Yirmeyah 41:7

7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the Ir, that Yishmael ben Netanyah slaughtered them, and cast them into the midst of the cistern, he, and the anashim that were with him.

Yirmeyah 41:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 41:7

And it was [so], when they came into the midst of the city,
&c.] Where Gedaliah's house was, to which he invited them; and as they went in, he shut up the court, as Josephus ^F8 says, and slew them, as it here follows: that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, [and cast them] into the
midst of the pit;
when he had slain them, the fourscore men he had enticed into the city, except ten of them, he cast their dead bodies into a pit near at hand: he, and the men that [were] with him;
Ishmael and the ten princes, with what servants they brought with them; these were all concerned in the death of these men.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.

Yirmeyah 41:7 In-Context

5 That there came certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Shomron, even 80 men, their beards shaven, their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with minchah and incense in their hand, to bring them to the Beis Hashem.

6 And Yishmael ben Netanyah went forth from Mitzpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedalyah ben Achikam.

7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the Ir, that Yishmael ben Netanyah slaughtered them, and cast them into the midst of the cistern, he, and the anashim that were with him.

8 But ten anashim were found among them that said unto Yishmael, Slay us not, for we have hidden in the sadeh, chittim, se’orim, shemen, devash. So he forbore, killed them not among the others.

9 Now the cistern wherein Yishmael had cast all the pigrei ha’anashim (dead bodies of the men), whom he had slain because of Gedalyah, was the same cistern which Asa HaMelech had made for defense against Ba’asha Melech Yisroel: and Yishmael ben Netanyah filled it with them that were slain.