Schaff's Bible Dictionary
MANA'HTHITES, THE, the descendants of Manahath or the inhabitants of the place of that name. 1 Chr 2:52. MANAS'SEH. Several great men, such as Gideon, and probably also Jephthah, issued from Manasseh. The eastern part of the tribe prospered much and spread to Mount Hermon, but they finally mixed with the Canaanites, adopted their idolatry, became scattered as Bedouins in the desert, and were the first to be carried away into captivity by the kings of Assyria. 1 Chr 5:25.
The western Manasseh, of which only a few glimpses are visible in the later history of Israel, always showed itself on the right side; as, for instance, in the cases of Asa, 2 Chr 15:9, Hezekiah, 2 Chr 30:1, 2 Chr 30:11, 2 Chr 30:18, and Josiah. 2 Chr 34:6, 2 Chr 34:9. c. 696. The former part of his reign was distinguished for acts of impiety and cruelty, 2 Kgs 21, and he succeeded in drawing his subjects away from the Lord to such an extent that the only kind of worship which was not allowed in Judah was that of Jehovah. 2 Kgs 21:2-9.
Having supported the Babylonian viceroy in his revolt against Assyria, he was at last taken captive by the Assyrian king and ignominiously transported to Babylon. c. 641, after having done much to repair the evils of his former life. 2 Chr 33:1-20.