2 Kings 24:4
And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.
Study Note
Study Note
The Chronicler assigns the final Babylonian exile partly to Manasseh's sin of 'innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.' The unpardoned innocent blood functions here as an accumulation that eventually tips the scales of divine justice irreversibly — a concept of moral pollution that goes beyond individual transgression to societal and generational defilement. Numbers 35:33 ('blood pollutes the land') and Deuteronomy 19:10-13 develop the legal framework within which shedding innocent blood is uniquely destructive to the covenant relationship. This text has been important in Christian discussions of corporate sin, generational consequence, and the limits of repentance when structures of injustice are deeply entrenched.
Other Translations
and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Jehovah would not pardon.
and also the innocent blood that he hath shed, and he filleth Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah was not willing to forgive.
And because of the death of those who had done no wrong, for he made Jerusalem full of the blood of the upright; and the Lord had no forgiveness for it.
Cross References
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot …
That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and …
Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin …
And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols …
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it …
Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward …
And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell …
Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom …
We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward …