16. Sent messengers. Perhaps Manasseh, while a captive in Babylon (2 Chron. 33:11), had seen in that city a possible rival to Assyria. The embassy of Merodach-baladan to Hezekiah (Isa. 39) suggests that Babylon was looking to Judah for support against Assyria (see on 2 Kings 20:12). The precise occasion when Judah sent the messengers here referred to is not known.