13. in the fields--not in the city, but scattered in the country ([Jr 40:7]).
14. Baalis--named from the idol Baal, as was often the case in heathen names.
Ammonites--So it was to them that Ishmael went after murdering Gedaliah ([Jr 41:10]).
slay--literally, "strike thee in the soul," that is, a deadly stroke.
Ishmael--Being of the royal seed of David ([Jr 41:1]), he envied Gedaliah the presidency to which he thought himself entitled; therefore he leagued himself with the ancient heathen enemy of Judah.
believed ... not--generous, but unwise unsuspiciousness ([Ec 9:16]).
16. thou speakest falsely--a mystery of providence that God should permit the righteous, in spite of warning, thus to rush into the trap laid for them! [Is 57:1] suggests a solution.
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], ).
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], ).
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], ; [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], ).
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.
14. cast about--came round.
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.
18. afraid--lest the Chaldeans should suspect all the Jews of being implicated in Ishmael's treason, as though the Jews sought to have a prince of the house of David ([Jr 41:1]). Their better way towards gaining God's favor would have been to have laid the blame on the real culprit, and to have cleared themselves. A tortuous policy is the parent of fear. Righteousness inspires with boldness ([Psa 53:5]; [Pr 28:1]).
Chapter 42
Jr 42:1-22. The Jews and Johanan Inquire of God, through Jeremiah, as to Going to Egypt, Promising Obedience to His Will. Their Safety on Condition of Staying in Judea, and Their Destruction in the Event of Going to Egypt, Are Foretold. Their Hypocrisy in Asking for Counsel Which They Meant Not to Follow, if Contrary to Their Own Determination, Is Reproved
2. Jeremiah--He probably was one of the number carried off from Mizpah, and dwelt with Johanan ([Jr 41:16]). Hence the expression is, "came near" ([Jr 42:1]), not "sent."
Let ... supplication be accepted--literally, "fall" (see on [Jr 36:7]; [Jr 37:20]).
pray for us--([Ge 20:7]; [Is 37:4]; [Jas 5:16]).
thy God--([Jr 42:5]). The Jews use this form to express their belief in the peculiar relation in which Jeremiah stood to God as His accredited prophet. Jeremiah in his reply reminds them that God is their God ("your God") as well as his as being the covenant people ([Jr 42:4]). They in turn acknowledge this in [Jr 42:6], "the Lord our God."
few of many--as had been foretold ([Le 26:22]).
3. They consulted God, like many, not so much to know what was right, as wishing Him to authorize what they had already determined on, whether agreeable to His will or not. So Ahab in consulting Micaiah ([1Ki 22:13]). Compare Jeremiah's answer ([Jr 42:4]) with Micaiah's ([1Ki 22:14]).