All of the events of this chapter centre around the treacherous murder of Gedaliah. An outline for this chapter would be as follows.
1. The murder of the governor, Jeremiah 41:1-3.
2. The murder of the mourners, Jeremiah 41:4-7.
3. The captives at Mizpah are taken, Jeremiah 41:8-10.
4. Ishmael is defeated, but escapes, Jeremiah 41:11-15.
5. The people with Johanan are on their way to Egypt, Jeremiah 41:16-18.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The length of Gedaliah’s tenure as governor is disputed by many scholars. It seems that it was for about five years. This is based on a Jewish belief that it lasted until 582 B.C. Others believe that he was only two or three months as governor. It is one of those queries that we cannot really answer, but does it really matter? All that Johanan predicted came to pass.’
In the seventh month, which was October, Zechariah 7:5 / Zechariah 8:19, Ishmael, 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, Jeremiah 41:1.
It appears they were eating together, and at the climax of a social meal, Ishmael gets up and kills Gedaliah, Jeremiah 40:14, along with his friends, Jeremiah 41:2-3.
He even killed the personal bodyguard that had been left to take care of Gedaliah, Jeremiah 41:2. He also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the death of the Babylonian soldiers alone would be a good enough reason for the Babylonians to react, Jeremiah 41:3.
Some scholars believe that Ishmael was a descendant of David through Elishama, 2 Samuel 5:16, and that Ishmael was jealous because Nebuchadnezzar had not considered his royal connection before promoting Gedaliah to governor, wickedness in the history of God’s people, but rarely do we find anything quite so bad as this. He violated God’s law, and he violated the law of hospitality, that is, that no one eats another man’s bread and then murders him, Proverbs 6:30.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was the same as making a solemn covenant; for he who ate bread with another was ever reputed a friend.’
One good thing, Ishmael disappears from history after this chapter.
A group of confused mourners are next on the hit list, Jeremiah 41:4-5. It seems that they had come to mourn the fall of Jerusalem. What they were doing was something that was quite common following such a terrible calamity as this.
They would be shaven, their clothes would be torn, and their bodies would be beaten as a sign of outward grief, Jeremiah 41:5. They had brought grain offerings and incense to the temple, to the house of the Lord, even though the temple no longer existed, Jeremiah 41:5.
There are some interesting points here. Despite what has happened, some of the Jews still wanted to worship God in Jerusalem. And it seems that, even though the house of the Lord had been destroyed, they still felt that the ruins of the temple were the place to meet God.
And even to this day, the western wall of the temple ruins is considered sacred to the Jews. Ishmael met them with crocodile tears, weeping and pretending he cared, Jeremiah 41:6, but in actual fact, he was out to deceive them.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This felonious hypocrite pretended that he also was deeply afflicted, and wished to bear them company in their sorrow.’
Because news of Gedaliah’s death had not leaked out they had no reason to fear Ishmael, seventy of these mourners lost their lives, Jeremiah 41:7, and ten just about saved their skins, Jeremiah 41:8.
The ten men say, ‘don’t kill us, we have wheat and barley, hidden in a field,’ Jeremiah 41:8. This was a kind of bribe, but Ishmael let them live, Jeremiah 41:8. One wonders why he didn’t kill them once he found out where the supplies were hidden. It was the custom in those days to hide such supplies by covering them with a layer of earth.
Ishmael disposes of the evidence by casting the corpses down a huge cistern, Jeremiah 41:9.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The purpose of this is to explain that the cistern which Ishmael filled with the bodies of those whom he murdered was no ordinary cistern, but a very large one, originally intended to supplement the water supply of the whole city.’
This was a cistern that King Asa built, Jeremiah 41:9, and is a bit of a puzzle. The accounts in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles do not shed any light on the matter, 1 Kings 15:21-24 / 2 Chronicles 16:6. Asa had built a city, and it was necessary to store water there just in case of a siege. Perhaps this is the answer to the query.
I think the explanation of this was to show that this was no ordinary cistern. It was obviously a large cistern, believed to have been built to hold sufficient water for a whole city.
And it would have needed to be large to hold the many people who had been killed. Ishmael knows that he is no longer safe in Judah and decides to beat a hasty retreat to the Ammonites Jeremiah 41:10.
How Johanan got word of Ishmael’s atrocities is not known, but he vowed to avenge Gedaliah’s death, Jeremiah 41:11. So, he marches to intercept Ishmael near Gibeon, Jeremiah 41:12. The captives were glad to see him and went over to Johanan, Jeremiah 41:13-14, but Ishmael and eight others escaped to the Ammonites, Jeremiah 41:15.
Johanan and the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah, the soldiers, women, children, and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon, Jeremiah 41:16.
Johanan and the others stayed near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt, Jeremiah 41:17. Jeremiah 41:17 talks about Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem, but little is known about this place.
The name Kimham is mentioned in 2 Samuel 19:37. It is mentioned as the name of a man whom King David rewarded. He was believed to be the son of a wealthy friend of David’s, called Barzillai. Johanan and the others believed that the Babylonians would surely come to avenge the death of Gedaliah, Jeremiah 41:18.