Jeremiah 41:9

9 Now the pit [into] which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had killed {along with} Gedaliah [was the same one] that King Asa had made because of Baasha the king of Israel, [who was] against him. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled [it with] the slain ones.

Jeremiah 41:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 41:9

Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies
Not only of those seventy men of Samaria but of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah;
because of their attachment to him: or, "by the hand of Gedaliah" ^F11; not by him, as an instrument; unless, as Jarchi observes, because he rejected the advice of Johanan, and provided not for his safety, and his people, it was as if they were slain by him ^F12; rather the sense is, that they were slain by the side of him, or in the, place where he was, or along with him ^F13; see a like phrase in ( Jeremiah 38:10 ) ; now both the one and the other were cast into one pit: and this [was] that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of
Israel;
which was either a ditch that was cast up against the wall that went round the city; or a large pit or well in the midst of it, to hold water in it; and this was made by King Asa, either when he built and fortified Mizpah, ( 1 Kings 15:22 ) ; or, as the Targum here, when Baasha king of Israel besieged it; which he made that he might be provided for with water during the siege; or to hide himself in it; or stop the enemy from proceeding any further, should he enter: [and] Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [them that were]
slain;
which shows it rather to be a pit or well within the city than a ditch about it; since it was filled with the slain, with those that were slain with Gedaliah, and those seventy other persons; and by which he made the well useless to the inhabitants hereafter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (whyldg dyb) "in manu Gedaliae", Montanus, Vatablus.
F12 So T. Bab. Nidda, fol. 61. 1.
F13 "Ad latus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "in loco", some in Munster; "cum Gedalia", De Dieu, Gataker.

Jeremiah 41:9 In-Context

7 {And then}, the moment of their coming to the middle of the city, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, {along with} the men who [were] with him, slaughtered them [and threw them] to the middle of the pit.

8 But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for {we have} hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen.

9 Now the pit [into] which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had killed {along with} Gedaliah [was the same one] that King Asa had made because of Baasha the king of Israel, [who was] against him. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled [it with] the slain ones.

10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who [were] in Mizpah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were left at Mizpah, [over] whom Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael took them captive and set out to cross over to the {Ammonites}.

11 When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who [were] with him, heard all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

Footnotes

• [a] Or "cistern"
• [b] Literally "by the hand of"