Prayer of Manasseh
in Appendix to Vulgate
Name and Date
According to 2 Chr 33:10–13, the seventh-century bce king of Judah, Manasseh, was taken as a captive to Babylon on account of his failure to heed the Lord. There, he prayed to the Lord and consequently secured his release. This text claims to be that very prayer. In fact, it was most likely composed much later, around the turn of the Common Era, perhaps even in Greek rather than in Hebrew.
Canonical Status and Location
The earliest evidence for the Prayer of Manasseh is found in a Syriac translation of the third-century ce Greek work, the Didascalia Apostolorum, as part of a discussion promoting the doctrine of repentance. It also appears appended to the Psalms in a few manuscripts of the Greek Bible as part of a collection of prayers drawn from elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha, and New Testament. These distinct contexts suggest both an early doctrinal and, possibly, liturgical function for the Prayer. The Prayer subsequently appears in varying positions in the Vulgate (though not in older manuscripts), in Luther's Bible, and in that of Eastern Orthodox churches. It has no canonical status in Judaism.
Structure, Contents, and Interpretation
This prayer for forgiveness follows a typical structure: praise of God (vv. 1–8), lament (vv. 9–10), petition (vv. 11–13), and vow of additional praise (vv. 14–15). Like other late biblical prayers (Ezra 9.1–15; Neh 1.4–14; 9.6–37; Dan 9.4–19; Bar 1.15–3.8), it dwells on sin in order to emphasize the need for divine intervention. However, the language of this prayer and the way it uses an emergent doctrine of repentance is novel. God has “made heaven and earth with all their order” (v. 2), and, in his mercy, he has “appointed repentance for sinners” (. 7). With this praise, Manasseh establishes the basis on which he, as a penitent, can expect, even demand, to have his petition favorably received.
The pseudepigraphic context of the prayer ultimately furthers its doctrinal claim: if such a wicked historical figure could have been accepted, then repentance must be powerful indeed. Nehemiah 1.8–9 and Bar 3.5–7 allude to a divine promise based on Deut 4:30 to redeem those who turn away from sin, but these texts focus on the nation, not individuals. The Prayer of Manasseh more closely resembles rabbinic texts with their interpretation of Deuteronomy's promise as applying to individuals and their view that repentance was established at the time of creation. The sense of repentance as having an established existence is also found in other Greek texts from around the turn of the Common Era, such as the Tabula of Cebes, the Hellenistic Jewish Joseph and Aseneth, and the Christian Shepherd of Hermas. The notion that repentance is specifically appointed for sinners rather than the righteous (v. 8; cf. vv. 1,13) may suggest that the Prayer emerged from a community concerned with promoting the possibilities for conversion.
David Lambert
1O Lord Almighty,
God of our ancestors,
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and of their righteous offspring;
2you who made heaven and earth
with all their order;
3who shackled the sea by your word of command,
who confined the deep
and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name;
4at whom all things shudder,
and tremble before your power,
5for your glorious splendor cannot be borne,
and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;
6yet immeasurable and unsearchable
is your promised mercy,
7for you are the Lord Most High,
of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful,
and you relent at human suffering.
O Lord, according to your great goodness
you have promised repentance and forgiveness
to those who have sinned against you,
and in the multitude of your mercies
you have appointed repentance for sinners,
so that they may be saved.a
8Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous,
have not appointed repentance for the righteous,
for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you,
but you have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.
9For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea;
my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!
I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven
because of the multitude of my iniquities.
10I am weighted down with many an iron fetter,
so that I am rejectedb because of my sins,
and I have no relief;
for I have provoked your wrath
and have done what is evil in your sight,
setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.
11And now I bend the knee of my heart,
imploring you for your kindness.
12I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
13I earnestly implore you,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me;
do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
14and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,
15and I will praise you continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings your praise,
and yours is the glory forever. Amen.