Exploring the Meaning of Manasses in Greek

Μανασσῆς refers to Manasseh. In the New Testament it appears in two different kinds of lists: a royal genealogy and a tribal enumeration.

Occurrences

“Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.” (Matthew 1:10)

Here Μανασσῆς functions as a personal name inside a tightly linked chain of descent. The verse is built from repeated, paired statements (“became the father of …”), and Μανασσῆς stands in the middle of the line: he is named first as the son of Hezekiah and then immediately as the father of Amon. The effect is to locate Manasseh in a generational sequence that is moving forward, one father-to-son connection at a time, with each name serving as a hinge between what precedes and what follows. In this setting, the name is doing genealogical work: it marks continuity of lineage and provides a concrete point in the ordered list that joins Hezekiah’s fatherhood to Amon’s sonship.

The verse also places Μανασσῆς alongside other personal names without titles or added description. That austerity is part of the genre: the form of the sentence treats each individual as a link in a chain, and Μανασσῆς is one of those links. Because the line names him twice—once as child and once as parent—the verse highlights his role in both receiving and transmitting the line.

“of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,” (Revelation 7:6)

In this verse Μανασσῆς is framed not as an individual father in a genealogy but as the designation of a tribe in a census-like listing. The repeated pattern “of the tribe of … twelve thousand” sets each tribal name into the same slot, giving the list a steady cadence and presenting the totals as parallel. Within that structure, “the tribe of Manasseh” is one entry among others (“Asher,” “Naphtali”), and the name’s contribution is to identify a specific group receiving the stated number.

Because the line is formulaic and cumulative, the function of Μανασσῆς is primarily classificatory: it marks which community is being counted at that point in the series. The number “twelve thousand” is attached directly to the tribal label, so the name serves as the handle by which the quantity is assigned. In this setting, the name does not point to a single person acting in time (as in Matthew’s father–son sequence) but to a collective identity that can be enumerated alongside other collectives.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages Μανασσῆς carries the identification “Manasseh” in two complementary uses: as a person and as a tribal label. Matthew 1:10 uses the name in a way characteristic of genealogical prose: it is a personal identifier embedded in relational statements that define each figure by connections of parentage. The name is therefore anchored to immediate family relationships (“Hezekiah … Manasseh … Amon”), and its sense is shaped by lineage: the emphasis falls on placement within a sequence, not on describing the person’s actions or traits.

Revelation 7:6 uses the name in a way characteristic of group enumeration: it identifies a tribe to which a fixed number is attached. The repetition of the phrase “of the tribe of” keeps the focus on corporate identity and ordered inclusion. In that environment, “Manasseh” functions as a group name that can be set alongside other tribal names without explanation, because the list itself provides the organizing principle—each tribe, each total.

Together these two uses show how a single proper name can operate at different levels of reference depending on genre and syntax. In Matthew the name is bound to verbs of begetting and to a linear, generational movement. In Revelation the name is bound to a counting formula and to a series of parallel entries. In both, Μανασσῆς is a marker of belonging—belonging within a family line in the first, and belonging within an ordered set of tribes in the second—even though the immediate referent shifts from an individual to a collective designation.

The two contexts also highlight different kinds of ordering. Matthew 1:10 orders names by descent: each clause pushes the line forward by one generation, and the repetition of “became the father of” makes the direction unmistakable. Revelation 7:6 orders names by list membership: each phrase repeats the same grammatical frame, and the tribe name occupies the same position each time. Μανασσῆς fits cleanly into both systems of order, demonstrating the stability of the name as a label even when its immediate syntactic role changes.

Imagery

Although Μανασσῆς is a proper name, the passages attach it to two vivid textual pictures. Matthew 1:10 evokes the image of a family record advancing name by name, with Manasseh standing as one turning point between generations: “Hezekiah … Manasseh … Amon … Josiah.” Revelation 7:6 evokes the image of a formal registry in which tribes are called out one by one with their totals, and “the tribe of Manasseh” appears as a distinct entry receiving its numbered allotment. In both cases the name is embedded in ordered sequences—one of descent, one of enumeration—and so it carries the imagery of record-keeping: names arranged deliberately to show continuity and inclusion.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).