2 Kings 23:29

29 In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyrians, to the flood Euphrates; and Josiah, king of Judah, went into the meeting of Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was slain in Megiddo, when he had seen Pharaoh. (In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria; and Josiah, the king of Judah, went out against Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was killed at Megiddo, when he met Pharaoh in battle.)

2 Kings 23:29 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:29

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt
Who is called in the Targum Pharaoh the lame, because he was lame in his feet, perhaps gouty; Herodotus ^F24 also calls him Necos the son of Psammiticus; now it was in the last days of Josiah this king reigned in Egypt, or however that the following event was:

[that] he went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates;
to Carchemish, a city situated upon it; see ( 2 Chronicles 35:26 ) ( Jeremiah 46:2 ) , the king he went against was the king of Babylon, who had conquered the Assyrian monarchy, and therefore called king of it; some take him to be Nabopolassar; according to Marsham ^F25, he was Chyniladanus;

and King Josiah went against him;
to stop him, that he might not pass through his country, and attack the king of Babylon, whose ally, perhaps, Josiah was; or, however, thought himself obliged to him by the privileges, power, and authority he allowed him to exercise in the land of Israel:

and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him;
as soon as they came face to face, and engaged in battle, see ( 2 Kings 14:8 2 Kings 14:11 ) that is Pharaoh slew Josiah at the first onset. Megiddo was a city in the tribe of Manasseh, ( Joshua 17:11 ) . Herodotus ^F26 calls it Magdolus, which seems to be a city on the borders of Egypt, the same with Migdol, ( Jeremiah 44:1 ) where he says Pharoahnechoh conquered the Syrians; in Josephus ^F1 it is called Mendes very wrongly. Josiah seems to have engaged in this action without consulting the Lord and his prophets.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 158.
F25 Chronic. Secul. 18. p. 568.
F26 Ibid. c. 159.
F1 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect. 1.

2 Kings 23:29 In-Context

27 Therefore the Lord said, I shall do away also Judah from my face, as I did away Israel; and I shall cast away this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. (And so the Lord said, I shall also do away Judah from before me, as I did away Israel; and I shall throw away this city of Jerusalem, which I chose, and the House of which I said, My name shall always be there.)

28 Forsooth the residue of the words of Josiah, and all things that he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah?

29 In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyrians, to the flood Euphrates; and Josiah, king of Judah, went into the meeting of Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was slain in Megiddo, when he had seen Pharaoh. (In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria; and Josiah, the king of Judah, went out against Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was killed at Megiddo, when he met Pharaoh in battle.)

30 And his servants bare him dead from Megiddo, and brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre; and the people of the land took Jehoahaz , the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king for his father (and made him king in place of his father).

31 Jehoahaz was of three and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.