Jeremiah 41 · Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
CHAPTER 41 Jr 41:1-18 . Ishmael Murders Gedaliah and Others, Then Flees to the Ammonites. Johanan Pursues Him, Recovers the Captives, and Purposes to Flee to Egypt for Fear of the Chaldeans. 1. seventh month-- the second month after the burning of the city ( Jr 52:12 , 13 ). and the princes-- not the nominative. And the princes came, for the "princes" are not mentioned either in Jr 41:2 or in 2Ki 25:25 : but, "Ishmael being of the seed royal and of the princes of the king" [Maurer]. But the ten men were the "princes of the king"; thus Maurer's objection has no weight: so English Version. eat bread together-- Ishmael murdered Gedaliah, by whom he was hospitably received, in violation of the sacred right of hospitality ( Psa 41:9 ).
2. slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor-- This assigns a reason for their slaying him, as well as showing the magnitude of their crime ( Da 2:21 ; Ro 13:1 ).
3. slew all the Jews-- namely, the attendants and ministers of Gedaliah; or, the military alone, about his person; translate, "even (not 'and,' as English Version) the men of war." The main portion of the people with Gedaliah, including Jeremiah, Ishmael carried away captive ( Jr 41:10 , 16 ).
4. no man knew it-- that is, outside Mizpah. Before tidings of the murder had gone abroad.
5. beards shaven, &c.-- indicating their deep sorrow at the destruction of the temple and city. cut themselves-- a heathen custom, forbidden ( Le 19:27 , 28 ; De 14:1 ). These men were mostly from Samaria, where the ten tribes, previous to their deportation, had fallen into heathen practices. offerings-- unbloody. They do not bring sacrificial victims, but "incense," &c., to testify their piety. house of ... Lord-- that is, the place where the house of the Lord had stood ( 2Ki 25:9 ). The place in which a temple had stood, even when it had been destroyed, was held sacred [Papinian]. Those "from Shiloh" would naturally seek the house of the Lord, since it was at Shiloh it originally was set up ( Jos 18:1 ).
6. weeping-- pretending to weep, as they did, for the ruin of the temple. Come to Gedaliah-- as if he was one of Gedaliah's retinue.
7. and cast them into ... pit-- He had not killed them in the pit (compare Jr 41:9 ); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version. the pit-- the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city ( Jr 41:9 ; 1Ki 15:22 ). The trench or fosse round the city [Grotius]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.
8. treasures-- It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared. slew ... not-- ( Pr 13:8 ). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.
9. because of Gedaliah-- rather, "near Gedaliah," namely, those intercepted by Ishmael on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem and killed at Mizpah, where Gedaliah had lived. So 2Ch 17:15 , "next"; Ne 3:2 , Margin, literally, as here, "at his hand." "In the reign of Gedaliah" [Calvin]. However, English Version gives a good sense: Ishmael's reason for killing them was because of his supposing them to be connected with Gedaliah.
10. the king's daughters-- ( Jr 43:6 ). Zedekiah's. Ishmael must have got additional followers (whom the hope of gain attracted), besides those who originally set out with him ( Jr 41:1 ), so as to have been able to carry off all the residue of the people. He probably meant to sell them as slaves to the Ammonites (see on Jr 40:14 ).
11. Johanan-- the friend of Gedaliah who had warned him of Ishmael's treachery, but in vain ( Jr 40:8 , 13 ).
12. the ... waters-- ( 2Sa 2:13 ); a large reservoir or lake. in Gibeon-- on the road from Mizpah to Ammon: one of the sacerdotal cities of Benjamin, four miles northwest of Jerusalem, now Eljib.
13. glad-- at the prospect of having a deliverer from their captivity.
16. men of war-- "The men of war," stated in Jr 41:3 to have been slain by Ishmael, must refer to the military about Gedaliah's person; "the men of war" here to those not so. eunuchs-- The kings of Judah had adopted the bad practice of having harems and eunuchs from the surrounding heathen kingdoms.
17. dwelt-- for a time, until they were ready for their journey to Egypt ( Jr 42:1-22 ). habitation to Chimham-- his "caravanserai" close by Beth-lehem. David, in reward for Barzillai's loyalty, took Chimham his son under his patronage, and made over to him his own patrimony in the land of Beth-lehem. It was thence called the habitation of Chimham (Geruth-Chimham), though it reverted to David's heirs in the year of jubilee. "Caravanserais" (a compound Persian word, meaning "the house of a company of travellers") differ from our inns, in that there is no host to supply food, but each traveller must carry with him his own.