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41 And then[a] in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, from the offspring of the kingship, and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, along with[b] ten men. And they ate bread together there at Mizpah. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got up, along with[c] the ten men who were with him, and they struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him whom the king of Babylon had appointed in an official position over the land. Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with[d] the Chaldeans who were found there, the soldiers.[e]

The Massacre of the Mourners

And then[f] on the second day of the killing of Gedaliah—and no one[g] knew— then men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with shaven beards[h] and torn garments, who had cut themselves with blades, having[i] grain offerings[j] and frankincense in their hands[k] to bring to the temple[l] of Yahweh. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out to meet them from Mizpah, weeping as he came.[m] And then[n] as he was meeting them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” And then,[o] the moment of their coming to the middle of the city, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, along with[p] the men who were with him, slaughtered[q] them and threw them to the middle of the pit.[r] But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, “You must not kill us, for we have[s] hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen. Now the pit[t] into which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with[u] Gedaliah was the same one that King Asa had made because of Baasha the king of Israel, who was against him. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain ones.

10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were left at Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[v] had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.[w]

11 When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, heard[x] all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 then they took all the men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they met him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. 13 And then,[y] the moment that all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped with eight men from[z] Johanan, and they went to the Ammonites.[aa]

16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, strong men, soldiers,[ab] and women, and little children, and eunuchs whom he brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they set out and stayed at the lodging place of Chimham that is near Bethlehem, intending[ac] to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them,[ad] because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in an official position over the land.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:1 Literally “And it was”
  2. Jeremiah 41:1 Literally “and”
  3. Jeremiah 41:2 Literally “and”
  4. Jeremiah 41:3 Literally “and”
  5. Jeremiah 41:3 Literally “the men of the war”
  6. Jeremiah 41:4 Literally “And it was”
  7. Jeremiah 41:4 Literally “not a man”
  8. Jeremiah 41:5 Hebrew “beard”
  9. Jeremiah 41:5 Literally “and”
  10. Jeremiah 41:5 Hebrew “grain offering”
  11. Jeremiah 41:5 Hebrew “hand”
  12. Jeremiah 41:5 Literally “house”
  13. Jeremiah 41:6 Literally “coming he came and weeping”
  14. Jeremiah 41:6 Literally “And it was”
  15. Jeremiah 41:7 Literally “And it was”
  16. Jeremiah 41:7 Literally “and”
  17. Jeremiah 41:7 The Hebrew verb is singular
  18. Jeremiah 41:7 Or “cistern”
  19. Jeremiah 41:8 Literally “there is to us”
  20. Jeremiah 41:9 Or “cistern”
  21. Jeremiah 41:9 Literally “by the hand of”
  22. Jeremiah 41:10 Hebrew “guards”
  23. Jeremiah 41:10 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  24. Jeremiah 41:11 The Hebrew verb is singular
  25. Jeremiah 41:13 Literally “And it was”
  26. Jeremiah 41:15 Literally “from the face of”
  27. Jeremiah 41:15 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  28. Jeremiah 41:16 Literally “the men of the war”
  29. Jeremiah 41:17 Literally “going”
  30. Jeremiah 41:18 Literally “from the face of them”

Gedaliah Assassinated by Ishmael

41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with 10 men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah, but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.(A)

On the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one knew yet, 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh,(B) and Samaria(C) who had shaved their beards,(D) torn their garments, and gashed themselves, and who were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the Lord.(E) Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out of Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. When he encountered them, he said: “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!” But when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into[a] a cistern.

However, there were 10 men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions. Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one[b] that King Asa had made in the encounter with Baasha king of Israel.(F) Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

10 Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king—all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.(G)

The Captives Rescued by Johanan

11 When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies(H) with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, 12 they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.(I) 13 When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the army with him, they rejoiced, 14 and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and rejoined Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. 16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon. 17 They left, stopping in Geruth Chimham,(J) which is near Bethlehem, in order to make their way into Egypt, 18 away from the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.(K)

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:7 Syr; MT reads slaughtered them in
  2. Jeremiah 41:9 LXX; MT reads down by the hand of Gedaliah