Necho

Biblical Record

Necho was a king of Egypt, whom the Bible often calls "Pharaoh Necho." "Pharaoh" is the title of the Egyptian king. Historians identify him as Necho II of Egypt's Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and his reign is estimated to have lasted from about 610 to about 595 BC.

• The death of Josiah: According to 2 Kings 23:29-30 and 2 Chronicles 35:20-24, when Necho went up toward the Euphrates River on a matter involving the king of Assyria, Josiah, king of Judah, went out to oppose him and died at Megiddo. Second Chronicles describes the episode in greater detail. Necho sent messengers to say that he was on his way to fight not Judah but another nation, and that God had commanded him to make haste. Josiah did not heed these words; he disguised himself, went into battle, and was struck by archers and died.
• Change of Judah's king: When Josiah's son Jehoahaz had reigned for three months, Necho imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath and then carried him off to Egypt. He made Eliakim, another son of Josiah, king and changed his name to Jehoiakim, and he imposed on Judah a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:3-4).
• Defeat at Carchemish: Jeremiah 46:2 records that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the army of Pharaoh Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Carchemish by the Euphrates River. Second Kings 24:7, without naming him, states that around this time "the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land."

Significance in the Bible

Necho represents the period of transition in which Judah passed from Egyptian influence to Babylonian domination. The death of Josiah, who had led a religious reform, in battle against a foreign king is read as the beginning of Judah's downfall. Second Chronicles 35:25 reports that Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah. Necho is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• Purpose of the campaign: The Korean Revised Version renders 2 Kings 23:29 as saying that Necho went up "to fight against the king of Assyria." Many scholars, however, read the Hebrew preposition as "to" or "toward," understanding that Necho went to aid a weakened Assyria. Extrabiblical sources such as the ancient Babylonian Chronicles are also understood to support this interpretation. For this reason, some modern translations render the verse with the sense of going "to help."
• God's word from the mouth of a foreign king: Second Chronicles 35:22 states that Josiah "hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God." Some interpreters emphasize that this verse shows God can speak even through a foreign king. Others focus instead on Josiah's error of judgment or his pride.
• Traditions outside the biblical text: The accounts that Necho attempted to build a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea, and that he sent Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa, come from the Greek historian Herodotus. They do not appear in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Necho is mentioned mainly in sermons and Bible studies on the reform and death of Josiah. In these settings he is often discussed under themes such as "the consequences of failing to discern God's will" or "the tragic end of a good king." He is rarely treated as a subject in his own right.