XLI. (1) IT CAME TO PASS IN THE SEVENTH MONTH. — It lies in the nature of the case that the visit purported to be one of courtesy and recognition. The remaining representatives of the house of David (Jeremiah 40:8) would show that they were ready to welcome the new Satrap. As the seventh month incl... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN AROSE ISHMAEL. — The narrative suggests the thought that, as in the massacre of Glencoe, the guests murdered their host at the very time when he was receiving them with open arms.... [ Continue Reading ]
ISHMAEL ALSO SLEW ALL THE JEWS.... — We wonder at first that ten men were able to effect so much. It does not follow, however, that the massacre went beyond the Jews and Chaldæan officers who were sharing Gedaliah’s hospitality, and they may easily have been surprised, like Gedaliah, unarmed, and in... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE CAME CERTAIN FROM SHECHEM, FROM SHILOH, AND FROM SAMARIA. — The LXX. gives Salem instead of Shiloh, and this agrees better with the order of the names, Salem being a tower or fortress near Shechem (Genesis 33:18), while Shiloh lay further off. The eighty travellers were coming apparently on a... [ Continue Reading ]
WEEPING ALL ALONG AS HE WENT. — The treacherous prince met them as sharing in their grief. He does not tell them of the murder; but assuming that they have heard of Gedaliah’s appointment as Satrap, invites them to come and see him, as being now within the bounds of his jurisdiction. The LXX., it ma... [ Continue Reading ]
ISHMAEL THE SON OF NETHANIAH SLEW THEM. — The purpose of the new murder does not appear at first sight. The very presence of the devout mourners may have roused him to bitterness. Their recognition of Gedaliah may have seemed the act of traitors to their country. Possibly also the act may have been... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TEN MEN WERE FOUND AMONG THEM. — The stores which formed the purchase-money by which the ten saved their lives represented probably the produce of the previous year, which, after the manner of the East, had been concealed in pits, far from the habitations of men, while the land was occupied by t... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF GEDALIAH. — Literally, _by the hand of Gedaliah; i.e.,_ by using his name to entrap the unsuspecting pilgrims. WHICH ASA THE KING HAD MADE FOR FEAR OF BAASHA... — See 1 Kings 15:22; 2 Chronicles 16:6. Baasha had tried to fortify Ramah as an outpost of his kingdom. Asa called in the help... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN THE KING’S DAUGHTERS. — We find in Jeremiah 39:6 that the sons of Zedekiah were slain at Riblah. The daughters (the word was probably used generally for all the princesses of the royal house) were spared, and consigned to the protection of Gedaliah. In taking possession of them, Ishmael was ass... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE GREAT WATERS THAT ARE IN GIBEON. — Johanan and his friends had been unable to prevent the slaughter of which they had warned Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:15), but they were not too late to avenge it. Gibeon, retaining its name with little alteration in the modern _El-jibe,_ lay about two miles from... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE GLAD. — The words are significant as implying the popularity of Gedaliah, and the joy of those who had been under him at seeing the prospect of his murder being avenged. They at once took refuge with the leader of the avenging party.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH EIGHT MEN. — He had come with ten (Jeremiah 41:1), and it is a natural inference that two had perished in one or other of the conflicts of Jeremiah 41:2; Jeremiah 41:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
MIGHTY MEN OF WAR... — These were apparently such as had escaped the massacre of Jeremiah 41:2. In the women, the children, and the eunuchs we find the survivors of the king’s harem. Ebed-melech may well have been among the latter.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY DEPARTED, AND DWELT IN THE HABITATION OF CHIMHAM. — The word translated “habitation “is not found elsewhere, but it is connected with one which means “stranger,” “foreigner,” and means probably a _caravanserai,_ or _hospitium_ for travellers. The name of Chimham throws us back on the history of... [ Continue Reading ]