On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, eighty men arrived from (A)Shechem and (B)Shiloh and (C)Samaria, with (D)their beards shaved and (E)their clothes torn, and (F)their bodies gashed, (G)bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from (H)Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have (I)stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with[a] Gedaliah was the large cistern that (J)King Asa had made for defense against (K)Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:9 Hebrew by the hand of

The day after Gedaliah was killed, before anyone knew of it, eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the Lord’s temple. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son!” When they arrived in the middle of the town, Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and the men with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies[a] into a cistern.

But there were ten men among them who begged Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in a field.” So he stopped and didn’t kill them along with the rest.

(Now the cistern that Ishmael used to discard the bodies of the men he had killed because of their association with Gedaliah[b] was the one that King Asa had made to defend against Israel’s King Baasha. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, filled it with the dead.)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:7 Heb lacks and threw their bodies; cf 41:9.
  2. Jeremiah 41:9 Or by the hand of Gedaliah