Jeremiah 41:3

3 Ish'mael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedali'ah at Mizpah, and the Chalde'an soldiers who happened to be there.

Jeremiah 41:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 41:3

Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, [even] with
Gedaliah, at Mizpah
Not only those that were at table, but that were in the city also. Josephus F6 says, that having slain those that were at the feast with him, he went out in the night, and slew all the Jews in the city, and the soldiers that were left by the Babylonians in it; but this cannot be understood of all the individuals there, or of the main body of the people, for they were carried captive by him, ( Jeremiah 41:9 ) ; but of those that opposed him, or were able to avenge the death of their governor, and he might suspect would do it: and the Chaldeans that were found there, [and] the men of war;
or, "even the men of war" F7; this describes more particularly who they were that were slain, those of the Jews, and especially the Chaldeans, who were in military service; either the bodyguards of the governor, or the city guards, or both, whom Ishmael thought it advisable to cut off, lest they should fall upon him, and revenge the death of Gedaliah, and prevent his further designs.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.
F7 (hmxlmh yvna ta) "[inquam] viros belli", Schmidt; "bellatores scilicet", Piscator.

Jeremiah 41:3 In-Context

1 In the seventh month, Ish'mael the son of Nethani'ah, son of Eli'shama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedali'ah the son of Ahi'kam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah,
2 Ish'mael the son of Nethani'ah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedali'ah the son of Ahi'kam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land.
3 Ish'mael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedali'ah at Mizpah, and the Chalde'an soldiers who happened to be there.
4 On the day after the murder of Gedali'ah, before any one knew of it,
5 eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Sama'ria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing cereal offerings and incense to present at the temple of the LORD.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.