דברי הימים ב, פרק ל״ה, פסוק כ״א

As a foreign army marches near the borders of Judah, the King of Egypt sends a diplomatic letter of reassurance and warning to the Judean king, clarifying his military goals and claiming divine backing. He begins by declaring that there is absolutely no conflict or hostility between their nations. He emphasizes that he is not launching a campaign against Judah [מצודת דוד]. Instead, his destination is strictly the designated battlefield in Carchemish, where his sole intention is to fight the King of Assyria [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

To remove any fear that the Egyptian army might stop and conquer Judean lands along the way, the Egyptian monarch explains his urgency. He states that he has received a divine command to hurry to the battlefield, leaving him no time to linger or detour [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He then issues a sharp warning, advising the King of Judah not to provoke the deity accompanying the Egyptian forces, or he will face certain destruction.

The exact identity of the deity mentioned in this warning is a subject of deep discussion [מנחת שי, רד״ק]. The primary approach among commentators is that the Egyptian king is referring entirely to the true God [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד]. According to this view, the Egyptian ruler claims to have heard a direct instruction from the prophet Jeremiah to embark on this campaign. Therefore, he warns the Judean king that any attempt to block his army would be an act of rebellion against God Himself. Conversely, another tradition suggests a division in the Egyptian king's message. While his initial claim of a divine command to hurry refers to the true God, his final warning actually refers to his own idols, revealing his ultimate reliance on false gods to secure his victory in battle [מנחת שי].