Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

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Niemand
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Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

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The Prayer of Manasses or Prayer of Manasseh is a short work in the Apocrypha attributed to the king of the same name. (c. 709-c. 643 BC, reigned 697-643). I'm currently going through the shorter works before I get onto the longer more complex works.

I'll post the text and write some comments afterwards.

This is part of my series on Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works:

1 Esdras
viewtopic.php?p=1343974

2 Esdras (the most relevant book in the Apocrypha?)
viewtopic.php?p=1344302

Tobit:
viewtopic.php?p=1341501#p1341501

Apocryphal additions to Esther
viewtopic.php?p=1343414

Bel and the Dragon
viewtopic.php?t=69261

Prayer of Azarias and Hymn of the Three Children
viewtopic.php?p=1341609

Psalm 151:
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Epistle to the Laodiceans
viewtopic.php?t=64025

The Prayer (KJV)
O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed;

2 who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof;

3 who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name;

4 whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power;

5 for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable:

6 but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable;

7 for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved.

8 Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner:

9 for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities.

10 I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences.

11 Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace.

12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities:

13 wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, even the God of them that repent;

14 and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy.

15 Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Last edited by Niemand on January 23rd, 2023, 4:10 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Niemand
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Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

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Prayer of Manasseh (KJV) audiobook - 3 minutes
Background including Biblical context
A direct quote from Wikipedia on the work:
Its canonicity is disputed. The majority of scholars believe that the Prayer of Manasseh was written in Greek (while a minority argues for a Semitic original) in the second or first century BC. It is recognised that it could also have been written in the first half of the 1st century AD, but in any case before the Destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Another work by the same title, written in Hebrew, was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q381:17).
Thus the mainstream claim is that a) it was written around or near the Christian era, b) possibly before some NT works (depending on who you ask), and c) Mannaseh didn't write it. Some of the phraseology such as "thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen." resembles the Lord's Prayer, as do its notions about forgiveness and grace.

The Prayer is found in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, it also turns up in the original KJV and Luther's Bible. It is found in the Greek language LXX/Septuagint but not Hebrew canon. Some people think it was originally written in Greek.

I'll paraphrase/précis some of what else Wikipedia says about the King as opposed to the work. The Biblical account of Manasseh himself is found in 2 Kings 21:1–18 , 2 Chronicles 32:33–33:20 and Jeremiah 15:4, where the prophet Jeremiah predicts "four forms of destruction" for the people of Judah because of the evil done by Manasseh in Judah. (Mannases is just the Greek form of his name.) He is also said to have brought back pagan polytheism. In rabbinic literature and Christian pseudepigrapha, Manasseh is accused of executing the prophet Isaiah, who was identified as the maternal grandfather of Manasseh. Mannaseh is also referred to in 1 Maccabees as a bad example of a king.

None of this sounds very good, but it must be said Manasseh ruled for a long time (55 years). The Mannasseh mentioned in the Book of Mormon is the tribal patriarch not this king.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/wh ... -apocrypha
Manasseh was a wicked king over the southern kingdom (2 Kings 21:1–9) who repented after being imprisoned in Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:10–13). His prayer of repentance, according to 2 Chronicles 33:18–19, can be found in the lost Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. The Prayer of Manasseh claims to be that ancient prayer.
Breaking down the prayer
* Consists of three main parts: praise, confession, forgiveness
* It makes reference to God's relationship with Abraham etc, linking it into Jewish tradition.
* It also emphasises God's role as creator and ruler of the elements, including notably the seas and the heavens.
* The prayer demonstrates contrition (or attrition?), repentance and is begging God for forgiveness.

It can be said at this point that the content of the prayer seems in line with the gospel, even if the historical links to its supposed author are shaky.

Book of Mormon
One of the more obvious parallels is the so called Psalm of Nephi (2 Nephi 4:15-35 ):
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
However Nephi was quite different to Mannasseh if the personal accounts are to be believed.

Note also the mention of grace and forgiveness in an OT type context. This is rare in the Hebrew Bible, but much more common in the BoM and also POGP.

Manasseh was a wicked king over the southern kingdom (2 Kings 21:1–9) who repented after being imprisoned in Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:10–13). His prayer of repentance, according to 2 Chronicles 33:18–19, can be found in the lost Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. The Prayer of Manasseh claims to be that ancient prayer.

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Niemand
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Posts: 13997

Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by Niemand »

Latest Apocrypha
Book of Susanna
viewtopic.php?t=69386

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TheChristian
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Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by TheChristian »

You ought to go to Church sale of works and their Jumble sales, when I lived in Aberdeenshire it was a veritable treasure trove for ancient religious books, also the charity shops, look in their religious and antiquities sections..............

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13997

Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by Niemand »

TheChristian wrote: January 24th, 2023, 1:54 pm You ought to go to Church sale of works and their Jumble sales, when I lived in Aberdeenshire it was a veritable treasure trove for ancient religious books, also the charity shops, look in their religious and antiquities sections..............
I don't get to many jumble sales these days for some reasons, but have occasionally found some decent stuff.

However there was one charity shop I volunteered at years ago which used to chuck a lot. Including a Bible I donated myself! One of the women there was very anti-Christian.

Latest Apocrypha

Book of Judith
viewtopic.php?t=69402

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viewtopic.php?p=1347024

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The Book of Odes - this is an Eastern Orthodox work of limited interest, but included for the sake of completeness.
viewtopic.php?t=69470

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Niemand
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Posts: 13997

Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by Niemand »

Outside the Western and Eastern Orthodox Canon...

The Ethiopian canon. This includes brief info on the books of Sinodos, Ethiopian Clement, Ethiopian Covenant, and Didascalia as well as a list of other works in the canon.
viewtopic.php?t=69540

The Book of Jubilees aka Leptogenesis or Little Genesis
viewtopic.php?p=1348962

3 Corinthians (Armenian canon)
viewtopic.php?t=69567

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13997

Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by Niemand »

Latest Apocrypha
The "official" Apocrypha
Underrated Bible stories #3: Habakkuk's Hair-raising Experience (from Bel & the Dragon in the KJV Apocrypha)
viewtopic.php?t=69509 )

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viewtopic.php?t=70625

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Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13997

Re: Prayer of Manasses, BoM etc

Post by Niemand »

Alternative audiobook by a Mormon channel 7 mins.
Latest Apocrypha etc
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viewtopic.php?p=1438746

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viewtopic.php?t=71421

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: are these lost books of the founders of each Tribe of Israel or a later forgery?
viewtopic.php?t=71314

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viewtopic.php?t=71598

The Book of the Cock – an unfortunately named gospel still in current use in Ethiopia.
viewtopic.php?t=71338

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viewtopic.php?p=1400884

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New Age Bibles: Urantia, Oahspe, Kolbrin, Oera Linda, Crowley's Book of the Law, a Course in Miracles etc. These works, usually channelled, provide a very different take on spirituality yet are strangely similar to one another. How should we approach these new works and are they just demonic?
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