Jeremiah 41:1-10

1 In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there,

2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

3 Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian^[a] soldiers who were there.

4 The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it,

5 eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD.

6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

7 When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

8 But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.” So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others.

9 Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

10 Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

Jeremiah 41:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 41

This chapter relates the event of the conspiracy against Gedaliah Johanan and the princes had informed him of, to which he gave no credit; but it proved true. An account is given of the murder of Gedaliah, and of the Jews and Chaldeans with him; and of the perpetrators of it, Jer 41:1-3; and of the chief of them, Ishmael's treacherous dealing with fourscore men that came from several parts to the house of God to offer sacrifice, who all perished by his hands, excepting ten, Jer 41:4-9; and of the rest of the people at Mizpah being carried away, in order to be captives among the Ammonites, Jer 41:10; and of Johanan, and the rest of the captives, hearing of all this, and coming out to fight with Ishmael; upon which the people deserted him, and he fled to the Ammonites, Jer 41:11-15; and of Johanan and the people settling in the way to Egypt, to flee there on occasion, should the Chaldeans fall on them for what was done to the governor, which they feared, Jer 41:16-18.

Cross References

• 1. S Jeremiah 40:8
• 2. Psalms 41:9; Psalms 109:5
• 3. S Joshua 11:10; Jeremiah 40:15; Hebrews 11:37
• 4. S Jeremiah 40:5
• 5. 2 Samuel 3:27; 2 Samuel 20:9-10; S Jeremiah 40:8
• 6. S Leviticus 19:27; Jeremiah 47:5; Jeremiah 48:37
• 7. S Genesis 37:29; S Leviticus 10:6; S Mark 14:63
• 8. S Leviticus 19:28
• 9. Genesis 12:6; Genesis 33:18; Judges 9:1-57; 1 Kings 12:1
• 10. S Joshua 18:1
• 11. 1 Kings 16:24
• 12. S Numbers 16:40; S Luke 1:9
• 13. 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 6:38; 2 Kings 25:9
• 14. 2 Samuel 3:16
• 15. Psalms 5:9; Hosea 7:11; Revelation 20:10
• 16. S Genesis 37:24; 2 Kings 10:14
• 17. Isaiah 45:3
• 18. S 1 Kings 15:22; S 2 Chronicles 16:6
• 19. S Judges 6:2
• 20. S 2 Chronicles 16:1
• 21. Jeremiah 40:7,12
• 22. Jeremiah 38:23
• 23. S Jeremiah 40:14

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "Chaldean"