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II Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary is unavailable, but you can change that!

II Kings is the chronicle of the raging conflicts that tore the United Kingdom of Israel apart, creating the rival nations of Israel to the north and Judah to the south. It tells of the time of the great prophecies of Elijah and Elisha, and of the legendary conquerors of not only the Jews, but the whole of the Middle East—Sennacherib, Hazael, Tiglath-pileser III, Nebuchadnezzar, and Shalmaneser. ...

b. The outer defense walls of Jerusalem were strengthened and troops stationed in various Judaean fortresses (v. 14).7 These passages from Chronicles make it all the more evident that the Deuteronomistic historian focused solely upon one element, that of Manasseh’s cultic offenses, which in his view determined Judah’s future and which were expressly the object of Josiah’s reform. 3. What was the nature of Manasseh’s cultic innovations, so negative as to be regarded as the cause of Judah’s downfall?
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