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Text -- Jeremiah 41:1-18 (NET)
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Context
41:1 But in the seventh month Ishmael , the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah’s chief officers , came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah . While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah ,
41:2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him stood up , pulled out their swords , and killed Gedaliah , the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan . Thus Ishmael killed the man that the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country .
41:3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there .
41:4 On the day after Gedaliah had been murdered , before anyone even knew about it,
41:5 eighty men arrived from Shechem , Shiloh , and Samaria . They had shaved off their beards , torn their clothes , and cut themselves to show they were mourning. They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry as he walked along . When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam .”
41:7 But as soon as they were inside the city , Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies in a cistern .
41:8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael , “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat , barley , olive oil , and honey we have hidden in a field . So he spared their lives and did not kill them along with the rest .
41:9 Now the cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of those he had killed was a large one that King Asa had constructed as part of his defenses against King Baasha of Israel . Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with dead bodies .
41:10 Then Ishmael took captive all the people who were still left alive in Mizpah . This included the royal princesses and all the rest of the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , had put under the authority of Gedaliah son of Ahikam . Ishmael son of Nethaniah took all these people captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites .
Johanan Rescues the People Ishmael Had Carried Off
41:11 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed .
41:12 So they took all their troops and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah . They caught up with him near the large pool at Gibeon .
41:13 When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad .
41:14 All those people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah .
41:15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah managed to escape from Johanan along with eight of his men , and he went on over to Ammon .
41:16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah . They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam . They led off the men , women , children , soldiers , and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon .
41:17 They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians, but stopped at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem .
41:18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam , whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Jer 41:1 It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; 39:2)...
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NET Notes: Jer 41:3 Heb “were found there.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.2.c.
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NET Notes: Jer 41:5 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
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NET Notes: Jer 41:6 Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for c...
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NET Notes: Jer 41:7 The words “and threw their bodies” result from the significant use of the preposition אֶל (’el, so GKC 384 §1...
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NET Notes: Jer 41:10 Heb “the daughters of the king.” Most commentators do not feel that this refers to the actual daughters of Zedekiah since they would have ...
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NET Notes: Jer 41:12 Heb “the many [or great] waters.” This is generally identified with the pool of Gibeon mentioned in 2 Sam 2:13.
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NET Notes: Jer 41:13 Heb “all the people who were with Ishmael.” However, this does not refer to his own troops but to those he had taken with him from Mizpah,...
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