The innocent blood that he had shed: As in 1 Kgs 2.5 and 2 Kgs 21.16, innocent blood refers to the killing of people who were not guilty of anything deserving of death. In many languages a literal rendering is likely to be misunderstood. So translators are advised to say something like “[he] caused many innocent people to die” (Contemporary English Version) or “He had killed many innocent people” (New Century Version).

The Masoretic Text has only a pronoun subject for the verb shed, but the grammar and context clearly suggest that Manasseh is the intended subject. A few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts actually say “Manasseh had shed.” A few manuscripts of the Septuagint, however, make Jehoiakim the subject of this verb.

He filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: This repetition of innocent blood is intentional for the sake of emphasis. The whole clause may be rendered “there was blood of innocent people all over Jerusalem” or something similar.

The LORD would not pardon: The text does not clearly state what sin was involved that the LORD would not pardon, but the context leaves little doubt that it was the killing of innocent people. Neither does the text state who was not pardoned at the end of the verse. If the receptor language requires an object, it is acceptable to insert the name of either “Manasseh” (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) or “Judah” (first edition of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). If translators find it necessary to state more clearly what the unpardonable sin was, they may be able to say “the LORD would not forgive Manasseh for doing that” or, more specifically, “… for killing all those innocent people.” This will involve a rearrangement of the elements in the original text.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .