What does 2 Chronicles 33:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Manasseh apparently did his best to undo the evil he had wrought in Jerusalem. So far as the idols and other symbols of idolatry were concerned, it was comparatively easy to take them away. But notwithstanding all his endeavors, the people still sacrificed in high places; and his son Amon perpetuated the memory of his father's sins, making no effort to repeat his repentance and tears. Though Manasseh commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the people continued to worship amid the impure and degrading associations to which he had accustomed them.

It is easier to scatter thistle-down than gather it up. There are great thistle tracts in Australia, which would never have arisen but for the careless act of a Scotch settler, who imported from his native land one specimen of the national emblem. Take care of your influence. It is easier to set stones rolling than to stop them. It is recorded of a dean of St. Paul's in London, that he was never seen to smile, because in his early life he had written verses of a sensual character, the circulation of which he was unable to arrest. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Chronicles 33

¹  Manasseh's wicked reign
³  He sets up idolatry, and will not be admonished
¹¹  He is carried into Babylon
¹²  Upon his prayer to God he is released and puts down idolatry
¹⁸  His acts
²⁰  He dying, Amon succeeds him
²¹  who is slain by his servants
²⁵  The murderers being slain, Josiah succeeds him