Scriptures & Texts
Prayer of Manasseh
Deuterocanonical Books
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A short penitential prayer of fifteen verses, placed in the mouth of Manasseh, the king of Judah whom Chronicles calls the most wicked of all and then, remarkably, describes as repenting in his Babylonian captivity, a prayer Chronicles mentions but does not record, and which this text supplies. It is a model of contrition, confessing sin without limit and appealing to the mercy of the God of the penitent. Composed in Greek, probably in the last centuries BCE or the first CE, it stands among the odes appended to the Psalter in Greek Bibles. The Orthodox churches receive it as deuterocanonical, or read; the Catholic Church after Trent placed it in an appendix to the Vulgate rather than in the canon; Protestant Bibles print it in the Apocrypha. Judaism does not receive it.
Facts
Origins
Era of Composition Attributed Author / CompilerAn anonymous penitential prayer, c. 2nd-1st c. BCE (critical) 1 Attributed Author / CompilerKing Manasseh of Judah (traditional) 1 Status
Canonical StatusSourced to the subject's own accountDeuterocanonical 2Tradition: Eastern Orthodoxy Canonical StatusNon-canonical 1Tradition: Judaism Canonical StatusNon-canonical 1Tradition: Roman Catholicism Text
Literary Form Structure
StructureA single penitential prayer (15 verses) 1 StructureAttributed to the repentant King Manasseh 1 Learn More
A Penitent King's Prayer
The Prayer of Manasseh is a short penitential psalm, only fifteen verses long, placed in the mouth of Manasseh, king of Judah, one of the most notoriously wicked kings in the biblical history. According to 2 Chronicles, Manasseh filled Jerusalem with idolatry and bloodshed, was carried in chains to Babylon by the Assyrians, and there humbled himself and repented, whereupon God restored him to his kingdom; the same passage notes that his prayer was recorded in certain court chronicles.
The Prayer of Manasseh is a later composition that supplies the text of that lost prayer. It is a model of contrition: the penitent extols the mercy and patience of God, confesses that his sins outnumber the sands of the sea, declares himself unworthy to lift his eyes to heaven, and casts himself entirely on the divine compassion, "for you are the God of those who repent." Composed probably in the last two centuries BCE, in Greek (though perhaps from a Hebrew or Aramaic original), it is one of the most moving expressions of repentance in the whole body of biblical and para-biblical literature.
Canon and Use
The canonical position of the Prayer of Manasseh is marginal. It was not defined as deuterocanonical by the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, and in the Vulgate it was placed, with the extra books of Esdras, in an appendix after the New Testament rather than in the body of Scripture. The Eastern Orthodox churches accord it a higher standing, printing it among the canonical or readable books, and it appears in the Greek Bible.
Protestant Bibles that include the Apocrypha print it under its own name. Despite this uncertain status the prayer has had a rich liturgical life: it is used as a canticle in Orthodox and, latterly, in some Western services, prized for its concentrated expression of penitence, and it has been set to music and drawn upon in devotion across the traditions. Scholars value it as a fine example of Second Temple Jewish prayer, and as a case of the impulse to fill a gap left in the biblical narrative, here, the missing text of a famous penitent's prayer, with a fitting new composition faithful to the spirit of the story.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Held Differently
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Anglicanism, Denominations Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571 (as "the Prayer of Manasses"), among the books the Church of England reads for example of life and instruction of manners, but does not apply to establish doctrine.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Church of Sweden, Denominations Not canonized, but retained. Luther gathered the deuterocanonical books into a separate Apocrypha section of his 1534 Bible, headed as not equal to Holy Scripture yet good and useful to read, and Lutheran Bibles have printed and read them there since.
Not canonized, but retained. Luther gathered the deuterocanonical books into a separate Apocrypha section of his 1534 Bible, headed as not equal to Holy Scripture yet good and useful to read, and Lutheran Bibles have printed and read them there since.
Lutheranism, Denominations Lutheranism does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh. Luther placed the deuterocanonical books in a separate section of his 1534 Bible as good and useful to read, but not equal to scripture.
Belongs to Tradition
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Included in the wider Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canon beyond the Trent-era Roman Catholic deuterocanon, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Excluded from Canon
Anabaptism, Denominations This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Baptist, Denominations This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Protestantism, Denominations The Protestant confessional consensus holds a thirty-nine-book Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, against the wider canon affirmed at Trent in 1546 and at Jerusalem in 1672. Lutheran and Anglican practice retains several of these books as edifying reading while denying them authority to establish doctrine.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Prayer of Manasseh, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Sources
1. An Introduction to the Apocrypha
Bruce M. Metzger, Oxford University Press, 1957The chapter on the Prayer of Manasseh and its place among the odes of the Greek PsalterView the Source 2. The Confession of Dositheus (Synod of Jerusalem, 1672)
Synod of Jerusalem, Eastern Orthodox Church, 1672Vol. I, on Critopulus' Confession and the canonQuote, Vol. I, on Critopulus' Confession and the canon
mentions only twenty-two canonical books of the Old Test., and excludes from them the Apocrypha, mentioning Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, Baruch, and the Maccabees.
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
Church of England, 1571Page descriptionQuote, Page description
The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion outline the doctrinal foundation of the Church of England. They address key theological issues such as the nature of God, the role of the Holy Scriptures, and the sacraments.
The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Belgic Confession
Guido de Bres, 1561Article 6Quote, Article 6
We distinguish between these holy books and the apocryphal ones, which are the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bel and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees.
The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority
Lee Martin McDonald, Hendrickson, 2007On the Prayer in the Vulgate appendix and the Protestant ApocryphaView the Source Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Essays About This Entity (1 essay)
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