{"id":72467,"date":"2020-03-27T15:43:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72467"},"modified":"2020-03-27T15:43:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:43:50","slug":"pharaoh-neco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pharaoh-neco\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharaoh Neco"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter begins a series of Jeremiah\u2019s oracles against foreign nations (46-49 are particularly aimed at the nations surrounding Judah). Our chapter is entirely devoted to an oracle against Egypt. Jeremiah begins by directing his prophecy in a very specific way: \u201cConcerning Egypt, about the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was at the river Euphrates near Carchemish, and which was defeated by King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah\u201d (46:2). Jeremiah goes on to describe the Battle of Carchemish in dramatic poetry (verses 3-12). This seminal military event, which can be dated to about 605 BCE, is also described in a cuneiform tablet housed in the British Museum (BM 21946), part of what is known as the \u201cNebuchadnezzar Chronicle.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This text complements Jeremiah\u2019s description of the battle by claiming that Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadrezzar here and elsewhere) “crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army which lay in Carchemish. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence\u2026\u201d. Jeremiah goes on to prophecy Nebuchadrezzar\u2019s unsuccessful attempts to invade and conquer Egypt (apparently in 601 BCE and again in 568 BCE, see also Jeremiah 43:8-13, Ezekiel 29:19-20).<\/span><\/p>\n

Extra-biblical sources add to what we know of Pharaoh Neco, who ruled Egypt from 610-595 BCE in the 26<\/span>th<\/span> dynasty whose capital was the city of Sais, in the Western Nile Delta. The 5<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE Greek historian, Herodotus (in his <\/span>Histories <\/span><\/i>II 158) relates that Neco began the construction of a forerunner to the modern Suez Canal. But this project was suspended when Neco began preparations for war. However, he is credited by Herodotus (<\/span>Histories <\/span><\/i>IV 42) with sending an expedition that set out from the Red Sea and successfully rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, returning to Egypt by way of the \u201cPillars of Hercules\u201d (the Strait of Gibraltar). Josephus (Antiquities X 5.1) relates that on his way to do battle at the Euphrates, Neco fought and killed the Judean king Josiah, who was blocking Neco\u2019s advance at Megiddo (see II Kings 23:29, compare II Chronicles 35:20-25). On his way back to Egypt, in Jerusalem, Neco deposed the young newly crowned king of Judah, Jehoahaz, and fined the Land a hundred talents of silver and a talent (about 75 lbs.) of gold. Neco replaced Jehoahaz with his brother, Eliakim, whom he renamed Jehoiakim (see II Chronicles 36:1-4).<\/span><\/p>\n

Jewish tradition (see Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, \u201cThe Throne of Solomon\u201d) relates that Pharaoh Neco was one of those rulers who tried unsuccessfully to ascend and sit in the marvelous throne of King Solomon. When Neco tried to do so he was injured by one of the throne\u2019s mechanical lions resulting in his being referred to in Hebrew as <\/span>Neco <\/span><\/i>\u2013 i.e. \u201cthe Lame.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: A small kneeling bronze statuette, likely Necho II, now residing in the Brooklyn Museum \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":72468,"id":72468,"title":"jer46-Necho-KnellingStatue","filename":"jer46-Necho-KnellingStatue.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-Necho-KnellingStatue.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pharaoh-neco\/jer46-necho-knellingstatue\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer46-necho-knellingstatue","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":72467,"date":"2020-03-27 12:43:26","modified":"2020-03-27 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