Jeremiah 41:3

3 Ishmael also murdered all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were posted 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, Ishmael, Nethaniah's son and Elishama's grandson, who was from a royal family and who was one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together,
2 Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, and the ten men got up and struck down Gedaliah, Ahikam's son and Shaphan's grandson, with the sword. They murdered him because he had been appointed over the region by the king of Babylon.
3 Ishmael also murdered all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were posted there.
4 The day after Gedaliah was killed, before anyone knew of it,
5 eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the LORD's temple.
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