Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove it out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, all that he had done, — the theological interpretation traces the exile to Manasseh's apostasy. The phrase 'at the command of the LORD, to remove it out of his sight' (עַל־פִּי יְהוָה הָיָה לְהָסִיר אֶת־יְהוּדָה, *al-pi YHWH hayah le-hasir et-Yehudah*) indicates that the exile is divinely purposed judgment. The attribution to 'the sins of Manasseh, all that he had done' establishes that even Josiah's comprehensive reform could not reverse the trajectory established by the longest-reigning, most wicked king.

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