_Now, in the seventh month_ Answering partly to our September, and partly to October; two months after the taking of Jerusalem. The murder of Gedaliah gave occasion to the fasts of the seventh month, which the Jews observed after their return from captivity, Zechariah 7:5; Zechariah 8:19. _Ishmael t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ishmael also slew all the Jews and the men of war_ That is, all that joined in opposing him, and in assisting Gedaliah: for several of the commanders, as well as the greater part of the people, were still left alive, as appears by the sequel of the story. _And on the second day after, &c., no man k... [ Continue Reading ]
_There came fourscore men, having their beards shaven_, &c. “These were tokens of great mourning, by which these persons expressed their grief for the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Such expressions of sorrow were forbidden to be used at funeral obsequies, Leviticus 19:27; but might be law... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Ishmael went forth to meet them, weeping all along as he went_ As if he sympathized with them, and bewailed, as they did, the desolations of Jerusalem. He appears to have been a complete hypocrite. _As he met them he said, Come to Gedaliah_ He invites them to the new governor for protection, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the pit was it which Asa had made_, &c. The word בור, here and elsewhere rendered _pit_, frequently signifies, _a cistern, basin_, or, _reservoir;_ a large place made for receiving rain-water; which seems to be the meaning of the word here. This pit, or reservoir, Asa, who built and fortified M... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people_ All that he did not slay: see note on Jeremiah 41:3; and among the rest Zedekiah's daughters, who had been left to the care of Gedaliah, when his sons were slain. These, it seems, being recovered by Johanan, were taken with him into Egypt,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then took Johanan and the captains, all the remnant of the people_, &c. It would have been a happy thing, if Johanan, when he had rescued the captives, would have sat quietly down with them, in the land of Judah, and governed them peaceably as Gedaliah did; but, instead of that, he is for leading t... [ Continue Reading ]