Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 41:1

Clarke's Commentary

CHAPTER XLI

Ishmael executes his conspiracy against Gedaliah the governor

and his companions, and attempts to carry away the Jews who

were with him captives to the Ammonites, 1-10;

but Johanan recovers them, and purposes to flee into Egypt,

11-18.

NOTES ON CHAP XLI

Verse Jeremiah 41:1. Now-in the seventh month — Answering to the first new moon in our month of October.

There they did eat bread together — This was the same as making a solemn covenant; for he who ate bread with another was ever reputed a friend.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Ishmael’s plot against Gedaliah (40:13-41:18)

One of the former army commanders, Ishmael, was opposed to Gedaliah’s policy of submission to Babylon. With Ammonite support he plotted to kill Gedaliah. So sincere and trusting was Gedaliah, that when told of the plot, he refused to believe it (13-16). Gedaliah apparently took no precautions against the reported treachery, and when a suitable time arrived Ishmael carried out his brutal plot. He murdered Gedaliah, along with all the Judean officials and Babylonian supervisors at Gedaliah’s headquarters (41:1-3).
Ishmael wanted no news of the assassination to be made public till he had carried out the next stage of his plan. But he was surprised by the arrival of a group of men travelling to Jerusalem to mourn the destruction of the temple (4-5). To prevent news of the assassination leaking out, Ishmael killed the travellers, though some saved their lives by telling Ishmael where he could find needed food supplies (6-9). Ishmael, it seems, panicked. Not knowing exactly what to do, he decided to take the whole population of Mizpah captive to Ammon (10).
Johanan, who had first warned Gedaliah of the plot against him (see 40:13-16), decided to pursue Ishmael. He rescued the captive people of Mizpah, but Ishmael escaped into Ammon (11-15). Fearing revenge from the Babylonians because of Ishmael’s rebellion, the people of Mizpah decided it would be safer to look for refuge in Egypt than to return to Mizpah (16-18).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE MURDER OF THE GOVERNOR

"Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, to wit, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war."

"Of the seed royal" It is believed that Ishmael was descended from David through Elishama (2 Samuel 5:16), and that this royal connection might have originated Ishmael's vengeful hatred of Gedaliah, being bitterly jealous that Nebuchadnezzar had passed over Ishmael, a member of the royal house of David, to make Gedaliah governor!

In all the records of Israel's wickedness, there is hardly anything that surpasses the dastardly deed of Ishmael here recorded. He not only violated God's law, but the universal Eastern custom in the law of hospitality, that no man eats another man's bread, and then murders him! Ishmael disappears from history in this chapter and fully deserved the oblivion in which he was swallowed up.

The concern and sympathy of the Jewish people for their noble governor who was cut down by the despicable Ishmael was crystallized and memorialized in the Jewish fast of "the seventh month" (October) (Zechariah 7:5; Zechariah 8:19), during the Inter-testamental period of their history.

"Slew all the Jews that were with him" It is believed that this is a reference, not all the Jews in Mizpah, but to all of those at the meal during which Gedaliah was slain. Also, the men of war would appear to refer merely to Gedaliah's personal bodyguard of Babylonian soldiers.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The seventh month - Gedaliah’s government lasted less than two months.

Even - Rather, and. Ishmael was descended probably from Elishama the son of David 2 Samuel 5:16. Ten grandees each with his retinue would have aroused suspicion, but the smallness of Ishmael’s following put Gedaliah completely off his guard.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

It was a detestable cruelty and barbarity in Ishmael to kill Gedaliah who entertained him, and whom he found to possess a paternal regard towards him. Heathens have ever deemed hospitality sacred; and to violate it has been counted by them as the greatest atrocity; and hospitable Jupiter ever possessed among them the right of taking vengeance, if any one broke an oath given when at table. Now Ishmael had sworn, as we have seen, that he would be faithful to Gedaliah. He was again received by him, and was treated hospitably; and from his table he rose up to slay the innocent man, who was his friend, and had acted towards him, as it has been stated, the part of a father. And hence he became not only a parricide, but also the traitor of his own country; for he knew that it could not be but that Nebuchadnezzar would become more and more incensed against that miserable people, whom he had spared: but he made no account of his own fidelity, nor shewed any regard for his own brethren, whom he knew he exposed to slaughter and ruin.

But the cause of this madness is here indirectly intimated; the Prophet says, that he was of the royal seed. The royal seed was then, indeed, in the greatest disgrace; the king’s children had been slain; he himself had been taken away bound to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar had made him blind. But we see, that those who had been once in any dignity, can hardly relinquish those high notions by which they are inflated. So that when those of the royal seed are reduced to extreme poverty and want, they still aim at something royal, and never submit to the power of God. The fountain then of this madness the Prophet points out here, as by the finger, when he says, that Ishmael was of the royal seed: for he thought that it was by no means an honor to him, that Gedaliah was set over the Jews. He, no doubt, imagined that the kingdom was to be perpetual, since God had so often promised, that the throne of David would stand as long as the moon continued in the heavens. (Psalms 89:37) But mere ambition and pride led him to commit this abominable murder: and thus it was, that he suffered himself to be persuaded by the king of Ammon.

He then came together with the princes of the king, even those who were in the first rank when Zedekiah reigned. Then the Prophet adds, that they did eat bread. This phrase intimates that they were received hospitably, and were admitted to the table of Gedaliah. And this kindness and benevolence ought to have induced Ishmael and his associates to spare their host. But it follows, that they rose up. This circumstance, as to the time, enhanced their crime; for it was at the time they were eating that Ishmael slew Gedaliah; and thus he polluted his hands with innocent blood at the sacred table, having paid no regard to the rights of hospitality. Now the Prophet shews that this was fatal to the miserable remnant, who were permitted to dwell in the land. For, first, it could not have been done without exciting the highest indignation of the king of Babylon, for he had set Gedaliah over the land; and it was not expressed without reason, but emphatically, that this slaughter roused the displeasure of the king of Babylon, because the murder of Gedaliah was a manifest contempt of his authority. And then there was another cause of displeasure, for the Chal-deans in Mizpah, who had been given as protectors, were killed. For the Prophet tells us, that they were men of war, that no one might think that Chaldeans were sent there to occupy the place of the Jews, as it is sometimes the case when colonists or some such men settle in a land: they were military men, who had been chosen as a guard and protection to Gedaliah. Thus then was the wrath of the king of Babylon provoked to. vent his rage on the remnant to whom he had shewed mercy. It now follows, —

Smith's Bible Commentary

Tonight let's turn to Jeremiah chapter 41 as we continue our study through the Bible.

Now, these are prophecies that Jeremiah made to the people after Nebuchadnezzar had come and carried away king Zedekiah as a captive to Babylon and left the poor of the people in the land, and he gave unto Gedaliah the office of governor over the people that remained there in the land. Jeremiah was given his choice of going to Babylon where he was promised special treatment, or of staying in the land with the people. And Jeremiah opted for staying in the land with the people. And so Jeremiah continued then to prophesy to the people that remained there in the land. Now he dates this particular prophecy,

in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, who was of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men that were with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah ( Jeremiah 41:1 ).

Now this would have been about three months after Zedekiah had been taken away captive. Now Johanan had warned the governor Gedaliah that this fellow Ishmael was no good. He said, "The king of the Ammonites has really sent him to murder you." He said, "Let me go out secretly and I'll take care of him. He's really no good. He's intending to assassinate you." But Gedaliah says, "Oh, you've been reading too many mystery novels. That's not so at all." So Gedaliah did not heed the warning of Johanan.

Now about thirty days after Johanan had given him this warning, of course Johanan had left Mizpah, that in the seventh month... Now this was the month in which, of course, they gathered for worship. It was the month of the latter part of September, the early part of October in the Jewish calendar, and it was that important month for their various feasts - the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Trumpets, the Yom Kippur - all of that took place at this particular time. And so, no doubt, this Ishmael came... and he was of the royal seed. He wasn't a descendant of Zedekiah, because all of Zedekiah's sons were wiped out. But he was probably a nephew to Zedekiah. At least he felt that he had a right to the throne and was no doubt upset that Nebuchadnezzar had set Gedaliah who was not from the royal seed at all as the governor over the land. And so he came, no doubt, under the guise as a friend to worship, and Gedaliah received him and they ate bread together there in Mizpah, which he had set up as the capital because Jerusalem had been devastated.

Then Ishmael arose, and the ten men that were with him, and they smote Gedaliah with the sword, and they killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, there at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were there, that is the men of war ( Jeremiah 41:2-3 ).

Now "all" is to be thought of in a, not in a literal sense, but all of those that might rise up against him--all of the military men that were there, all of the men that had surrounded him, his officers and those that were his military men who could retaliate against Ishmael.

So it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, [that they had been able to keep it a secret] no one knew it, That there was coming certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and Samaria, eighty men, who had their beards shaved, and their clothes were rent, and they had cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD ( Jeremiah 41:4-5 ).

Now, under the law if you wanted to make a special vow to God you would shave yourself and you would tear your clothes. You wear rags. But it was forbidden to cut yourselves. God didn't want them making any markings on their bodies. And quite often in the pagan worship people would cut themselves.

You remember when the prophets of Baal were in contest with Elijah on mount Carmel and they had built their altars, and the conditions were that the god who answered by fire would be the God. And it said that these prophets of Baal prayed until about lunchtime and Elijah began to sort of kid around with them and say, "I bet your god is on a vacation. Or maybe he's gone to the bathroom. Why don't you cry a little louder?" Elijah was a coarse fellow, and the Bible says he was. So he was just, you know, that kind of a guy. And so these guys, it says, began to cut themselves. That was typical in the pagan worship, of defiling your body. They would cut themselves with their nails, scratch themselves until they bleed. Or they would take knives and slash themselves before their gods.

So that these eighty men who were coming with their offering unto the Lord and with their incense were a sort of a strange admixture, but you remember they're coming out of Samaria and Shechem and Shiloh. Now when Israel had been taken away captive by the Assyrian king, he sent other people into the land so that there was probably the admixture of these religious systems, and because it was the seventh month it would appear that these men were probably going to Jerusalem. Because Ishmael when he meets them he invites them. He says, "Well, come and see Gedaliah. Turn in and see Gedaliah." Of course, they didn't know and maybe he was testing to see if they knew about Gedaliah being slain.

Now the reason why he turned on these men is to keep them from spreading the word. He was trying to keep the word from going out that Gedaliah had been killed because he feared that the other people might come and get him if they found out. So he wanted to really establish himself firmly in the position of the ruler of the land until the new... and keep the news from going out until he could really secure himself in that position. And then it would have been too late for anybody to react or respond. So he went out to these eighty men and he invited them.

he said, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael slew them, and cast them in the middle of the pit, he, and the men that were with him. But ten men among them said unto Ishmael, Don't kill us: for we have hid treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey ( Jeremiah 41:6-8 ).

Now this didn't mean that they had crops on the field, because at the seventh month all of the barley and wheat crops were already in. But they had to hide them, the barley and all. They would dig pits and put them in them to keep the enemy from discovering them and finding them and ripping them off. And so they said, "Hey, we've got these treasures. We've hid them in our field. We've got some honey and barley and wheat and all," and it was really a ransom that they were offering for themselves.

So he did not slay them from among their brethren. Now this pit that he threw them was the pit that Asa the king had dug ( Jeremiah 41:8-9 ).

Probably to get a fresh water supply within the city when Baasha, the king of Israel, was ready to attack them.

And so he filled this pit with these dead bodies ( Jeremiah 41:9 ).

Verse ten:

Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were there at Mizpah ( Jeremiah 41:10 ),

He took all of the rest of the people as captives and he was heading back towards Ammon.

even the king's daughters ( Jeremiah 41:10 ),

Probably the daughters of Zedekiah, they left them. They killed his sons, but they had no reason to kill the girls. They couldn't do much anyhow.

and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah: Ishmael carried them away, and departed to go over to the Ammonites. But when Johanan ( Jeremiah 41:10-11 )

Now, he was the one that had warned Gedaliah that this guy's out to kill you and he was wanting Gedaliah's permission to go and kill him first.

the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, that they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael, and they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon ( Jeremiah 41:11-12 ).

Now to go from Mizpah to Gibeon is not a direct route to Ammon, but he was probably going to pick up the loot that these guys said that they had hid. In Gibeon there were these beautiful pools of water. We remember that the men of Ishbosheth and David met by the pools of Gibeon sitting on either side. And then the generals had the guys fighting and killing each other for their own sport there at the pools of Gibeon. So there at Gibeon, Johanan caught up with the people. And when all of the people saw Johanan, they left Ishmael and Ishmael, of course, escaped and returned to Ammon.

Then Johanan, and all of his captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people that he had recovered from Ishmael, they were brought again from Gibeon: And they departed, and dwelt in Chimham, which is by Bethlehem ( Jeremiah 41:16-17 ),

In other words, they started south toward Egypt. They were fearful now of the retaliation of Nebuchadnezzar because Gedaliah had been slain. And so they were heading south now and were as far as Chimham, which was near Bethlehem. And so it indicates that they already have purposed in their hearts to go to Egypt. It's something they had already determined to do.

Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah, and he was the appointed governor from the Babylonian, Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 41:18 ).

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

In September-October, not long after the fall of Jerusalem, Ishmael and 10 other men came to Mizpah and ate a meal with Gedaliah. It is impossible to date this event by year, but most authorities believe it happened quite soon after the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kings 25:22-26). During the meal, they got up and murdered Nebuchadnezzar’s appointee with the sword. [Note: Jews in the postexilic period commemorated this event with a yearly fast (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).] This was not only an act of treason, but a violation of ancient Near Eastern hospitality customs.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Now it came to pass in the seventh month,.... The month Tisri, which answers to part of our September, and part of October; according to the Jewish b chronicle, it was on the third day of this month, fifty two days after the destruction of the temple, that Gedaliah was slain; on which day a fast was kept by the Jews, after their return from captivity, on this occasion, called the fast of the seventh month, Zechariah 7:5; though, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, this event happened on the first day of the month, the beginning of the new year; but the fast was kept the day following, because the first day was a festival. Josephus c says it was thirty days after Johanan had departed from Gedaliah, having given him information of the conspiracy against him:

[that] Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal: not the son of King Zedekiah, but one of the remoter branches of the family; whether Elishama his father was the same with Elishama the scribe is not certain, Jeremiah 36:12; the Jews have a tradition that he descended from Jerahmeel, whose wife, Atarah, was the daughter of a Heathen king, and was a proselyte, which Kimchi on the place relates; see 1 Chronicles 2:26; this circumstance, of his being akin to the royal family, is mentioned, to show that he envied the governor, and bore him a grudge for the honour he had, thinking that he had a better title to it, as being of the seed royal:

and the princes of the king, even ten men with him; some of the nobles of Zedekiah, who fled with him from Jerusalem, and deserted him when he was pursued and taken, and ever since had remained in the land; even ten of these joined with Ishmael in the conspiracy against Gedaliah, whom they bore an ill will to, for going over to the Chaldeans, and envying the power he was now possessed of. Some think these were ten ruffians, besides the princes of the king, since it may be rendered, "and the princes of the king, and ten men with him"; whom Ishmael and the princes took with them, as fit persons to assassinate the governor; and, besides, it is thought that eleven men were not sufficient to slay the Jews and the Chaldeans, as afterwards related; though it may be observed, that Ishmael, and these ten princes, did not come alone, as it can hardly be imagined they should, but with a number of servants and soldiers with them: these

came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah: they had been with him before, to whom he had swore, and given them assurance of security; and they departed from him to their respective cities, seemingly satisfied; and now return, to pay him a friendly visit, as they pretended:

and there they did eat bread together at Mizpah; had a feast, and kept holiday together, it being a new moon, the first day of the month, and the beginning of the new year too; so that it was a high festival: and perhaps this season was fixed upon the rather, to cover their design, and to perpetrate it; pretending they came to keep the festival with him, and who, no doubt, liberally provided for them; for bread here is put for all provisions and accommodations.

b Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 76. c Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.   2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.   3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.   4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,   5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.   6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.   7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.   8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.   9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.   10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

      It is hard to say which is more astonishing, God's permitting or men's perpetrating such villanies as here we find committed. Such base, barbarous, bloody work is here done by men who by their birth should have been men of honour, by their religion just men, and this done upon those of their own nature, their own nation, their own religion, and now their brethren in affliction, when they were all brought under the power of the victorious Chaldeans, and smarting under the judgments of God, upon no provocation, nor with any prospect of advantage--all done, not only in cold blood, but with art and management. We have scarcely such an instance of perfidious cruelty in all the scripture; so that with John, when he saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, we may well wonder with great admiration. But God permitted it for the completing of the ruin of an unhumbled people, and the filling up of the measure of their judgments, who had filled up the measure of their iniquities. Let it inspire us with an indignation at the wickedness of men and an awe of God's righteousness.

      I. Ishmael and his party treacherously killed Gedaliah himself in the first place. Though the king of Babylon had made him a great man, had given him a commission to be governor of the land which he had conquered, though God had made him a good man and a great blessing to his country, and his agency for its welfare was as life from the dead, yet neither could secure him. Ishmael was of the seed royal (Jeremiah 41:1; Jeremiah 41:1) and therefore jealous of Gedaliah's growing greatness, and enraged that he should merit and accept a commission under the king of Babylon. He had ten men with him that were princes of the king too, guided by the same peevish resentments that he was; these had been with Gedaliah before, to put themselves under his protection (Jeremiah 40:8; Jeremiah 40:8), and now came again to make him a visit; and they did eat bread together in Mizpah. he entertained them generously, and entertained no jealousy of them, notwithstanding the information given him by Johanan. They pretended friendship to him, and gave him no warning to stand on his guard; he was in sincerity friendly to them, and did all he could to oblige them. But those that did eat bread with him lifted up the heel against him. They did not pick a quarrel with him, but watched an opportunity, when they had him alone, and assassinated him, Jeremiah 41:2; Jeremiah 41:2.

      II. They likewise put all to the sword that they found in arms there, both Jews and Chaldeans, all that were employed under Gedaliah or were in any capacity to revenge his death, Jeremiah 41:3; Jeremiah 41:3. As if enough of the blood of Israelites had not been shed by the Chaldeans, their own princes here mingle it with the blood of the Chaldeans. The vine-dressers and the husbandmen were busy in the fields, and knew nothing of this bloody massacre; so artfully was it carried on and concealed.

      III. Some good honest men, that were going all in tears to lament the desolations of Jerusalem, were drawn in by Ishmael, and murdered with the rest. Observe, 1. Whence they came (Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 41:5)-- from Shechem, Samaria, and Shiloh, places that had been famous, but wee now reduced; they belonged to the ten tribes, but there were some in those countries that retained an affection for the worship of the God of Israel. 2. Whither they were going--to the house of the Lord, the temple at Jerusalem, which, no doubt, they had heard of the destruction of, and were going to pay their respects to its ashes, to see its ruins, that their eye might affect their heart with sorrow for them. They favour the dust thereof,Psalms 102:14. They took offerings and incense in their hand, that if they should find any altar there, though it were but an altar of earth, and any priest ready to officiate, they might not be without something to offer; if not, yet they showed their good-will, as Abraham, when he came to the place of the altar, though the altar was gone. The people of God used to go rejoicing to the house of the Lord, but these went in the habit of mourners, with their clothes rent and their heads shaven; for the providence of God loudly called to weeping and mourning, because it was not with the faithful worshippers of God as in months past. 3. How they were decoyed into a fatal snare by Ishmael's malice. Hearing of their approach, he resolved to be the death of them too, so bloodthirsty was he. He seemed as if he hated every one that had the name of an Israelite or the face of an honest man. These pilgrims towards Jerusalem he had a spite to, for the sake of their errand. Ishmael went out to meet them with crocodiles' tears, pretending to bewail the desolations of Jerusalem as much as they; and, to try how they stood affected to Gedaliah and his government, he courted them into the town and found them to have a respect for him, which confirmed him in his resolution to murder them. He said, Come to Gedaliah, pretending he would have them come and live with him, when really he intended that they should come and die with him, Jeremiah 41:6; Jeremiah 41:6. They had heard such a character of Gedaliah that they were willing enough to be acquainted with him; but Ishmael, when he had them in the midst of the town, fell upon them and slew them (Jeremiah 41:7; Jeremiah 41:7), and no doubt took the offerings they had and converted them to his own use; for he that would not stick at such a murder would not stick at sacrilege. Notice is taken of his disposing of the dead bodies of these and the rest that he had slain; he tumbled them all into a great pit (Jeremiah 41:7; Jeremiah 41:7), the same pit that Asa king of Judah had digged long before, either in the city or adjoining to it, when he built or fortified Mizpah (1 Kings 15:22), to be a frontier-garrison against Baasha king of Israel and for fear of him, Jeremiah 41:9; Jeremiah 41:9. Note, Those that dig pits with a good intention know not what bad use they may be put to, one time or other. He slew so many that he could not afford them each a grave, or would not do them so much honour, but threw them all promiscuously into one pit. Among these last that were doomed to the slaughter there were ten that obtained a pardon, by working, not on the compassion, but the covetousness, of those that had them at their mercy, Jeremiah 41:8; Jeremiah 41:8. They said to Ishmael, when he was about to suck their blood, like an insatiable horseleech, after that of the companions, Slay us not, for we have treasurers in the field, country treasures, large stocks upon the ground, abundance of such commodities as the country affords, wheat and barley, and oil and honey, intimating that they would discover it to him and put him in possession of it all, if he would spare them. Skin for skin, and all that a man has, will he give for his life. This bait prevailed. Ishmael saved them, not for the love of mercy, but for the love of money. Here were riches kept for the owners thereof, not to their hurt (Ecclesiastes 5:13) and to cause them to lose their lives (Job 31:39), but to their good and the preserving of their lives. Solomon observes that sometimes the ransom of a man's life is his riches. But those who think thus to bribe death, when it comes with commission, and plead with it, saying, Slay us not, for we have treasures in the field, will find death inexorable and themselves wretchedly deceived.

      IV. He carried off the people prisoners. The king's daughters (whom the Chaldeans cared not for troubling themselves with when they had the king's sons) and the poor of the land, the vine-dressers and husband-men, that were committed to Gedaliah's charge, were all led away prisoners towards the country of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 41:10; Jeremiah 41:10), Ishmael probably intending to make a present of them, as the trophies of his barbarous victory, to the king of that country, that set him on. This melancholy story is a warning to us never to be secure in this world. Worse may be yet to come when we think the worst is over; and that end of one trouble, which we fancy to be the end of all trouble, may prove to be the beginning of another, of a greater. These prisoners thought, Surely the bitterness of death, and of captivity, is past; and yet some died by the sword and others went into captivity. When we think ourselves safe, and begin to be easy, destruction may come that way that we little expect it. There is many a ship wrecked in the harbour. We can never be sure of peace on this side heaven.