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2 Chronicles 35:22

in 2 Chronicles 35

Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

KJV

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 35

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

LETTER 133.13 · Written before 420.

on 2 Chronicles 35:22-25

It is true that in the holy Scriptures many are called righteous, as Zachariah and Elizabeth, Job, Jehosaphat, Josiah, and many others who are mentioned in the sacred writings. Of this fact I shall, if God gives me grace, give a full explanation in the work that I have promised; in this letter it must suffice to say that they are called righteous, not because they are faultless but because their faults are eclipsed by their virtues.

This site's exposition

came up to fight against Carchemish

on 2 Chronicles 35:20-22

After all this marks a sudden reversal at the height of the reform: Necho of Egypt marches for Carchemish and sends word that his war is not with Judah, for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Josiah will not turn, disguising himself before the battle exactly as Ahab disguised himself at Ramoth-gilead in 2 Chr 18:29, a scene Chronicles has already told once as a warning, and verse 22 names what he refused as the words of Necho from the mouth of God. The commentators divide over what kind of word this was: Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as a real oracle Josiah should have weighed, carried through an unlikely messenger, while the text itself gives Necho no identity beyond a pagan king's own claim, a claim the outcome will vindicate.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It was not in wrath to Josiah, whose heart was upright with the Lord his God, but in wrath to a hypocritical nation, who were unworthy of so good a king, that he was so far infatuated as not to hearken to these fair reasonings and desist from his enterprise.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Disguised himself - Compare the marginal reference. But most modern critics are dissatisfied with this sense in this place, and prefer to render “equipped himself;” or - with the Septuagint - adopt another reading, and render “took courage.” The words of Necho from the mouth of God - The author apparently regarded Necho’s words as actually prophetic - a warning to which Josiah ought to have listened - sent him by God to make him pause - though not spoken by divine inspiration, or in consequence of any supernatural revelation of the divine will to the Egyptian king.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And Elohim (=God) said that I should hurry; refrain, then, from interfering with Elohim who is with me.
Radak: Provence, 1160–1235 · Radak on II Chronicles 35:21:1, via Sefaria, The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H38085168 times

  • הֵסֵב֩he turned round

    hesevH5437161 times

  • יֹאשִׁיָּ֨הוּJosiah

    yoshiyahuH297753 times

  • פָנָ֜יוface his

    fanavH64402123 times

  • מִמֶּ֗נּוּaway from him

    mimenuH44801188 times

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH35884482 times

  • לְהִלָּחֵֽם־to fight

    lehilachem-H3898177 times

  • בּוֹ֙against him

    bo

  • הִתְחַפֵּ֔שׂhe disguised himself

    hitchapesH266423 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • שָׁמַ֛עhe listened

    shama'H80851159 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • דִּבְרֵ֥י[the] words of

    divreiH16971440 times

  • נְכ֖וֹNecho

    nekhoH52248 times

  • מִפִּ֣יfrom [the] mouth of

    mipiH6310498 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֑יםGod

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֕אand he went

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • לְהִלָּחֵ֖םto do battle

    lehilachemH3898177 times

  • בְּבִקְעַ֥תin [the] valley of

    bevikatH1237

  • מְגִדּֽוֹ׃Megiddo

    megidoH4023

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 22:30

    And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 23:24

      “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 28:8

      So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Judges 5:19

    Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.

    it leads to

    • Judges 5:30

      ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’

    • Judges 1:27

      At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

    • 1 Kings 4:12

      Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 18:29

    And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 20:38

      and the prophet went and waited on the road for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 35:21

    But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Judah? I have not come against you today, but I am fighting another dynasty. God told…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 25:19

      You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

    • 2 Kings 18:25

      So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 133.13 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.