1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.
4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.
6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.
9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.
10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
12 Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:
17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.
1 Now it came to pass in the seventh H7637 month, H2320 that Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 the son H1121 of Elishama, H476 of the seed H2233 royal, H4410 and the princes H7227 of the king, H4428 even ten H6235 men H582 with him, came H935 unto Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam H296 to Mizpah; H4709 and there they did eat H398 bread H3899 together H3162 in Mizpah. H4708
2 Then arose H6965 Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah, H5418 and the ten H6235 men H582 that were with him, and smote H5221 Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam H296 the son H1121 of Shaphan H8227 with the sword, H2719 and slew H4191 him, whom the king H4428 of Babylon H894 had made governor H6485 over the land. H776
3 Ishmael H3458 also slew H5221 all the Jews H3064 that were with him, even with Gedaliah, H1436 at Mizpah, H4709 and the Chaldeans H3778 that were found H4672 there, and the men H582 of war. H4421
4 And it came to pass the second H8145 day H3117 after he had slain H4191 Gedaliah, H1436 and no man H376 knew H3045 it,
5 That there came H935 certain H582 from Shechem, H7927 from Shiloh, H7887 and from Samaria, H8111 even fourscore H8084 men, H376 having their beards H2206 shaven, H1548 and their clothes H899 rent, H7167 and having cut H1413 themselves, with offerings H4503 and incense H3828 in their hand, H3027 to bring H935 them to the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
6 And Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 went forth H3318 from Mizpah H4709 to meet H7125 them, weeping H1058 all along H1980 as he went: H1980 and it came to pass, as he met H6298 them, he said H559 unto them, Come H935 to Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam. H296
7 And it was so, when they came H935 into the midst H8432 of the city, H5892 that Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 slew H7819 them, and cast them into the midst H8432 of the pit, H953 he, and the men H582 that were with him.
8 But ten H6235 men H582 were found H4672 among them that said H559 unto Ishmael, H3458 Slay H4191 us not: for we have H3426 treasures H4301 in the field, H7704 of wheat, H2406 and of barley, H8184 and of oil, H8081 and of honey. H1706 So he forbare, H2308 and slew H4191 them not among H8432 their brethren. H251
9 Now the pit H953 wherein Ishmael H3458 had cast H7993 all the dead bodies H6297 of the men, H582 whom he had slain H5221 because H3027 of Gedaliah, H1436 was it which Asa H609 the king H4428 had made H6213 for fear H6440 of Baasha H1201 king H4428 of Israel: H3478 and Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 filled H4390 it with them that were slain. H2491
10 Then Ishmael H3458 carried away captive H7617 all the residue H7611 of the people H5971 that were in Mizpah, H4709 even the king's H4428 daughters, H1323 and all the people H5971 that remained H7604 in Mizpah, H4709 whom Nebuzaradan H5018 the captain H7227 of the guard H2876 had committed H6485 to Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam: H296 and Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 carried them away captive, H7617 and departed H3212 to go over H5674 to the Ammonites. H1121 H5983
11 But when Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces H2428 that were with him, heard H8085 of all the evil H7451 that Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 had done, H6213
12 Then they took H3947 all the men, H582 and went H3212 to fight H3898 with Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah, H5418 and found H4672 him by the great H7227 waters H4325 that are in Gibeon. H1391
13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people H5971 which were with Ishmael H3458 saw H7200 Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces H2428 that were with him, then they were glad. H8055
14 So all the people H5971 that Ishmael H3458 had carried away captive H7617 from Mizpah H4709 cast about H5437 and returned, H7725 and went H3212 unto Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah. H7143
15 But Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 escaped H4422 from H6440 Johanan H3110 with eight H8083 men, H582 and went H3212 to the Ammonites. H1121 H5983
16 Then took H3947 Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces H2428 that were with him, all the remnant H7611 of the people H5971 whom he had recovered H7725 from Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah, H5418 from Mizpah, H4709 after H310 that he had slain H5221 Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam, H296 even mighty H1397 men H582 of war, H4421 and the women, H802 and the children, H2945 and the eunuchs, H5631 whom he had brought again H7725 from Gibeon: H1391
17 And they departed, H3212 and dwelt in H3427 the habitation H1628 of Chimham, H3643 which is by H681 Bethlehem, H1035 to go H3212 to enter H935 into Egypt, H4714
18 Because H6440 of the Chaldeans: H3778 for they were afraid H3372 of them, because Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 had slain H5221 Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam, H296 whom the king H4428 of Babylon H894 made governor H6485 in the land. H776
1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and `one of' the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, `to wit', with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war.
4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5 that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.
6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, `and cast them' into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.
9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel,) Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.
10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
12 then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 Now it came to pass that, when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, `to wit', the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
17 and they departed, and dwelt in Geruth Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
1 And it cometh to pass, in the seventh month, come hath Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and of the chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and they eat there bread together in Mizpah.
2 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah riseth, and the ten men who have been with him, and they smite Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and he putteth him to death whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the land.
3 And all the Jews who have been with him, with Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who have been found there -- the men of war -- hath Ishmael smitten.
4 And it cometh to pass, on the second day of the putting of Gedaliah to death, (and no one hath known,)
5 that men come in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria -- eighty men -- with shaven beards, and rent garments, and cutting themselves, and an offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring in to the house of Jehovah.
6 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah goeth forth to meet them, from Mizpah, going on and weeping, and it cometh to pass, at meeting them, that he saith unto them, `Come in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam.'
7 And it cometh to pass, at their coming in unto the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah doth slaughter them, at the midst of the pit, he and the men who `are' with him.
8 And ten men have been found among them, and they say unto Ishmael, `Do not put us to death, for we have things hidden in the field -- wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey.' And he forbeareth, and hath not put them to death in the midst of their brethren.
9 And the pit whither Ishmael hath cast all the carcases of the men whom he hath smitten along with Gedaliah, is that which the king Asa made because of Baasha king of Israel -- it hath Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled with the pierced.
10 And Ishmael taketh captive all the remnant of the people who `are' in Mizpah, the daughters of the king, and all the people who are left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, hath committed `to' Gedaliah son of Ahikam, and Ishmael son of Nethaniah taketh them captive, and goeth to pass over unto the sons of Ammon.
11 And hear doth Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces that `are' with him, of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah hath done,
12 and they take all the men, and go to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and they find him at the great waters that `are' in Gibeon.
13 And it cometh to pass, when all the people who `are' with Ishmael see Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who `are' with him, that they rejoice.
14 And all the people whom Ishmael hath taken captive from Mizpah turn round, yea, they turn back, and go unto Johanan son of Kareah.
15 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah hath escaped, with eight men, from the presence of Johanan, and he goeth unto the sons of Ammon.
16 And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who `are' with him, take all the remnant of the people whom he hath brought back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah -- after he had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam -- mighty ones, men of war, and women, and infants, and eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon,
17 and they go and abide in the habitations of Chimham, that `are' near Beth-Lehem, to go to enter Egypt,
18 from the presence of the Chaldeans, for they have been afraid of them, for Ishmael son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
1 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and [one] of the king's chief men, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam unto Mizpah, and there they ate bread together, in Mizpah.
2 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
3 And Ishmael smote all the Jews that were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war.
4 And it came to pass the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5 that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves; with oblations and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.
6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass when he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, he and the men that were with him, slew them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit.
8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbore, and did not kill them among their brethren.
9 And the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain by the side of Gedaliah was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
10 And Ishmael carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
11 And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done;
12 and they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are at Gibeon.
13 And it came to pass when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
14 And all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon;
17 and they departed, and dwelt at Geruth-Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18 because of the Chaldeans; for they feared them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
1 Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and [one of] the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, [to wit], with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4 It happened the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5 that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh.
6 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it happened, as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7 It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.
8 But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, Don't kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped, and didn't kill them among their brothers.
9 Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.
10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
12 then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.
14 So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [to wit], the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
17 and they departed, and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
1 Now it came about in the seventh month that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king's seed, having with him ten men, came to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah; and they had a meal together in Mizpah.
2 Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, got up, and attacking Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, put to death him whom the king of Babylon had made ruler over the land.
3 And Ishmael put to death all the Jews who were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldaean men of war.
4 Now on the second day after he had put Gedaliah to death, when no one had knowledge of it,
5 Some people came from Shechem, from Shiloh and Samaria, eighty men, with the hair of their faces cut off and their clothing out of order, and with cuts on their bodies, and in their hands meal offerings and perfumes which they were taking to the house of the Lord.
6 And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah with the purpose of meeting them, weeping on his way: and it came about that when he was face to face with them he said, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.
7 And when they came inside the town, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the men who were with him, put them to death and put their bodies into a deep hole.
8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, Do not put us to death, for we have secret stores, in the country, of grain and oil and honey. So he did not put them to death with their countrymen.
9 Now the hole into which Ishmael had put the dead bodies of the men whom he had put to death, was the great hole which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha, king of Israel: and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, made it full of the bodies of those who had been put to death.
10 Then Ishmael took away as prisoners all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people still in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, had put under the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took them away prisoners with the purpose of going over to the children of Ammon.
11 But when Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the armed forces who were with him, had news of all the evil which Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done,
12 They took their men and went out to make war on Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and they came face to face with him by the great waters in Gibeon.
13 Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces with him, then they were glad.
14 And all the people whom Ishmael had taken away prisoners from Mizpah, turning round, came back and went to Johanan, the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, got away from Johanan, with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, took all the rest of the people whom Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had made prisoners, after he had put to death Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the people from Mizpah, that is, the men of war and the women and the children and the unsexed servants, whom he had taken back with him from Gibeon:
17 And they went and were living in the resting-place of Chimham, which is near Beth-lehem on the way into Egypt,
18 Because of the Chaldaeans: for they were in fear of them because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had put to death Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made ruler over the land.
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Commentary on Jeremiah 41 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Murder of Gedaliah and his followers, as well as other Jews, by Ishmael. - Jeremiah 41:1-3. The warning of Johanan had been only too well founded. In the seventh month - only two months, therefore, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the appointment of Gedaliah as governor - Ishmael came with the men to Mizpah, and was hospitably received by Gedaliah and invited to his table. Ishmael is here more exactly described as to his family descent, for the purpose of throwing a stronger light upon the exceeding cruelty of the murders afterwards ascribed to him. He was the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama - perhaps the secretary of state mentioned Jeremiah 36:12, or more likely the son of David who bore this name, 2 Samuel 5:6; 1 Chronicles 3:8; 1 Chronicles 14:7; so that Ishmael would belong to a lateral branch of the house of David, be of royal extraction, and one of the royal lords. ורבּי המּלך cannot be joined with Ishmael as the subject, because in what follows there is no further mention made of the royal lords, but only of Ishmael and his ten men; it belongs to what precedes, מזּרע המּלוּכּה , so that we must repeat מן before רבּי . The objections of Nägelsbach to this view will not stand examination. It is not self-evident that Ishmael, because he was of royal blood, was therefore also one of the royal nobles; for the רבּים certainly did not form a hereditary caste, but were perhaps a class of nobles in the service of the king, to which class the princes did not belong simply in virtue of their being princes. But the improbability that Ishmael should have been able with ten men to overpower the whole of the Jewish followers of Gedaliah, together with the Chaldean warriors, and (according to Jeremiah 41:7) out of eighty men to kill some, making prisoners of the rest, is not so great as to compel us to take רבּי המּלך in such a meaning as to make it stand in contradiction with the statement, repeated twice, over, that Ishmael, with his ten men, did all this. Eleven men who are determined to commit murder can kill a large number of persons who are not prepared against such an attempt, and may also keep a whole district in terror.
(Note: There is still less ground, with Hitzig, Graf, and Nägelsbach, for assuming that ורבּי המּלך is a gloss that has crept into the text. The fact that רבּים , which is used here, is elsewhere applied only to Chaldean nobles, is insufficient to show this; and even Ewald has remarked that "the last king (Zedekiah) may well be supposed to have appointed a number of grandees , after the example of the Chaldeans, and given them, too, Chaldean names.")
"And they did eat bread there together," i.e., they were invited by Gedaliah to his table. While at meat, Ishmael and his ten men rose and slew Gedaliah with the sword. On account of ויּמת אתו , which comes after, Hitzig and Graf would change ויּכּוּ into ויּכּוּ , he slew him , Gedaliah; this alteration is possibly warranted, but by no means absolutely necessary. The words ' ויּמת אתו וגו , "and he killed him," contain a reflection of the narrator as to the greatness of the crime; in conformity with the facts of the case, the murder is ascribed only to the originator of the deed, since the ten men of Ishmael's retinue were simply his executioners. Besides Gedaliah, Ishmael killed "all the Jews that were with him, with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war." The very expression shows that, of the Jews, only those are meant who were present in the house with Gedaliah, and, of the Chaldean soldiers, only those warriors who had been allowed him as a guard, who for the time being were his servants, and who, though they were not, as Schmidt thinks, hausto liberalius vino inebri ati, yet, as Chr. B. Michaelis remarks, were tunc temporis inermes et imparati . The Jews of post-exile times used to keep the third day of the seventh month as a fast-day, in commemoration of the murder of Gedaliah; see on Zechariah 7:3.
On the next day after the murder of Gedaliah, "when no man knew it," i.e., before the deed had become known beyond Mizpah, "there came eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria," having all the tokens of mourning, "with their beards shaven, their clothes rent, and with cuts and scratches on their bodies ( מתגּדדים , see on Jeremiah 16:6), and a meat-offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring them into the house of Jahveh." The order in which the towns are named is not geographical; for Shiloh lay south from Shechem, and a little to the side from the straight road leading from Shechem to Jerusalem. Instead of שׁלו , the lxx ( Cod. Vat. ) have Σαλήμ ; they use the same word as the name of a place in Genesis 33:18, although the Hebrew שׁלם is there an adjective, meaning safe , in good condition . According to Robinson ( Bibl. Res . iii. 102), there is a village named Sâlim three miles east from Nablûs (Shechem); Hitzig and Graf, on the strength of this, prefer the reading of the lxx, to preserve the order of the names in the text. But Hitzig has renounced this conjecture in the second edition of his Commentary, "because Sâlim in Hebrew would be שׁולם , not שׁלם ." There is absolutely no foundation for the view in the lxx and in Genesis 33:18; the supposition, moreover, that the three towns are given in their topographical order, and must have stood near each other, is also unfounded. Shechem may have been named first because the greater number of these men came from that city, and other men from Shiloh and Samaria accompanied them. These men were pious descendants of the Israelites who belonged to the kingdom of Israel; they dwelt among the heathen colonists who had been settled in the country under Esarhaddon (2 Kings 17:24.), but, from the days of Hezekiah or Josiah, had continued to serve Jahveh in Jerusalem, where they used to attend the feasts (2 Chronicles 34:9, cf. Jeremiah 30:11). Nay, even after the destruction of Jerusalem, at the seasons of the sacred feasts, they were still content to bring at least unbloody offerings - meat-offerings and incense - on the still sacred spot where these things used to be offered to Jahveh; but just because this could now be done only on the ruins of what had once been the sanctuary, they appeared there with all the signs of deep sorrow for the destruction of this holy place and the cessation of sacrificial worship. In illustration of this, Grotius has adduced a passage from Papinian's instit. de rerum divis. § sacrae: "Locus in quo aedes sacrae sunt aedificatae, etiam diruto aedificio, sacer adhuc manet."
Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet these men, always weeping as he went ( הלך הלך וּבכה , cf. Ges. §131, a b ; Ew. §280, b ). If they came from Ephraim by way of Gibeon (el Jîb ), the road on to Jerusalem passed close by Mizpah. When Ishmael met them, he asked them to come to Gedaliah (to Mizpah). But when they had entered the city, "Ishmael slew them into the midst of the pit" (which was there), i.e., killed them and cast their corpses into the pit.
Only ten men out of the eighty saved their lives, and this by saying to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field - wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey." מטמנים are excavations in the form of cisterns, or subterranean storehouses in the open country, for keeping grain; the openings or entrances to these are so concealed that the eye of a stranger could not perceive them. Such places are still universally employed in Palestine at the present day (Robinson's Palestine , i. pp. 324-5), and are also to be found in other southern countries, both in ancient and modern times; see proofs of this in Rosenmüller's Scholia ad hunc locum . It is remarked, in Jeremiah 41:9, of the pit into which Ishmael threw the corpses, that it was the same that King Asa had made, i.e., had caused to be made, against, i.e., for protection against, Baasha the king of Israel. In the historical books there is no mention made of this pit in the account of the war between Asa and Baasha, 1 Kings 15:16-22 and 2 Chronicles 16:1-6; it is only stated in 1 Kings 15:22 and 2 Chronicles 16:6 that, after Baasha, who had fortified Ramah, had been compelled to return to his own land because of the invasion of Benhadad the Syrian king, whom Asa had called to his aid, the king of Judah ordered all his people to carry away from Ramah the stones and timber which Baasha had employed in building, and therewith fortify Geba and Mizpah. The expression מפּני בעשׁא certainly implies that the pit had been formed as a protection against Baasha, and belonged to the fortifications raised at that time. However, הבּור cannot mean the burial-place belonging to the city (Grotius), but only a cistern (cf. 2 Kings 10:14); and one such as could contain a considerable store of water was as necessary as a wall and a moat for the fortification of a city, so that it might be able to endure a long siege (Graf). Hitzig, on the other hand, takes בּור to mean a long and broad ditch which cut off the approach to the city from Ephraim, or which, forming a part of the fortifications, made a break in the road to Jerusalem, though it was bridged over in times of peace, thus forming a kind of tunnel. This idea is certainly incorrect; for, according to Jeremiah 41:7, the "ditch" was inside the city ( בּתוך ). The expression בּיד גּדליהוּ is obscure, and cannot be explained with any of certainty. בּיד cannot mean "through the fault of" Gedaliah (Raschi), or "because of" Gedaliah - for his sake (Kimchi, Umbreit), or " coram " Gedaliah (Venema), but must rather be rendered "by means of, through the medium of," or "at the side of, together with." Nägelsbach has decided for the rendering "by means of," giving as his reason the fact that Ishmael had made use of the name of Gedaliah in order to decoy these men into destruction. He had called to them, "Come to Gedaliah" (Jeremiah 41:6); and simply on the authority of this name, they had followed him. But the employment of the name as a means of decoy can hardly be expressed by בּיד . We therefore prefer the meaning "at the hand = at the side of" (following the Syriac, L. de Dieu, Rosenmüller, Ewald), although this signification cannot be established from the passages cited by Rosenm. (1 Samuel 14:34; 1 Samuel 16:2; Ezra 7:23), nor can the meaning "together with" (Ewald) be shown to belong to it. On the other hand, a passage which is quite decisive for the rendering "by the hand of, beside," is Job 15:23 : "there stands ready at his hand ( בּידו , i.e., close to him) a day of darkness." If we take this meaning for the passage now before us, then בּיד גּדליהוּ cannot be connected with אשׁר , in accordance with the Masoretic accents, but with השׁליך שׁם , "where Ishmael cast the bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah;" so that it is not stated till here and now, and only in a casual manner, what had become of Gedaliah's corpse. Nothing that admits of being proved can be brought against this view.
(Note: Because the lxx have, for בּיד גּדליהוּ הוּא , φρέαρ μέγα τοῦτό ἐστιν , J. D. Michaelis, Dahler, Movers, Hitzig, and Graf would change the text, and either take ryb lwdg 'wh (Dahler, Movers) or בּיר הגּדול הוּא (= בּור ) as the original reading, inasmuch as one codex of De Rossi's also has בור . But apart from the improbability of בּור גּדול or הגּדול being incorrectly changed into בּיד גּדליהוּ , we find that הוּא stands provokingly in the way; for it would be superfluous, or introduce an improper emphasis into the sentence. The lxx have but been attempting to guess at a translation of a text they did not understand. What Hitzig further supposes has no foundation, viz., that this "ditch" is identical with that mentioned 1 Samuel 19:22, in שׂכוּ , and with τὸ φρέαρ τὸ μέγα of 1 Macc. 7:19; for the ditch at Sechu was near Ramah, which was about four miles from Mizpah, and the large fountain 1 Macc. 7:19 was ἐν Βηζέθ , an unknown place in the vicinity of Jerusalem.)
The הוּא which follows is a predicate: "the ditch wherein...was that which Asa the king had formed."
The motive for this second series of assassinations by Ishmael is difficult to discover. The supposition that he was afraid of being betrayed, and for this reason killed these strangers, not wishing to be troubled with them, is improbable, for the simple reason that these strangers did not want to go to Mizpah, but to Jerusalem. For the supposition of Thenius (on 2 Kings 25:23) and of Schmieder, that the people had intended going to Mizpah to a house of God that was there, is very properly rejected by Hitzig, because no mention is made in history of a place of worship at Mizpah; and, according to the express statement of Jeremiah 41:6., Ishmael had enticed them into this city only by inviting them to come and see Gedaliah. Had Ishmael wished merely to conceal the murder of Gedaliah from these strangers, he ought to have done anything but let them into Mizpah. As little can we regard this deed (with Graf) as an act of revenge on these Israelites by Ishmael for the murder of his relations and equals in rank by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:10), because these men, who had now for a long time been living together with heathens, were Assyrian and Chaldean subjects. For we cannot comprehend how he could look on these Israelites as friends of the Chaldeans, and vent his anger against the Chaldean rule by murdering them; the mournful procession which they formed, and the offerings they were carrying to present, proclaimed them faithful adherents of Judah. Nägelsbach, accordingly, is of opinion that Ishmael had simply intended robbery. As it is evident that he, a rough and wild man, had assassinated the noble Gedaliah from personal jealousy, and in order to further the political interest of his Ammonite patron, he must have been seeking to put himself in the position of his victim, or to flee. "When we find, moreover, that he soon murdered a peaceable caravan of pilgrims, and preserved the lives only of a few who offered to show him hidden treasures; when, finally, we perceive that the whole turba imbellis of Mizpah were seized and carried off into slavery, Ishmael proves himself a mere robber." But, though the fact that Ishmael spared the lives of the ten men who offered to show him hidden treasures seems to support this view, yet the supposition that nothing more than robbery was intended does not suffice to explain the double murder. The two series of assassinations plainly stand in the closest connection, and must have been executed from one and the same motive. It was at the instigation of the Ammonite king that Ishmael murdered Gedaliah; moreover, as we learn from the report brought to Gedaliah by Johanan (Jeremiah 40:15), the crime was committed in the expectation that the whole of Judah would then be dispersed, and the remnant of them perish. This murder was thus the work of the Ammonite king, who selected the royally-descended Ishmael as his instrument simply because he could conveniently, for the execution of his plans, employ the personal envy of one man against another who had been preferred by the king of Babylon. There can be no doubt that the same motive which urged him to destroy the remnant of Judah, i.e., to frustrate the attempt to gather and restore Judah, was also at work in the massacre of the pilgrims who were coming to the temple. If Ishmael, the leader of a robber-gang, had entered into the design of the Ammonite king, then everything that might serve for the preservation and consolidation of Judah must have been a source of pain to him; and this hatred of his towards Judah, which derived its strength and support from his religious views, incited him to murder the Jewish pilgrims to the temple, although the prospect of obtaining treasures might well cooperate with this in such a way as to make him spare the ten men who pretended they had hidden stores. With this, too, we can easily connect the hypocritical dealing on the part of Ishmael, in going forth, with tears, to meet these pious pilgrims, so that he might deceive them by making such a show of grief over the calamity that had befallen Judah; fore the wicked often assume an appearance of sanctity for the more effectual accomplishment of their evil deeds. The lxx evidently did not know what to make of this passage as it stands; hence, in Jeremiah 41:6, they have quite dropped the words "from Mizpah," and have rendered הלך הלך by αὐτοὶ ἐπορεύοντο καὶ ἔκλαιον . Hitzig and Graf accept this as indicating the original text, since Ishmael had no ostensible ground for weeping. But the reasons which are supposed to justify this conjecture are, as Nägelsbach well remarks, of such a nature that one can scarcely believe they are seriously held.
After executing these murderous deeds, Ishmael led away into captivity all the people that still remained in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had committed to the care of Gedaliah, intending to go over with them to the Ammonites. As the object of ויּשׁבּ is very far removed through the intervention of a relative clause, the connection is resumed by ויּשׁבּם . "The king's daughters" are not only the daughters of Zedekiah, but female members generally of the royal house, princesses, analogous to בּן־מלך , king's son = prince, Jeremiah 36:26; Jeremiah 38:6.
- Jeremiah 41:11. When Johanan and the rest of the captains heard of what had taken place in Mizpah, they marched out with all their men to fight Ishmael, and came on him at the great water at Gibeon, i.e., by the pool at Gibeon which is mentioned 2 Samuel 2:13, one of the large receptacles for water which are still found there; see on 2 Samuel 2:13. Gibeon, now called el Jib (see on Joshua 9:3), was situated only about two miles north from Mizpah; from which we may conclude that it was soon known what had happened, and the captains quickly assembled their men and marched after Ishmael.
When those who had been carried off by Ishmael saw these captains, they were glad, since they had followed their captor merely because they were forced to do so. They all turned, and went over to Johanan; but Ishmael escaped from Johanan, with eight men, - having thus lost two in the fight with Johanan, - and went to the Ammonites.
After the escape of Ishmael, it was to be feared that the Chaldeans would avenge the murder of the governor, and make the Jews who remained atone for the escape of the murderer by executing them or carrying them away to Babylon. Accordingly, Johanan and the other captains determined to withdraw to Egypt with the men, women, and children that had been carried off by Ishmael; these they conducted first to Bethlehem, where they encamped for the purpose of deliberating as to the rest of the journey, and taking due precautions. The account given in Jeremiah 41:16 is clumsily expressed, especially the middle portion, between "whom he had brought back" and "the son of Ahikam;" and in this part the words "from Mizpah" are particularly troublesome in breaking the connection: "whom he (Johanan) had brought back from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he (Ishmael) had slain Gedaliah," while it is more correctly stated in the second relative clause, "whom he had brought back from Gibeon." Hitzig and Graf accordingly suppose that, originally, instead of אשׁר השׁיב מאת , there stood in the text אשׁר שׁבה , "whom he (Ishmael) had led captive from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah." Thus the whole becomes clear. Against this conjecture there only stands the fact that the lxx translate οὕς ἀπέστρεψεν ἀπὸ ̓Ισμαήλ ; they must thus have read אשׁר השׁיב מאת , and omitted merely המּצפּה as unsuited to the passage. However, the error may be even older than the lxx, and השׁיב מאת may easily have arisen through a scribe having glanced at the words אשׁר השׁיב of the last clause. The words from "men" to "chamberlains" form the more exact specification of the general expression "all the remnant of the people:" "men, viz., men of war, women (including the king's daughters, Jeremiah 40:10), and children and chamberlains" ( סריסים , guardians and servants of the female members of the royal family).
"They marched and stopped (made a half) at the inn if Chimham, which is near Bethlehem." גּרוּת , ἅπ.λεγ. , considered etymologically, must mean diversorium, hospitium , an inn, khan, or caravanserai. Instead of the Kethib כמוהם , many codices read כּמהם (like the Qeri ); nor, have any of the old translators read וּ or וׁ in the word. The Qeri is evidently correct, and we are to read כּמהם , the name of a son of Barzillai the rich Gileadite, 2 Samuel 19:38, 2 Samuel 19:41, who is supposed to have built or founded this caravanserai for the convenience of travellers. The words "because of the Chaldeans" in the beginning of Jeremiah 41:18 depend on "to go to Egypt" at the end of the preceding verse: "to go to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans," on account of the murder of Gedaliah by Ishmael.