Judah is a submissive ally of Assyria during the long and peaceful reign of Manassehm, whose forces have served in the building and military operations of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.

Judah benefits from the upsurge of commerce that has resulted from the political unification of the whole Near East.

The royal sanctuary becomes the home of a congeries of foreign gods—the sun, astral deities and Asherah, the female fertility deity, all have their cults there alongside YHWH.

The countryside also is provided with pagan altars and priests, alongside the local YHWH altars that are revived.

Presumably, at least some of the blood that Manasseh is said to have spilled freely in Jerusalem must have belonged to the devotees of YHWH.