Jeremias 41

ARC · Chapter 41/52

1Succedeu, porém, no mez setimo, que veiu Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, filho d'Elisama, de sangue real, e os capitães do rei, a saber, dez homens com elle, a Gedalias, filho d'Ahicam, a Mizpah; e comeram ali pão juntamente em Mizpah.

2E levantou-se Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, com os dez homens que estavam com elle, e feriram a Gedalias, filho de Ahicam, filho de Saphan, á espada; e matou aquelle que o rei de Babylonia havia posto sobre a terra.

3Tambem feriu Ishmael a todos os judeos que havia com elle, com Gedalias, em Mizpah, como tambem aos chaldeos, homens de guerra, que se acharam ali.

4Succedeu pois no dia seguinte, depois que matára a Gedalias, e sem ninguem o saber,

5Que vieram homens de Sichem, de Silo, e de Samaria; oitenta homens, com a barba rapada, e os vestidos rasgados, e sarjando-se; e traziam nas suas mãos offertas de manjares e incenso, para levarem á casa do Senhor.

6E, saindo-lhes ao encontro Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, desde Mizpah, ia chorando; e succedeu que, encontrando-os, lhes disse: Vinde a Gedalias, filho de Ahicam.

7Succedeu, porém, que, entrando elles até ao meio da cidade, matou-os Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, e os lançou no meio de um poço, elle e os homens que estavam com elle.

8Mas acharam-se entre elles dez homens que disseram a Ishmael: Não nos mates a nós; porque temos no campo thesouros escondidos, trigo e cevada, e azeite e mel. E os deixou, e não os matou entre seus irmãos.

9E o poço em que Ishmael lançou todos os cadaveres dos homens que feriu por causa de Gedalias é o mesmo que fez o rei Asa, por causa de Baasa, rei de Israel: a este encheu de mortos Ishmael, filho de Nethanias.

10E Ishmael levou captivo a todo o resto do povo que estava em Mizpah; as filhas do rei, e todo o povo que restou em Mizpah, que Nebuzaradan, capitão da guarda, havia encarregado a Gedalias, filho de Ahicam; e levou-os captivos Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, e foi-se para passar aos filhos de Ammon.

11Ouvindo pois Johanan, filho de Careah, e todos os principes dos exercitos que havia com elle, todo o mal que havia feito Ishmael, filho de Nethanias,

12Tomaram todos os seus homens, e foram pelejar contra Ishmael, filho de Nethanias: e acharam-n'o ao pé das muitas aguas que ha em Gibeon.

13E aconteceu que, vendo todo o povo, que estava com Ishmael, a Johanan filho de Careah, e a todos os principes dos exercitos, que vinham com elle, se alegrou.

14E todo o povo que Ishmael levara captivo de Mizpah virou as costas, e voltou, e foi para Johanan, filho de Careah.

15Porém Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, escapou com oito homens de diante de Johanan, e se foi para os filhos de Ammon.

16Então tomou Johanan, filho de Careah, e todos os principes dos exercitos que havia com elle, a todo o resto do povo que elle havia recobrado de Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, desde Mizpah, depois de haver ferido a Gedalias, filho de Ahicam, aos homens valentes de guerra, e ás mulheres, e aos meninos, e aos eunuchos que havia recobrado de Gibeon,

17E foram, e moraram na habitação de Geruth-chimham, que está perto de Beth-lehem, para se irem e entrarem no Egypto,

18Por causa dos chaldeos; porque os temiam, por haver ferido Ishmael, filho de Nethanias, a Gedalias, filho de Ahicam, a quem o rei de Babylonia tinha posto sobre a terra.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ishmael, of royal blood, assassinates Governor Gedaliah and others who were with him, throwing the bodies into a cistern. Johanan responds and rescues the people captured by Ishmael before he could flee to the Ammonites.

Explanation

This brutal assassination, driven by political jealousy and possibly incited by the neighboring king of Ammon, destroys the last attempt at orderly rebuilding in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem. The cruel detail of killing even religious pilgrims who came bringing offerings to the temple (even though it lay in ruins) shows the complete breakdown of social and moral order in the period. Johanan's swift response, pursuing Ishmael and freeing the prisoners, prevents an even greater catastrophe, but the chaos it creates leads directly to the people's decision, in the following chapter, to flee to Egypt against God's counsel.

Fun facts

  • The cistern used to hide the bodies had originally been built by King Asa centuries earlier as part of his defenses against King Baasha of Israel (1 Kings 15:22), showing the reuse of ancient structures.
  • Baalis, the Ammonite king named as the instigator of the assassination, is confirmed by archaeological seals mentioning an Ammonite official from the same period, supporting the historicity of the account.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 41:1Ishmael, of royal blood and Davidic lineage, kills Gedaliah, possibly because he could not accept a governor who was not of the royal family, or at the orders of the neighboring king of Ammon (see 40:14). The assassination ends the only chance of peaceful rebuilding left in Judah.
  2. Jeremias 41:2Ishmael carries out the conspiracy: he kills Gedaliah with the sword during a meal, killing also the man the king of Babylon himself had chosen to govern -- a blow against the Babylonian authority that had been set in place.
  3. Jeremias 41:3The massacre does not stop with Gedaliah: Ishmael also kills the Jews present and the Babylonian soldiers stationed at Mizpah, eliminating any witness or immediate resistance.
  4. Jeremias 41:4The crime stays secret for an entire day before being discovered by those who arrive afterward -- a detail that explains why the next scene unfolds without suspicion.
  5. Jeremias 41:5A group of eighty pilgrims arrives from the old territory of Israel (Shechem, Shiloh, Samaria), showing signs of mourning -- shaved beards, torn clothes, cuts on their bodies -- bringing offerings for the already destroyed temple, not knowing what had happened.
  6. Jeremias 41:6Ishmael goes out pretending to weep in order to lure the pilgrims to Mizpah, hiding from them that Gedaliah was already dead -- a trap disguised as an invitation to mourn.
  7. Jeremias 41:7The pit where the bodies are thrown had been dug long before, by King Asa, nearly 300 years earlier, as part of a defense system against King Baasha of Israel -- a detail showing how the region’s geography and ancient works get mixed up with the present tragedy.
  8. Jeremias 41:8Ten of the pilgrims save themselves by offering to reveal where they had hidden stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey -- Ishmael spares them out of material interest, not mercy.
  9. Jeremias 41:9The pit where Ishmael throws the bodies had originally been dug by King Asa, generations earlier, as part of the defenses against King Baasha of Israel -- now repurposed as a mass grave.
  10. Jeremias 41:10Ishmael kidnaps the rest of the population of Mizpah, including the king’s own daughters, and sets out toward Ammonite territory, where the conspiracy had come from.
  11. Jeremias 41:11Johanan and the other military commanders receive word of everything Ishmael has done and decide to act to keep him from taking the captives out of Judah.
  12. Jeremias 41:12They pursue Ishmael and catch up with him near the great pool of water at Gibeon, a well-known landmark in the region.
  13. Jeremias 41:13When they see Johanan and the others arriving, the very captives Ishmael was leading react with relief, glad for the chance to escape.
  14. Jeremias 41:14Seizing the moment, all the kidnapped people turn their backs on Ishmael and run toward Johanan, abandoning their captor.
  15. Jeremias 41:15Ishmael escapes with only eight men, fleeing to Ammonite territory before Johanan can capture him -- the leader of the massacre is never directly punished in the narrative.
  16. Jeremias 41:16Johanan gathers the rescued people -- soldiers, women, children, eunuchs -- all who had been kidnapped from Mizpah after Gedaliah’s death.
  17. Jeremias 41:17The group decides not to return to Mizpah, but to stop near Bethlehem, already thinking of heading on to Egypt -- the start of the movement that will drag Jeremiah, against his own will, there too.
  18. Jeremias 41:18The reason for the fear is concrete: they dreaded Babylonian retaliation for Gedaliah’s death, since he was the governor Babylon itself had appointed over the land.

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