41:1 But in the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah’s chief officers, came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah,
This banquet most likely took place about one year after the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 583-582 B.C.
41:2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him stood up, pulled out their swords, and killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. Thus Ishmael killed the man that the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country.
Ishmael was from the house of David. Since Gedaliah was not from the house of David, then Ishmael must have seen him as an illegitimate Judean king. Therefore, Ishmael turned the banquet into a political and religious assassination. Since the ancient Middle East meal was a time of friendship and fellowship between two men, then this assassination was a despicable breach of Middle East customs.
41:3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there.
Ishmael killed all of the Judeans and the Babylonian soldiers at Mizpah.
41:4 On the day after Gedaliah had been murdered, before anyone even knew about it,
The assassination went so well, that no one even knew about it until one day later.
41:5 eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves to show they were mourning. They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria were from the northern kingdom. These 80 men were devout Jews who were traveling in a caravan to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the three feasts of Israel (Passover, Pentecost, or the Day of Atonement). Since these men were from the northern kingdom, then it seems as though some of King Josiah’s reforms had a lasting effect upon the northern kingdom. These men cut their beards, tore their clothes, and cut their skin, possibly as a ritual of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem. Cutting their skin was not part of the Mosaic Law, but it was part of the pagan cult practices of mourning. During the time of Elijah, the Baal priests also cut themselves in an effort to get the attention of Baal. These 80 men most likely worshiped at the site of the temple destruction.
41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.
Ishmael pretended to cry. He wanted to make these 80 men think that he was also mourning the destruction of the temple. He befriended the 80 men and asked them if they would like to meet Governor Gedaliah. It was a great honor to meet a governor, so the men accepted this gracious invitation.
41:7 But as soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies in a cistern.
Ishmael and his men were most likely interested in the treasure of the caravan. Therefore, they killed 70 of the 80 men and stole their cargo.
41:8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. So he spared their lives and did not kill them along with the rest.
The last 10 men offered Ishmael and his men more treasure in exchange for their lives.
41:9 Now the cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of those he had killed was a large one that King Asa had constructed as part of his defenses against King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with dead bodies.
King Asa built this cistern to save lives against the siege of King Baasha. Years later, this same cistern was used to bury dead men.
41:10 Then Ishmael took captive all the people who were still left alive in Mizpah. This included the royal princesses and all the rest of the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had put under the authority of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took all these people captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
Ishmael took the plunder from the caravan and captives from the city and fled towards the nation of Ammon. These captives included the royal family.
41:11 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed.
Johanan was the Judean who originally warned Gedaliah about Ishmael’s planned assassination.
41:12 So they took all their troops and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the large pool at Gibeon.
If Johanan did not pursue these assassins, then King Nebuchadnezzar would enforce tougher military rule in Judah.
41:13 When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad.
The captives were hoping that Johanan would save them.
41:14 All those people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.
Ishmael now had to fight against Johanan’s men and their captives.
41:15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah managed to escape from Johanan along with eight of his men, and he went on over to Ammon.
Apparently, two of the men were killed or captured. Ishmael and eight of his men escaped to Ammon.
41:16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon.
Johanan and all of the army officers organized a location change.
41:17 They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians, but stopped at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem.
Johanan and the army officers feared another Babylonian invasion, so they relocated their group to Egypt. They stopped at Geruth Kimham on the way. Geruth Kimhan was near Bethlehem.
41:18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country.
Ishmael’s attack on Governor Gedaliah would most likely motivate Babylon to send more troops to Judah rather than to Ammon.