Peacefully
I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. (2 Kings 22:20)
In battle
And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo. (2 Kings 23:29)
Prophecy to Josiah
When king Josiah heard about the discovery of the scroll of the Law in the temple, he was astonished to learn that so much was unknown to him about his religion. As he was so concerned about the matter a prophecy to him said that he would be buried in peace and that he wouldn’t see all the misery that was prophesied to come over Jerusalem by former prophets. (2 Kings 22:20)
The problem
Later on a conflict arose between Josiah and king Neco of Egypt and it came to pass that Josiah died in a military encounter. Isn’t this a clear Bible contradiction? Josiah died in a military conflict and not in peace according to the prophecy?
2 Kings 22:20
It might be a strange reply, but it must be given. The burial of Josiah happened in a time of peace! There was no declared war between Josiah and Neco. The last had warned Josiah to not bother him on his way to Carchemish; Neco and his army had to take the route along the coast. The route from Egypt to Syria along the Mediterranean belonged partly to the Judean (Josiah’s) region. It was a free road between Egypt and Syria of which everyone could make use of, probably only some toll had to be paid.
Josiah’s death
Josiah didn’t listen and forced Neco to a military encounter (not a war). There is no mentioning of the end of the military conflict, but as Neco was in a hurry to reach Carchemish in time (2 Chronicles 35:20-24), we may be sure that as soon as Josiah had died, the matter was over. Indeed Josiah was buried in peace, as the prophecy foretold.
No Bible Contradiction