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In Judaism it’s said if you sin against man you must make it right with that person, but Kings Manasseh and David didn’t, yet God accepted their Teshuva.

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  • Menashe might have done a teshuva of sorts but according to the Gemara he didn't have a share in the World to Come.
    – Dov
    Dec 2, 2021 at 21:25
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    Your question needs sources to support your claim
    – Dov
    Dec 2, 2021 at 21:29
  • King Menashe also sinned directly against G-d without affecting others (idol worship), so he could repent for that.
    – N.T.
    Dec 3, 2021 at 1:11
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    @Dov No that's about Bat Sheva. This is about Uriah. The gemara there even says אמר רב, כי מעיינת ביה בדוד לא משכחת ביה בר מדאוריה, דכתיב (מלכים א טו, ה) "רק בדבר אוריה החתי"
    – Double AA
    Dec 3, 2021 at 1:39
  • N.t. Menashe sacrificed his children and affected all of Israel. Dec 3, 2021 at 3:50

2 Answers 2

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The Abarbanel answers your question. He explains that technically, yes, David should have gone to where Uriah was buried, but according to the Abarbanel, the sin was not made public, so taking a minyan to Uriah's grave - especially if it was, as at least one person has suggested, near the battlefield in Ammon - would have certainly made it public and would have been a major desecration of Hashem's name (chillul Hashem). For this, Hashem accepted his repentance.

The Kli Yakar on Kings 2:24:4 points out that evidently Hashem didn't accept Menashe's repentance 100%, because the kingdom was punished later on for his sins. My understanding based on the Kli Yakar is that when it says in Chronicles 2:23:12 "He prayed to Him, and He granted his prayer, heard his plea, and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD alone was God" - This refers to Menashe's sins against Hashem, not his other sins.

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  • Baruch Shekivanti.
    – N.T.
    Dec 5, 2021 at 8:54
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2 Samuel 12:13,16-17

David said to Nathan, “I stand guilty before the LORD!” And Nathan replied to David, “The LORD has remitted your sin; you shall not die...

David entreated God for the boy; David fasted, and he went in and spent the night lying on the ground.The senior servants of his household tried to induce him to get up from the ground; but he refused, nor would he partake of food with them.

My reading: David's prayer, guilt, and fasting atoned for the sin.

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    So is restitution to another person a rabbinic interpretation? Dec 3, 2021 at 6:08
  • @RaulValdezJr. Well, Uriah and the child of Bathsheba were both dead. Who else could David pay restitution to? Dec 3, 2021 at 22:59
  • Then why the need to pay restitution. Dec 4, 2021 at 1:09

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