Divrey Hayamim Bais 35:21

21 But he sent malachim to him, saying, Mah li valach (What have I to do with thee), thou Melech Yehudah? I come not against thee this day, but against the Bais wherewith I have war [i.e., Babylon], for Elohim commanded me to make haste; forbear thee from meddling with Elohim, Who is with me, that He destroy thee not.

Divrey Hayamim Bais 35:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 35:21

But he sent ambassadors to him
That is, Necho sent to Josiah:

saying, what have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?
signifying he had no quarrel with him, he did not come to fight with him, and he had no business to intermeddle between him and another prince:

I come not against thee this day;
in an hostile manner:

but against the house wherewith I have war;
the king of Assyria:

for God commanded me to make haste;
and oppose his enemy: according to the Targum, it was his idol; and which is the sense of other Jewish writers ^F25; but the true God might have appeared to him in a dream, or sent a prophet to him; or at least he might pretend this, that it might have the greater effect on Josiah; and indeed it seems to be real from the following verse:

forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy
thee not;
he concluded God was with him, and would succeed him, because he had put him upon this enterprise, and hastened him to it; therefore Josiah, in opposing him, might expect to be resisted by him, and fall.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 22. 2.

Divrey Hayamim Bais 35:21 In-Context

19 In the eighteenth shanah of the reign of Yoshiyahu was this Pesach kept.

20 After all this, when Yoshiyahu had set in order the Beis [HaMikdash], Necho Melech Mitzrayim went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Yoshiyahu went up against him.

21 But he sent malachim to him, saying, Mah li valach (What have I to do with thee), thou Melech Yehudah? I come not against thee this day, but against the Bais wherewith I have war [i.e., Babylon], for Elohim commanded me to make haste; forbear thee from meddling with Elohim, Who is with me, that He destroy thee not.

22 Nevertheless Yoshiyahu would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and paid heed not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of Elohim, and went to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

23 And the archers shot at Melech Yoshiyahu; and HaMelech said to his avadim, Take me away; for I am badly wounded.