל־הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה בְּהַר בֵּית־יְהֹוָה וּבִירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ חוּצָה לָעִיר׃ - And he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the House of Hashem, and all the altars he had built on the mount of the House of Hashem and in Jerusalem, and cast them outside the city.
He removes the foreign gods and the idol of idolatry that he had set up in the House of Hashem, along with all the altars he had built on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem, casting everything outside the city. The commentary attributed to Rashi notes perceptively: it does not say that he shattered them, only that he removed them outside the city - and therefore his son stumbled over them later on. For it is written further on, "and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that Menashe his father had made." Did Amon fashion new ones? Rather, he took the carved images made by his father Menashe, which his father had tossed outside Jerusalem, and simply went and retrieved them. This was part of the shortcoming: he did not shatter them, grind them to powder, or bury them, but left them lying there, and his son came and collected them.
The Malbim notes - not here, but in the Book of Kings - that despite Menashe's repentance, the exile ultimately came about "because of the sins of Menashe." He asks: Why was this so, seeing that he repented? Some explain that since his repentance was born of duress, it did not suffice to avert the tragedy of exile. Others suggest that while he himself repented, the nation remained in its corruption, and his personal repentance could not avert the exile. The Malbim explains: nowhere do we find that he repented for the murders he committed - and Scripture records that Menashe filled Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other, a horrific reality - yet it is nowhere said that he recanted from this. What does the text state? "And he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the House of Hashem" - he repented for idolatry, but he did not repent for the murders. Therefore, the sins of Menashe still caused the exile to come in the end.
וַיִּבֶן אֶת־מִזְבַּח יְהֹוָה וַיִּזְבַּח עָלָיו זִבְחֵי שְׁלָמִים וְתוֹדָה וַיֹּאמֶר לִיהוּדָה לַעֲבוֹד אֶת־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And he repaired the altar of Hashem and offered upon it peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings, and commanded Judah to serve Hashem, the God of Israel.
"And he repaired the altar of Hashem" - Metzudat David explains that he restored and renewed the altar. And he offered peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings upon it: a thanksgiving offering (korban todah) expressing gratitude that the Holy One, blessed be He, had restored him to Jerusalem and to his kingship, as noted by the commentary attributed to Rashi.
אֲבָל עוֹד הָעָם זֹבְחִים בַּבָּמוֹת רַק לַיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to Hashem their God.
The high places (bamot) were the hardest thing to steer the people away from, since after all, they were sacrificing in Hashem's Name; and this is what the verse emphasizes here: "only to Hashem their God." Until now they had been sacrificing to idols, and it was entirely a reflection of the leadership: when the leader was wicked Menasheh, they sacrificed to idols, and when he himself repented, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but to Hashem, blessed be He.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי מְנַשֶּׁה וּתְפִלָּתוֹ אֶל־אֱלֹהָיו וְדִבְרֵי הַחֹזִים הַמְדַבְּרִים אֵלָיו בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנָּם עַל־דִּבְרֵי מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - Now the rest of the acts of Menasheh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the Name of Hashem, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
"And his prayer to his God" - referring to the prayer he recited during that distress, while in Babylon. "And the words of the seers who spoke to him" - the prophets who were sent to him; a prophet is called a chozeh (seer) because he sees the word of Hashem in a vision (machazeh). "In the chronicles of the kings of Israel" - each king would write his own royal annals, and this has no connection to the biblical Book of Chronicles before us, but rather refers to the historical records that the king kept for himself.
In those royal records, the king would write primarily about his victories and triumphs, and generally would not document failures. Therefore, one often finds in the historical chronicles of various kings that events known to us - instances where they fell, were routed, and suffered defeat - do not appear in their records at all, and some historians will tell you: you will not find such a story there, you will not find such a downfall.
For this reason, many wondered for long periods why they found no secular record of the Jewish people in Egypt or of the Ten Plagues, to the point where some began to doubt. But they were told: Why are you surprised? Where have we ever heard of a ruler recording his own defeats? That an eighty-year-old elder arrived and led out a nation of several million, after dealing severe blows to a king whose sheer stubbornness destroyed his entire country and who ultimately perished - what ruler would record such a thing? Of course they would not document it! Yet as time went on, documentation began to emerge - the Ipuwer Papyrus and others - from those eras, describing the plagues of Egypt, and only then were the scholars satisfied. Even then, not entirely, for they began to dispute whether this took place during those exact years or other years, raising all kinds of objections, which are also resolved by demonstrating their lack of understanding regarding chronology and the historical context. We will not delve into all of this; we do not live by their word. As far as we are concerned, what is written in the Prophets is the authentic message, a Torah of truth is in their mouth, and reality was exactly as described in our sources; what they say and find does not truly matter. And slowly but surely, one sees them coming around, unearthing more discoveries and more findings that prove to them that everything written in Tanach is true.
וּתְפִלָּתוֹ וְהֵעָתֶר־לוֹ וְכׇל־חַטָּאתוֹ וּמַעְלוֹ וְהַמְּקֹמוֹת אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה בָהֶם בָּמוֹת וְהֶעֱמִיד הָאֲשֵׁרִים וְהַפְּסִלִים לִפְנֵי הִכָּנְעוֹ הִנָּם כְּתוּבִים עַל דִּבְרֵי חוֹזָי׃ - And his prayer, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the asherim and the carved images before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the words of the seers.
The Malbim asks: In the previous verse it says, "and his prayer to his God," and here it says, "And his prayer, and how God was entreated of him" - why this repetition? He explains: The first prayer is what he prayed while still in captivity, and it is recorded "in the chronicles of the kings of Israel," in those historical annals, which are mundane secular writings. By contrast, the prayer he prayed afterward is a holy prayer, and it is found in the words of the seers - in the Book of Tehillim, chapter 66, which deals with Menasheh's rescue, as the Malbim explained there (and whoever wishes may hear this in the lessons on the Book of Tehillim with the Malbim). Likewise, the seers recorded all of Menasheh's sins in detail, and there one can find the full description of his sins and deeds.
"The words of Chozai" - meaning the words of the seers (chozim). The Metzudat Tzion suggests that Chozai was the name of an individual prophet, but it is more plausible, as the Malbim explains, that Chozai means the seers. Radak explains similarly, noting that the ending of Chozai is like chashufei shet (uncovered buttocks) and karua lo chalonai (cut out for himself windows), where chalonai means windows (chalonot).
וַיִּשְׁכַּב מְנַשֶּׁה עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּקְבְּרֻהוּ בֵּיתוֹ וַיִּמְלֹךְ אָמוֹן בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - So Menasheh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
"And they buried him in his house" - meaning in his estate; in the Book of Melachim it is written, "in the garden of his house." The implication is that he did not merit being buried with his fathers.
בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנָה אָמוֹן בְּמׇלְכוֹ וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנִים מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.
וַיַּעַשׂ הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מְנַשֶּׁה אָבִיו וּלְכׇל־הַפְּסִילִים אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מְנַשֶּׁה אָבִיו זִבַּח אָמוֹן וַיַּעַבְדֵם׃ - And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Menashe his father had done; and to all the carved images that Menashe his father had made, Amon sacrificed and served them.
וְלֹא נִכְנַע מִלִּפְנֵי יְהֹוָה כְּהִכָּנַע מְנַשֶּׁה אָבִיו כִּי הוּא אָמוֹן הִרְבָּה אַשְׁמָה׃ - And he did not humble himself before the Lord as Menashe his father had humbled himself, for he, Amon, multiplied guilt.
"Multiplied guilt" - Chazal say that he committed severe and terrible sins. One of the things Chazal relate about him is that he had relations with his mother, and hence he was called Amon. His mother asked him: "Do you derive any pleasure from the place from which you emerged?" But he was astonished by the very question: "Do you think I am driven by lust? I do this solely to anger my Creator!" Can such a thing even be understood? A person transgressing purely for the sake of sin - to anger the Creator. Not out of lust, nor out of physical desire, but solely to provoke his Master. This is the meaning of "Amon multiplied guilt." It is also related of him that he burned the Torah, and committed other grave transgressions.
וַיִּקְשְׁרוּ עָלָיו עֲבָדָיו וַיְמִיתֻהוּ בְּבֵיתוֹ׃ - And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his house.
וַיַּכּוּ עַם־הָאָרֶץ אֵת כׇּל־הַקֹּשְׁרִים עַל־הַמֶּלֶךְ אָמוֹן וַיַּמְלִיכוּ עַם־הָאָרֶץ אֶת־יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ בְנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - And the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in his place.
His servants conspire against him - plotting a rebellion against him - and put him to death in his house. Then the people kill the rebels, "and the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon," and crown his son Yoshiyahu in his place - and Yoshiyahu, as we will see in the next chapter, was already a righteous king.
The chapter opens with Menashe, who followed the abominable path of the nations, building high places and altars to the host of the heavens, setting up the carved image of the idol in the House of which it was said, "I will put My Name forever," and leading Yehudah astray to do more evil than the nations. When he did not listen to the prophets, Hashem brought upon him the commanders of Ashur, and he was caught in thistles, bound in fetters, and brought to Babylon. In his distress, he beseeched Hashem - to remove the wrath - and the Holy One, blessed be He, tunneled a passage for him beneath the Throne of Glory so that people would not say that repentance is impossible, and returned him to his kingship. He built the wall, removed the foreign gods and cast them outside the city, restored the altar of Hashem, and offered thanksgiving offerings; yet because he merely cast them out rather than crushing them, his son stumbled through them, and because he did not repent for the murders he committed, his sins still brought about the exile. His son Amon not only failed to humble himself as his father had done, but multiplied guilt and committed sins purely to provoke, until he was killed in the conspiracy of his servants, and the people of the land crowned Yoshiyahu in his place.