Jeremiah 40&41, Trouble Among the Remnant

The Expositor’s Commentary rightly says, “Judah was still in a state of much unrest.” The Babylonians have put a Jewish man in charge of Judah as governor, and Jeremiah has been placed with him. But there are members of the royal house of David who are not content with the Babylonian set up.

^40:1 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. ² When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “Yahweh your God decreed this disaster for this place. ³ And now Yahweh has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against Yahweh and did not obey him. ⁴ But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.” ⁵ However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.

Jeremiah is given the choice of going to Babylon where he will be provided for, or staying in the land under the leadership of Gedeliah. He chooses the latter. He had purchased land their in confidence of his people’s return to their land from Babylon. Unfortunately, there was much intrigue in Judah.

⁷ When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, ⁸ they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. ⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. ¹⁰ I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”

¹¹ When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, ¹² they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.

The people of Judah who remained in the land welcomed Gedaliah’s leadership. Jews from surrounding lands and nations even returned to Judah to help make a life out of it. The abundant crops were ready for harvest, meaning prosperity was achieved. What a wonderful situation after such a devastating invasion!

¹³ Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

Expositor’s: Now a plot to assassinate Gedaliah comes to light, instigated by Baalis, king of Ammon, who used as his agent Ishmael son of Nethaniah. The man who told Gedaliah of the plot was the loyal Johanan son of Kareah. Gedaliah had apparently forgotten that Ishmael was of the house of David and thus did not appreciate being passed by in Gedaliah’s favor. Or Ishmael may have considered Gedaliah a traitor for agreeing to govern under the Babylonians. Baalis may have felt that eliminating Gedaliah would make it easier to carry out his own plans to conquer Judah. The king of Ammon may have feared that Gedaliah might again make Judah a formidable nation and a potential threat to him. Also, Baalis, an ally of Zedekiah and an enemy of the Babylonians (cf. 27:3), was angry that the family of Ahikam opposed the league referred to in ch. 27.

Though Johanan tried earnestly to impress Gedaliah that his life was essential for the welfare of the remnant in Judah, he apparently failed to inspire confidence. Moreover, Gedaliah may have been overconfident. At any rate, he was not convinced of Johanan’s veracity. Gedaliah was right in forbidding Johanan to assassinate Ishmael but wrong in his estimate of Ishmael.

^41:1 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 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 Yahweh. 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.

Ishmael’s brutal assassination and subsequent slaughter of innocent worshipers from the former Israel (who, despite their pagan cutting of their hair and flesh for abasing themselves, were worshipers of Yahweh who had resisted the idolatry of Israel) was wreckless and wicked. He takes the rest of those at Mizpah, including Jeremiah and Baruch, captive, and heads circuitously to Baalis of Ammon.

¹¹ When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, ¹² they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. ¹³ When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt ¹⁸ to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

Johanan rescues the captives from Ishmael and in fear of the Babylonians, whom he must presume will blame them for Gedaliah’s murder, starts heading for Egypt. Oh, what a mess! Jeremiah is among them.

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Discussion Questions:

1. What do you like about Gedaliah?
2. What do you like about Johanan?
3. What do you suppose Jeremiah might be thinking and feeling about all this intrigue?
4. Where, if at all, do you see the hand of God in situations like this?