2 Chronicles 33:11

“Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, etc.] Who was Esarhaddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib; this, according to the Jewish chronology f141, was in the twenty second year of Manasseh’s reign: which took Manasseh among the thorns; in a thicket of briers and thorns, where, upon his defeat, he had hid himself; a fit emblem of the afflictions and troubles his sins brought him into: and bound him with fetters; hands and feet; with chains of brass, as the Targum, such as Zedekiah was bound with, (<122507>2 Kings 25:7), not chains of gold, with which Mark Antony bound a king of Armenia, for the sake of honour f142: and carried him to Babylon;…”

“HE IS CARRIED UNTO BABYLON, WHERE HE HUMBLES HIMSELF BEFORE GOD, AND IS RESTORED TO HIS KINGDOM. (Ch2 33:11-19) the captains of the host of the king of Assyria--This king was Esar-haddon. After having devoted the first years of his reign to the consolidation of his government at home, he turned his attention to repair the loss of the tributary provinces west of the Euphrates, which, on the disaster and death of Sennacherib, had taken the opportunity of shaking off the Assyrian yoke. Having overrun Palestine and removed the remnant that were left in the kingdom of Israel, he despatched his generals, the chief of whom was Tartan (Isa 20:1), with a portion of his army for the reduction of Judah…”

“The Assyrian monuments contain no record of this expedition; but there can be little doubt that it fell into the reign of Esarhaddon (2 Kings 19:37 note), who reigned at least thirteen years. Esarhaddon mentions Manasseh among his tributaries; and he was the only king of Assyria who, from time to time, held his court at Babylon. Among the thorns - Translate - “ with rings;” and see 2 Kings 19:28 note. return to 'Top of Page'”

“To Babylon - The king of Babylon is here called the king of Assyria, because he had added Assyria to his empire, who having been informed by his ambassadors of the great riches which were in Hezekiah's treasures at Jerusalem, and being assured of Manasseh's degeneracy from the piety of his father, and from that God whose power alone made Hezekiah formidable, he thought this a fit season to invade Manasseh's kingdom. The Jews say, in the twenty second year of his reign. 2 Chronicles 33:12”

“33:11 A nose ring caused not only pain but complete humiliation. Assyrian records portray such treatment of their prisoners.”

“am 3327, bc 677 the Lord: Deu 28:36; Job 36:8 the captains: Isa 10:8, Isa 36:9 of the king: Heb. which were the king's, Neh 9:32, Neh 9:37; Isa 5:26-30, Isa 7:18-20 among the thorns: The word bachochim may possibly here signify with fetters or chains, as the kindred word chachim denotes, Eze 19:4, Eze 19:9. The Syriac and Arabic have alive, probably reading bechayim. Sa1 13:6; Lam 3:7 bound him: Kg2 23:33, Kg2 25:6; Job 36:8-11; Psa 107:10-14 fetters: or, chains 2 Chronicles 33:12”

“As Manasseh would not hear the words of the prophets, the Lord brought upon him the captains of the host of the king of Assyria. These "took him with hooks, and bound him with double chains of brass, and brought him to Babylon." בחוחים ילכּדוּ signifies neither, they took him prisoner in thorns (hid in the thorns), nor in a place called Chochim (which is not elsewhere found), but they took him with hooks. חוח denotes the hook or ring which was drawn through the gills of large fish when taken ( Job 41:2), and is synonymous with חח ( Kg2 19:28; Eze 19:4), a ring which was passed through the noses of wild beasts to subdue and lead them. The expression is figurative, as in the passages quoted…”