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Prayer of Manasseh

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Book Introduction

The Prayer of Manasseh is a fifteen-verse penitential psalm placed on the lips of Judah's most notorious king, whose repentance in Assyrian captivity is reported in 2 Chronicles 33. Addressing the Lord Almighty, God of the righteous ancestors, the prayer confesses sins more numerous than the sand of the sea, bends 'the knee of the heart,' and rests everything on the God who has appointed repentance for sinners. It is not in the Hebrew Bible or the Catholic canon proper, standing in the Vulgate appendix and Protestant Apocrypha, while many Orthodox churches use it in Great Compline.

Author

Unknown; an anonymous Jewish poet writing in Manasseh's voice

Date

2nd century BC to 1st century AD

Audience

Penitent worshipers; used liturgically by Jews and later Christians

Purpose

To give the worst of sinners words for full confession and confident appeal to the God of the penitent.

Key Themes

Boundless divine mercyRepentance appointed for sinnersThe knee of the heartConfession without excuse

Book Outline

1–7Invocation: Creator of all, whose mercy is immeasurable

8Repentance appointed not for the righteous but for sinners

9–10Confession: sins more numerous than the sand of the sea

11–13The plea: I bend the knee of my heart; forgive me

14–15Trust and doxology: praised by the host of heaven forever

Key Verses

Manasseh 1:7You, O Lord, are the God of those who repent.Manasseh 1:8Repentance appointed not for the righteous, but for me, the sinner.Manasseh 1:9My sins are more in number than the sand of the sea.Manasseh 1:11Now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring your kindness.Manasseh 1:15The whole host of heaven sings your praise forever.

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