Prayer of Manasseh - προσευχὴ Μανασση

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A work first attested in non-canonical Christian didactic sources,
later incorporated into biblical traditions and ritual use

Earliest Attestations

Within the Didascalia (a non-biblical Christian work)

Version type Version Modern or critical edition Selected manuscript/s
Greek 1 (early)
Prayer of Manasseh: earliest Greek version,
within the "Apostolic Constitutions" (a reworking of the Didascalia)
- in Greek		 "Κύριε παντοϰράτορ..."
Διαταγαι των Αγιων Αποστολων δια Κανμεντοσ: II,22,12-14 [pp. 84-88]
πηγή: F.X. Funk		[list of manuscripts (none digitised) [doc. p: 14]]
Syriac "A" ('biblical')
Prayer of Manasseh: Syriac Version "A"
(first found within the Didascalia)
- in Syriac Aramaic.		ܨܠܿܘܬܐ ܕܡܢܫܐ
ܕܝܕܣܩܠܝܐ: pp. 60-61
ܡܒܘܥܐ: Margaret Gibson		10D1 = Paris BN Syriaque 62 (ff. 22v-23r)
Latin 1 (early)
Prayer of Manasseh: earliest Latin version,
within the "Apostolic Constitutions" and fragments of the Didascalia
- in Latin		"Domine, Deus patrum meorum..."
Constitutiones Apostolorum: II, 22,12-14 [pp. 84-88]
fons: F.X. Funk;
oratio manassis (pars)
Didascaliae apostolorum: Verona Palimpsest Fragments
(only end is extant) [pp. 33-34] fons: Edmund Hauler
Ge'ez (main)
Prayer of Manasseh: Ge'ez version
(first found within the Didascalia)
- in Ge'ez		“ወጸለየ ምናሴ…”
ትምህርተ ፡ ዲድስቅልያ ፡ ዘአበው ። : section V. [pp. 49-51]
ዐይን: T.P. Platt

Canonical Versions

Version type Version Modern or critical edition,
and list of Odes		 Selected manuscript/s
Ge'ez (main)
Prayer of Manasseh: Ge'ez version,
embedded in the Book of Chronicles as II Chronicles 33:13
(identical with Didascalia version)
- in Ge'ez		 “ወጸለየ ምናሴ…”
ዐይን: Sylvain Grébaut
Likely typical "early" mss.
Davies Bizan 1 (16th c.)[p. 285, starts bottom of 3rd column]
Likely typical "standardized" mss.
Gunda Gunde 106 [p: 79, near top of 6th column];
EMML 819 (18th c.) [p: 165, starts near top of 2nd column]
Likely typical "modern" mss.
IES 77 (Haile Selassie Bible) (1934) [p: 213v]
Potential "outlier" mss.
d'Abbadie 35 (17th c.) [bottom of 1st column];
Unesco 10-4 (late 17th-early 18th c.) [p: 243, near bottom of 2nd column]

Deuterocanonical Versions

Version type Version Modern or critical edition,
and list of Odes		 Selected manuscript/s
Greek 2 (later)
Septuagint Prayer of Manasseh:
found within the Odes.
Differs slightly from the Apostolic Constitutions text.
- in Greek		 προσευχὴ Μανασση܂
Rahlfs' edition: ᾠδὴ 12. πηγή: nocr 		Codex Alexandrinus
(bottom right)
Codex Turicensis
Syriac "A" ('biblical')
Peshitta Prayer of Manasseh: Syriac Version "A"
Found within biblical mss. The same as the Didascalia text.
-in Syriac Aramaic		 ܨܠܿܘܬܐ ܕܡܢܫܐ܂
ܡܒܘܥܐ: ארמיטה
original source: Leiden Peshitta project, "9a1" version		 Within the Odes:
Ms. 9a1 = Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or.58 ;
As an Appendix to Chronicles:
Ms. 17a6 = Paris BN Syriaque 7 [ff. 182r/v];
As an Appendix to Isaiah:
Ms. 14/8a1 = Paris BN Syriaque 341 [f. 131r]
Latin 2 (canticles)
Latin Psalter Prayer of Manasseh
found within the "Sinai" version of Canticles
Different from the Didascalia and the Vulgate versions.
-in Latin		 canticum manasse
[no transcription of this version appears to exist] 		"Slavonic" Ms. 5: Psalter (Latin)
Latin 3 (biblical)
Vulgate Prayer of Manasseh
found as an appendix to Chronicles.
Different from the Didascalia and Canticles versions.
-in Latin		 oratio manasse
fons: vulgate.org
(the text is "Vetus Latina" in form)
 Paris BNF Latin 15467 (leftmost column, line 13);
Beinecke Yale MS 793 [img: 423 (210r)]
[See also: an analysis and list of manuscripts]
Ge'ez (main)

Prayer of Manasseh: Ge'ez version,
found within the Canticles of the Prophets,
(identical with the Didascalia version)
- in Ge'ez		 ጸሎተ ፡ ምናሴ ።
ዐይን: Hiob Ludolf;
ጸሎተ ፡ ምናሴ ፡ ነቢይ ።
In a Printed EOTC Psalter (1900)
Likely typical "early" mss.
IES 74 (15th c.) [p: 112]; EMML 2064 (15th c.) [p: 143];
EMML 4415 (15th c.) [p: 146]; EMML 6531 (15th-16th c.) [p: 156];
EMML 3071 (16th c.) [p: 125]; Davies Dabra Libanos (16th c.) [p: 161]
Likely typical "standardized" mss.
EMIP 99 (17th c.) [p: 331]; EMIP 797 (20th c., late for this type.) [p: 151]
Potential "outlier" ms.
Davies Axum Zion 3 (1664) [p: 276]

Later Non-Canonical Versions

Found in Liturgical and Ritual Contexts

Version type Version Modern or critical edition,
and list of Odes		 Selected manuscript/s
Greek 2 (later)
Prayer of Manasseh: Septuagint version
Found in the Horologion for Great Compline
(identical with the text in the Odes)
-in Greek		ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ ΜΑΝΑΣΣΗ
Μεγαλο Αποδειπνο. [p: 18];
ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ ΜΑΝΑΣΣΗ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ τῆς ΙΟΥΔΑΙΑΣ
ΜΕΓΑ ΑΠΟΔΕΙΠΝΟΝ. [p: 36];
Προσευχή Μανασσή
ΜΕΓΑ ΑΠΟΔΕΙΠΝΟΝ
Syriac "B" ('liturgical')
Prayer of Manasseh: Syriac Version "B".
Found in the Melkite Horologia.
An independent translation from Greek.
-in Syriac Aramaic.		ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܡܢܫܐ ܡܿܠܟܐ ܕܒܢ̈ܝ ܐܝܣܪܐܝܠ
ܡܒܘܥܐ: ארמיטה,
original source:Leiden Peshitta Project, "10t1" version.		13H2 = Mt. Sinai Syriac Ms. 151 [p: 124r];
13H4 = Mt. Sinai Syriac Ms. 158 [p: 95v]
C.P.A.
Prayer of Manasseh: Christian Palestinian Aramaic version
Found within the Horologion.
draws on both the Septuagint Greek and Syriac Version "A" texts
-in "Syriac" (i.e. Christian) Aramaic		 "ܡܪܐ ܕܨܝܕ ܟܘܠܐ ܐܠܗܘܢ..."
Horologion (lines 294:15-298:20) ܡܒܘܥܐ: ארמיטה 		Horologion: Berlin Ms. Or. Oct. 1019 (ff. 93v-96r)
Hebrew (late)
Prayer of Manasseh: Hebrew version.
Found in a collection of magic texts in the Cairo Geniza.
Draws on both Syriac versions, and the Septuagint Greek.
- in medieval Hebrew		תפילת מנשה מלך יהודה בעת שעשה תשובה
מקור: Reimund Leicht (doc. pp. 11-12)		[for context: T-S K1.144: the first folio of the "magic document" which includes the Prayer of Manasseh on a later folio]
Ge'ez (abbreviated)
Prayer of Manasseh: Abbreviated Ge'ez Version
in Beta Israel liturgical use within the "abbreviated Canticles"
-in Ge'ez		 ጸሎተ ፡ ምናሴ ፡ ነቢይ ።
within the Liturgy of the Seventh Sabbath.
ዐይን: Monica S. Devens
Contains the entire "Liturgy of the Seventh Sabbath":
EMML 7351 [doc. p: 95 for Prayer of Manasseh]
The following mss. contain "liturgical material similar to, but not identical with, the 'Liturgy of the Seventh Sabbath' corpus," including an essentially identical "abbreviated canticles" section:
Faitlovitch Ms. 23 [doc. p. 57];
Faitlovitch Ms. 19 [doc. pp. 25-26];
Faitlovitch Ms. 20 [doc. p. 54]

Related Quasi-Biblical Text:

Prayer of Manasseh (Qumran) - תפלה למנשה

An ancient work on the same theme as, but otherwise unrelated to, the biblical "Prayer of Manasseh" text

Non-Canonical Version

Version Modern or critical edition Selected manuscript/s

Prayer of Manasseh
found in a collection of "non-canonical Psalms"
- in Hebrew		תפלה למנשה מלך יהודה
[frag. 33+35] מקור: Qumran-Digital		 4Q381 (Non-Canonical Psalms B): frag: B-364054

Significantly related biblical texts:

The Prayer of Manasseh is to be found within or appended to the following books:

Chief Source / Further Reading:

The Two Syriac Versions of the Prayer of Manasseh, by Ariel Gutman & Wido van Peursen



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