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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 Is Murdered

41 (A)Now in the seventh month (B)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal [a]family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to (C)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they (D)were eating bread together there in Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and (E)struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and (F)put to death the one (G)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

Now it happened on the [b]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, that eighty men (H)came from (I)Shechem, from (J)Shiloh, and from (K)Samaria with (L)their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and [c]their bodies (M)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the (N)house of the Lord. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, (O)weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him (P)slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have (Q)supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed [d]because of Gedaliah, it was the (R)one that King Asa had constructed on (S)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the (T)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the (U)king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of (V)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

11 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the (W)commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. 12 So they took all the men and went to (X)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the (Y)large [e]pool that is in Gibeon. 13 Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah (Z)escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah (AA)all the remnant of the people whom he had [f]recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were [g]soldiers, the women, the [h]children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in [i](AB)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to (AC)proceed into Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were (AD)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom (AE)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:1 Lit seed
  2. Jeremiah 41:4 Or second
  3. Jeremiah 41:5 Lit having cut themselves
  4. Jeremiah 41:9 Lit by the hand of
  5. Jeremiah 41:12 Lit waters
  6. Jeremiah 41:16 Lit brought back
  7. Jeremiah 41:16 Lit men of war
  8. Jeremiah 41:16 Lit infants
  9. Jeremiah 41:17 Or the lodging place of Chimham