The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 434

Mediterre.ne11n 11nd 11nother in the Reel Sea. In his service Phamician sailors were the first to circumn11vige.te Afric11 (Herod., iv. 44). 3. For what reasoo it was profer,terl. 'l'o oppose Necho, whc> we.son his we.y through Palestine towards Carchemish on the Euphrates, to fight against the King of Assyria. Whether this sovereign was "King of Assyria. proper "-in which c11se he would most likely be Esarhadrlon II., the last ruler of Nineveh-or whether he W!IB the Babylonian monarch Nabopolassar, who seized the empire 11fter the overthrow of the Assyrian power, cannot be conclusively determined, 11lthuugh the best authorities favour the latter hypothesis (Ebers, Sayce, Rawlinson). In any case, Necho, taking advantage either of the declining power of Nineveh, or of the still unsettled state of Babylonian affairs, resolved to strike a blow for the recovery of those Asiatic provinces which had formerly been subject to the Pharaohs; and Josiah, still regarding himself as a tributary of the Assyrian crown, and probably under Jeremiah's teaching (Jer. xlvii. 25), dreading the rise of the Egyptian power, hastened to resist his advance (B.o. 610). II. JoBIAH'S PROVIDENTIAL WARNING. (Ver. 21.) 1. The pwrport of this warning. Before the two armies met, Necho despatched an embassy to Josiah, requesting him to desist from offering opposition. (1) Because be, Necho, was not seeking to disturb or injure him, Josiah, but was aiming at Assyria.-" the house wherewith I have war." Cf. J oash to Amaziah ( eh. xxv. 18, 19). (2) Because he, N echo, was acting in accord- ance with a Divine commission, so that in opposing him Josiah would be guilty ofresisting God, and would only bring ruin upon himself. In claiming to act under the impulse of Heaven, Necho probably meant no more than Pianchi-Mer-Amon of the twenty-fifth dynasty, who, when marching against Tafnakhth and other rebel chieftains, said, "Thou knowest what Amon the great god bath commanded us;" and again, "I am born of the loins, created from the egg, of the deity; the divine procreation is in me. All hail to him, I have not acted without his knowing; he ordained that 1 should act" ('Records,' etc., ii. 84, 91). 2. The author of this warning. Though Necho may have had no other idea in using the term " god" than that above explained, and though certainly it cannot be assumed that he understood himself to be the medium of con- veying a Divine warning to the King of Judah, it is nevertheless clear that the Chronicler beheld in the incident the finger of God. Whether Jehovah actually put the words into Necho's mouth, or only permitted him to speak as he did, the Hebrew historian, perhaps judging from the fatal issue of the war, regarded the message of Pharaoh as e. clear warning from Heaven which Josiah should have accepted. There is no need for supposing either that Necho spoke of Josiah's God or that Josiah's God spoke to Necho. III. Josun's LAMENTABLE OBSTINACY. (Ver. 22.) 1. His refection of the warning. "He hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God." To assume Josiah knew that Necho was going against Nabopolassar with the express sanction of Jehovah, and that N echo's dissuasive admonition proceeded straight from Heaven, and to hold moreover that Josiah, cognizant of all this, nevertheless closed his ear against the voice of the Supreme, is to put the worst construction possible on J osiah's conduct ; to understand the sacred writer's language as merely importing that Josiah was not disposed to hearken to Necho's advice, and so failed to recognize it as "from the mouth of God," is probably to put upon the King of Judah's behaviour the best con- struction it will admit of. Had Josiah not been bent upon this war, he would have quickly discerned the prudence of Necbo's counsel. 2. His determination to fight. "Josiah would not turn his face from him" (Necho), but pushed on and offered battla in the valley of Megiddo, Magdol (Herod., ii. 159)-the modern Lejfun, west of tha Plain of Esdraelon, and near 'l'aanach (Robinson), though a claim has been advanced for the modern Mufeda'a, "an important ruin in the Plain of Beisan, at the foot of Gilboa" (Conder). Here had_once stood an old Canaanitish town, of which the king was conquered by Joshua (Josh. xii. 21), and which, though within the territory of Issa.char, was yet assigned to Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 11). In later years Solomon selected it as one of his fortified cities (1 Kings ix. 15). In Megiddo Ahaziah sought refuge when mortally wounded by Jehu (2 Kings ix. 27). Megiddo had been the scene of a great battle between Thotbmes ill. and one of the confederations of the small kings and princes of Palestine, B.o. 1600 (' Records,' etc., ii. 35). Now on this historic ground th& forces of JosiRh and Necho come into collision.  4'38 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [oli, xxxv1. 1-23.