The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Jeremiah 41
1 Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the
son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of
the royal offspring 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 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah
arose, andthe tenmen who were withhim,
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 Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the
Chaldean men of war who were found
there.
4 The second day after he had killed
Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5 men came 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 Yahweh’s house.
6 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out
from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all
along as he went, and as he met them, he
said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam.”
7 It was so, when they came into the
middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into
the middle 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(this was that
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 of the people who were left 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.
Ishmaelthe 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 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 wentto 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 who were
withhimtook allthe remnant ofthepeople
whom he had recovered from Ishmael the
son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he
had killed Gedaliahthe sonof Ahikam—the
men of war, with the women, the children,
and the eunuchs, whom he had brought
back from Gibeon.
17 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.