40:7-8 Several of the Judean guerrilla commanders who had escaped from the Babylonian invaders came to Gedaliah in Mizpah with some of their men when they heard that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed him over the region.
40:9 Gedaliah urged these commanders not to fear the Babylonians but to cooperate with them. If they remained in the land and submitted to Babylonian authority things would go well for them.
40:10 Gedaliah would act as a liaison with the Babylonians, but the commanders could continue to harvest the summer crops as usual in the outlying towns that they had taken over. The Babylonians did not colonize Judah as the Assyrians had Israel (cf. 2 Kings 17:24-27).
40:11-12 When the Jews who had previously fled to surrounding neighbor nations heard how the Babylonians were allowing their brethren to live in the land, they returned and joined in the harvest.
