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 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 2Ch 35:26, 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 , 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 2Ki 14:8 that is Pharaoh slew Josiah at the first onset.
Megiddo was a city in the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 17:11. Herodotus calls it Magdolus, which seems to be a city on the borders of Egypt, the same with Migdol, Jer 44:1 where he says Pharoahnechoh conquered the Syrians; in Josephus it is called Mendes very wrongly.
Josiah seems to have engaged in this action without consulting the Lord and his prophets. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 158. Chronic. Secul. 18. p. 568. Ibid. c. 159. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect.