Prayer of Manasseh
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
The Prayer of Manasseh is a short penitential prayer voiced as the humbled king's appeal for mercy. It expands the narrative possibility of repentance without claiming to be the verbatim prayer preserved in Chronicles.
Historical context
Second Chronicles narrates Manasseh's repentance and mentions his prayer without giving this prayer's text. Attribution to the king and the later work's composition are distinct.
Key points
- The opening grounds repentance in the Creator's power and mercy.
- The central confession abandons self-justification.
- In many Orthodox arrangements the prayer belongs to Odes or a liturgical setting, not a separately counted book.
Scripture
- Prayer of Manasseh 1:1-15 — Read the complete prayer's movement from praise through confession to promised thanksgiving.
- 2 Chronicles 33:10-19 — Chronicles provides the king's repentance setting but does not reproduce this prayer.
- Luke 18:9-14 — Compare the tax collector's appeal for mercy as a thematic prayer comparison, not a demonstrated literary quotation.
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- Prayer of Manasseh: complete public-domain WEB text
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes