with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. 22Nevertheless 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. 23And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. 24So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations, unto this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are
22. disguised himself] Like Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (xviii. 29), to reduce the risk. The LXX. reads ἐκραταιώθη, "was strengthened." The Heb. text is probably correct (see Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 221).
the valley of Megiddo] Cp. Judg. v. 19; Zech. xii. 11. In 1 Esd. i. 29, "the plain of Megiddo." The whole (or perhaps only the western part) of the plain of Esdraelon is meant; cp. 1 Chr. x. 7, note.
23. the archers shot] Cp. the death of Ahab, xviii. 33. 1 Esd. i. 29, "the princes came down against king Josias," is an inferior reading due probably to a misreading of the Heb.
for I am sore wounded] The very words ascribed to Ahab (xviii. 33), and further the verb rendered I am wounded is used only in these two passages: a singularly strong witness to the view that the present story has been influenced by that of Ahab's death.
24. the second chariot] War chariots were small, with (apparently) only standing room for their occupants; see the illustrations of Egyptian and Assyrian chariots given in the Ency. Bib. I. 724—730. This "second chariot" was probably of a larger kind, suitable for travelling.
25 (= 1 Esd. i. 32; not in 2 Kin.). The Lamentations for Josiah.
25. lamented] i.e. "composed (or uttered) an elegy." The Heb. word (ḳōnēn) suggests formal composition, and the actual words of lamentation are often given, as in 2 Sam. i. 17 ff., iii. 33, 34; Ezek. xxvii. 33, xxxii. 2, 16. The elegy in question is not preserved in the book of Jeremiah or elsewhere. Doubtless the Chronicler or his source had real grounds for his statement about the popular Songs of Lament for Josiah, and we may suppose that one of these, rightly or wrongly, was ascribed to Jeremiah.
an ordinance] Cp. 2 Sam. i. 18.
