Bible Dictionaries
Neco

Holman Bible Dictionary

(nee' coh) Second Pharoah (609-594 B.C.) of the 26^th dynasty of Egypt whose forces killed Josiah in battle ( 2 Kings 23:29-35; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24 ) and who installed Jehoiakim as king of Judah in his place (2 Kings 23:34-35 ). The Twenty-Sixth Dynasty was established with Assyrian patronage. Neco began to reign three years after the fall of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. The resulting power vacuum encouraged the ambitious Neco to seize Gaza as a base (Jeremiah 47:1 ) for a campaign to bring Syria under his control and to bring aid to the Assyrian remnant in their struggle with the rising force of Babylon. Josiah met Neco in battle as the latter was on route to Carchemish. There Neco was defeated by Nebuchadrezzar in 605 B.C. (Jeremiah 46:2 ). Later Nebuchadrezzar would extend his control as far as the Nile (2 Kings 24:7 ). See Assyria; Egypt; Josiah .