Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 35:21
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? [I come] not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from [meddling with] God, who [is] with me, that he destroy thee not.
21. against the house wherewith I have war ] In 1Es 1:27 there is a different reading “My war is upon Euphrates.”
commanded ] R.V. hath commanded.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The house wherewith I have war – Necho viewed Babylon as the successor and representative of Assyria – the hereditary enemy of Egypt – and he means that he is merely continuing an old hostility with which Josiah has nothing to do. No doubt the Assyrian and Egyptian armies had often passed up and down Syria by the coast route, without approaching Jerusalem, or even touching the soil of Judaea.
God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God – These are remarkable words in the mouth of a pagan; but ancient inscriptions show that the Egyptian kings, in a certain sense, acknowledged a single supreme god, and considered their actions to be inspired by him. (e. g. The god Tum (compare) the name of his city, Pithom, Exo 1:11 note) was worshipped as ankh, the living One (compare Yahweh)). Hence, Necho merely expressed himself as Egyptian kings were in the habit of doing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ch 35:21
For God commanded me to make haste.
Spiritual haste
Haste is not hurry. Hurry implies confusion and disorder. It is not the same with speed.
I. What it refers to. We should not err were we to apply it to the duties of relative and secular life. It applies particularly–
1. To the salvation of the soul.
2. To a course of godliness.
3. To labour for the welfare of others (Pro 3:27-28).
II. On what it is founded.
1. The importance of the thing itself.
2. The limitation of our opportunities.
3. This only season is short. (W. Jay.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. God commanded me to make haste] The Targum gives a curious turn to this and the following verse: “My idol commanded me to make haste; refrain therefore from me and my idol which is with me, that he betray thee not. When he heard him mention his idol, he would not go back; and he hearkened not unto the words of Necho, which he spake concerning his idol.” Here is the rabbinical excuse for the conduct of Josiah.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Against the house wherewith I have war, Heb. against the house or family of my war, i.e. against the house of the king of Assyria, between whom and me there is war.
God commanded me; either his false god by their lying priests; or the true God, either,
1. By some prophet; for Gods prophets used sometimes to deliver or send commands from God to heathen kings. Though it is not probable either that Pharaoh would regard the command of the true God; or that a prophet of the Lord would not acquaint Josiah with this message; or that Josiah would oppose Pharaoh in a war undertaken by Gods command. Or rather,
2. By a dream, as God spoke to another heathen king, Abimelech, Gen 20:3. Though it is not impossible that he pretended this for his own advantage, that Josiah might not assist his enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21, 22. But he sent ambassadors . .. What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?Not wishingto spend time, or strength in vain, Necho informed the king of Judahthat he had no intention of molesting the Jews; that his expeditionwas directed solely against his old Assyrian enemy; and that he hadundertaken it by an express commission from God. Commentators are notagreed whether it was really a divine commission given him throughJeremiah, or whether he merely used the name of God as an authoritythat Josiah would not refuse to obey. As he could not know the truthof Necho’s declaration, Josiah did not sin in opposing him; or, if hesinned at all, it was a sin of ignorance. The engagement took place.Josiah was mortally wounded [2Ch35:23].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 y; 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.
y T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 22. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(21) But . . . ambassadors.And . . . messengers.
What have I to do with thee?Literally, what to me and to thee? ; (LXX.; and Mar. 5:7; Luk. 8:28).
I come not against thee.So the old versions. The Hebrew is, not against theetheeto-day, The versions appear to have read atth, thee, with different points as theh, coming. (Comp. Syriac, th n, come I.)
But against the house . . . war.A strange expression. (Comp. 1Ch. 18:10.) Probably the reading indicated by 3 Esdr. 1:25 is right ( ), but against the Euphrates is my war (Perath for bth). Josephus supports this. LXX. and Syriac omit; Vulg., sed contra allain pugno domum.
For God . . . haste.And God . . . The Egyptian kings, like those of Israel, consulted their prophets before undertaking any expedition. So did the Assyrians, as abundantly appears from their inscriptions. So, too, we read on the Moabite stone, Chemosh said unto me, Go; take Nebo . . . Go up against Horonaim, and take it. These facts sufficiently explain the text, without assuming that Necho had received an oracle from Jehovah, or was referring to the God of Israel. (Comp. Herod, ii. 158.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. God commanded me to make haste This message of Necho to Josiah is preserved only by the chronicler, and is specially interesting as coming from a heathen king. Some have thought that Necho here referred to some prophecy of Jeremiah, (compare 1Es 1:28 ,) or of some other prophet. But the words are appropriate in the mouth of a monotheistic sovereign, who regarded himself as a favourite of heaven. In an inscription of an Egyptian king of about this period occur the following words, as translated by the Revelation Canon Cook: “Didst thou not know that the Divine shade was over me? I have not acted without his knowledge; he commanded my acts.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
he. Pharaoh-necho.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
What: 2Sa 16:10, Mat 8:29, Joh 2:4
house wherewith I have war: Heb. house of my war
God: 2Ki 18:25, Isa 36:10
forbear thee: 2Ch 25:19
Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:18 – What have I 2Ki 14:10 – why shouldest 2Ch 35:22 – the mouth Jer 46:2 – Pharaohnecho
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 35:21. I come not against thee, but against the house wherewith I have war Against the house of the king of Assyria, between whom and me there is war. For God commanded me to make haste Therefore, give me no hinderance. Some think he only pretended this, because he knew Josiah had a great reverence for God, and in obedience to him might desist from his purpose. And the Targum, with some of the Jews, thinks he called his own idol by the name of God; though Kimchi thinks, and the event makes it most probable, that he spoke of the true God, who perhaps admonished him in a dream, as he did Abimelech, or sent him a message to go against the Assyrians by the Prophet Jeremiah, many of whose prophecies are directed to foreign nations. Forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, &c. It is at thy peril if thou engage against one who has both a better army, and a better cause, and God on his side.