Jeremiah 41:1-18--Gedaliah Murdered

Jeremiah 41
English Standard Version

Gedaliah Murdered
41 In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, 2 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

4 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5 eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the LORD. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7 When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with Gedaliah was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. 13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around 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 Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

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It did not take long for the rumors of an assassination plot to become a reality.  Ishmael, a member of the royal family, killed Gedaliah and threw him and his men in a cistern (a very large one).  They also killed a group of men coming to offer sacrifices to the LORD.  There were eighty in the group, and seventy were killed and thrown into the cistern.  Only ten of them were able to talk Ishmael into sparing their lives as they promised to provide him with their produce (they paid a bribe to save their own lives).

The governor that was assassinated had been ruling in Mizpah and had gathered many of his people there.  Ishmael captured all those who remained in Mizpah as they would have been loyal to Gedaliah and was ready to take all the exiles that were left in the land captive and to march over to the land of the Ammonites.

One of the other commanders of the army heard of what had happened and he marshalled the armies of the Chaldeans to march against Ishmael and to rescue those who had been promised peace and safety in the Land.  The exiles turned and joined up with this commander, Johanan, and Ishmael's army was almost completely destroyed.  However, Ishmael escaped with eight of his men to the land of the Ammonites.  Johanan headed for a town near Bethlehem as he intended to take the people to Egypt for safety as the Egyptians might be the only nation strong enough to fight off the Chaldeans (the Babylonians).  There was a good chance that because of the assassination on the man the Babylonians had established as governor that they would come in with a heavy hand this time and kill or capture the remaining people of Judah.  The LORD had told His people never to return to Egypt for protection after he freed them from captivity there.  He will repeat that warning to them next time.