NECO nē’ kō (נְכֹ֧ה, נְכֹ֧ו). RSV always has NECO; KJV has (PHARAOH-) NECHOH in 2 Kings 23:29, 33, 34, 35, NECHO in 2 Chronicles 35:20, 22; 36:4, and (PHARAOH-) NECHO in Jeremiah 46:2. The second king (610-595 b.c.) of the 26th, or Saite, dynasty of Egypt.
1. Victories in Asia. Soon after succeeding his father, Psammetichus I, Neco began trying to control Syria-Pal. In 609 b.c. he captured Gaza and Ashkelon (Jer 47:1, 5; cf. Herodotus II. 159; some place these captures later). He led his army, including Gr. mercenaries, northward to help the hard-pressed Assyrian king, Aššuruballit II, in opposing the Babylonians (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron 35:20). The Babylonians with the Medes already had captured the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, in 612 b.c. Neco sent envoys to King Josiah assuring him that his purpose was not to fight with Judah but with Babylon (2 Chron 35:21). Josiah, realizing that the independence of Judah was threatened, tried to stop the Egyptians at the pass of Megiddo, but he was defeated and mortally wounded (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron 35:22-24). Neco went on to gain control of Syria as far as the Euphrates.
When Neco heard that the people of Judah had crowned Jehoahaz, an anti-Egyp. son of Josiah, he summoned Jehoahaz to Riblah in Syria, deposed him, and took him as a prisoner to Egypt for the rest of his life (2 Kings 23:30, 33, 34; 2 Chron 36:1, 3, 4). In his place Neco put his brother Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoiakim to show that he was Egypt’s vassal. Neco placed Judah under heavy tribute, 100 talents of silver (about $90,600) and a talent of gold (about $55,271) (2 Kings 23:33, 35; 2 Chron 36:3).
2. Defeats by the Babylonians. In 605 Nabopolassar of Babylon sent his son Nebuchadnezzar against Neco’s garrison at Carchemish on the Euphrates in N Syria. The Babylonians defeated the Egyptians not only at Carchemish (Jer 46:2), but also at Hamath and drove them out of Syria. The battle of Carchemish was the occasion for Jeremiah’s poetic oracle about the Egyp. defeat there (46:3-12). Jehoiakim had to transfer his vassalage and his tribute from Neco to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1). An Aram. letter, prob. from Ashkelon, appeals to Neco for help against the Babylonians, but Neco was unable to stem the Babylonian advance in Pal.
Jeremiah warned of judgments to come on Egypt and on Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:29; Jer 46:2), whom he called “Much-noise-but-he-lets-the-chance-slip by” (46:17, JB). In 601 Nebuchadnezzar advanced against Egypt itself, but Neco withstood the Babylonians at Egypt’s border in a bloody battle. This battle and the temporary withdrawal of the Babylonian army may have encouraged Jehoiakim to revolt against Babylonia (2 Kings 24:1). Neco, however, did not dare to venture on any more military expeditions in Asia (24:7).
3. Peaceful accomplishments. Herodotus records some peaceful efforts of Neco, including an incompleted canal from the Nile to the Red Sea (II. 158) and sending a fleet manned by Phoenicians around Africa (IV. 42).
Bibliography J. Bright, “A New Letter in Aramaic, Written to Pharaoh of Egypt,” BA, XII (1949), 46-52; D. J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (1956); D. N. Freedman, “The Babylonian Chronicle,” BA, XIX (1956), 50-60; J. Yoyotte, “Nechao,” Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement, VI (1960), cols. 363-393; A. H. Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs (1961).