Jeremiah 40

The Remnant at Mizpah

Jerusalem is gone, Jeremiah is freed by the Babylonian who destroyed it, and a small band of survivors gathers around a governor who will not believe he is in danger.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Bible Dictionary); the chapter gives no date of its own, though the events of chapter 41 fall in “the seventh month” Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

The book now turns from warning to aftermath. Jeremiah prophesied “till after the downfall of Jerusalem, a period of over 40 years, 626–586 B.C.,” and the Bible Dictionary groups…

The book now turns from warning to aftermath. Jeremiah prophesied “till after the downfall of Jerusalem, a period of over 40 years, 626–586 B.C.,” and the Bible Dictionary groups chapters 39–44 as “the prophet's history and other events after the fall of the city.” Chapter 39 told the fall itself. Chapter 40 begins the story of what was left.

The Babylonians carried off most of the people but left “the poor of the land” (Jer. 39:10) under a governor of their choosing, Gedaliah, whose seat was at Mizpah. Jeremiah, who had been in chains among the captives, is released and joins him. Officers who had scattered during the siege, and Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, and Edom, come back to the land. For a moment the remnant looks as if it might live.

In the words of the chapter heading, the king of Babylon “makes Gedaliah governor over the remnant left in Judah—Jeremiah is freed and dwells among them.” The hope does not last. Chapter 41 tells of Gedaliah's murder, and by chapter 43 the survivors have fled to Egypt and taken Jeremiah with them (Jer. 43:6–7).

The thread through the chapter

Chapter 40 is about a second chance and how it was lost. The Babylonian officer who frees Jeremiah says aloud what Jeremiah has preached for decades: the Lord brought this because…

Chapter 40 is about a second chance and how it was lost. The Babylonian officer who frees Jeremiah says aloud what Jeremiah has preached for decades: the Lord brought this because the people would not obey (verses 2–3). Gedaliah's counsel to those who remain is the counsel Jeremiah gave before the fall: serve Babylon, stay in the land, and it will be well (verse 9; compare Jer. 27:11). Verses 7–12 show that counsel working, as scattered Jews come home and gather “wine and summer fruits very much.”

Then comes the warning that Gedaliah will not hear (verses 13–16). The chapter ends with a good man calling a true report a lie, and the reader, who knows from chapter 41 what follows, can see the whole remnant's future turning on that sentence.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–6

Jeremiah set free

In plain words

The word came to Jeremiah after Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, released him at Ramah, where he had been taken in chains with the other captives of Jerusalem and Judah. The captain said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this disaster against this place, and now He has brought it, as He said, because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him.” He freed Jeremiah from his chains and offered him a choice: come to Babylon and be looked after, or stay, with the whole land open to him. Before Jeremiah left, he added, “Go back to Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go wherever you like.” He gave Jeremiah food and a gift and let him go. Jeremiah went to Gedaliah at Mizpah and lived with him among the people left in the land.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.

Context #

Ramah, where the captives were gathered

Ramah was the assembly point for the exiles, a town “about five miles north of Jerusalem” where Jeremiah, “taken in chains with all the other captured Jews,” was released.

Ramah was the assembly point for the exiles, a town “about five miles north of Jerusalem” where Jeremiah, “taken in chains with all the other captured Jews,” was released. The Bible Dictionary lists this verse among the passages showing that “at the time of the captivity the exiles were collected here before removal to Babylon.”

The same town stands behind a line Jeremiah wrote earlier: “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children” (Jer. 31:15). Matthew quotes it when Herod kills the children of Bethlehem: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet” (Matt. 2:17–18). Read beside this verse, that line belongs to the same scene, the exiles gathered at Ramah before removal to Babylon: the weeping there was the weeping of captives, and here Jeremiah stood among them.

Sources: “Ramah”, Bible Dictionary. Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Context #

Chains at Ramah, and the prison court

Jeremiah was in chains again after the fall of the city, though the Babylonians had meant to spare him.

Jeremiah was in chains again after the fall of the city, though the Babylonians had meant to spare him. Chapter 39 reports that Nebuchadrezzar ordered, “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm,” and that Nebuzar-adan's men “took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah” (Jer. 39:11–14). Chapter 40 has him in fetters among the captives at Ramah.

The text does not say how the second account follows the first. The order of events is clear enough: after the fall he “was first taken in chains with all the other captured Jews as far as Ramah,” and there the captain of the guard “loosed his bonds” and sent him back to Gedaliah. How he came to be among the captives after the king's order, neither chapter explains.

Sources: Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Language #

A heading with no word in it

The opening formula promises a prophecy, but none follows in verses 1–6; the first word from the Lord in this part of the book comes only when He answers the survivors in Jer. 42:7.

The opening formula promises a prophecy, but none follows in verses 1–6; the first word from the Lord in this part of the book comes only when He answers the survivors in Jer. 42:7. One reading is that the formula is a heading for the whole section that follows (chapters 40–45), “the prophecies which Jeremiah uttered after the destruction of Jerusalem,” just as the word of the Lord in Jer. 1:2 heads the prophecies before it. That is an explanation of the book's layout, not something the text states, and it does not change how the chapter reads.

Sources: Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.

3 Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

Related Scriptures #

A Babylonian says what Jeremiah said

Nebuzar-adan gives the explanation of the fall that Jeremiah had given for forty years: the Lord pronounced it, the Lord brought it, because the people “have not obeyed his voice.”

Nebuzar-adan gives the explanation of the fall that Jeremiah had given for forty years: the Lord pronounced it, the Lord brought it, because the people “have not obeyed his voice.” The speaker is a Babylonian officer, and he sounds like a prophet. One reading is that “the mode of expression is that of Jeremiah,” while Nebuzar-adan may have been saying only that what Jeremiah predicted “in the name of God” had now been fulfilled. Either way the text has a foreign soldier confirming the prophet whom his own king had ordered treated well (Jer. 39:11–12).

The Church's footnotes pair the verse with two other places where the same cause is named. Jeremiah himself says it to the survivors who went to Egypt: “Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord… therefore this evil is happened unto you” (Jer. 44:23). The Lord says it to the Saints driven from Missouri: “I, the Lord, have suffered the affliction to come upon them, wherewith they have been afflicted, in consequence of their transgressions” (D&C 101:2).

4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.

Context #

Babylon or the land

Jeremiah is given a free choice between a comfortable exile and a ruined homeland, and he stays.

Jeremiah is given a free choice between a comfortable exile and a ruined homeland, and he stays. “The Babylonians completely freed Jeremiah. They suggested that he go live with Gedaliah,” and he did. The text records no deliberation and no word from the Lord on the matter.

His staying fits what he had preached. He told the nations that those who “bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him,” would “remain still in their own land” (Jer. 27:11). The remnant at Mizpah is where that counsel is now put to the test (verse 9).

Sources: Jeremiah 37–44: Babylon Conquers Judah, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

Context #

Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan

Gedaliah came from a family that had served King Josiah and stood by Jeremiah.

Gedaliah came from a family that had served King Josiah and stood by Jeremiah. His father, “Ahikam the son of Shaphan,” was among those Josiah sent to inquire of the Lord when the book of the law was found, together with “Shaphan the scribe” (2 Chr. 34:20–21). When the people wanted Jeremiah put to death after his temple sermon, “the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah” and protected him (Jer. 26:24).

Babylon put over the remnant a man from that family. He was made “ruler” over “the people that remained in the land of Judah” (2 Kgs. 25:22), “governor” in the KJV of this chapter (verses 5 and 7), but not king. He is not described as a descendant of David; the man who will kill him is, “of the seed royal” (Jer. 41:1).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

Verses 7–12

The remnant gathers

In plain words

The army officers still out in the countryside heard that the king of Babylon had put Gedaliah over the poor who were left, including men, women, and children, and they came to him at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, with their men. Gedaliah swore to them: “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Settle in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. I will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us. You gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, store them in jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.” The Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah under Gedaliah. They all came back and gathered a very large harvest of wine and summer fruit.

7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;

Context #

The poor who were left

The remnant is mostly the poor, the people the Babylonians did not carry off.

The remnant is mostly the poor, the people the Babylonians did not carry off. Earlier the captain of the guard “left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time” (Jer. 39:10). Gedaliah is put over these, “men, and women, and children.”

The officers in the field are different. During the conquest many soldiers “had dispersed here and there through the land, and fled for refuge to regions difficult of access,” and these now come in. So Mizpah holds three groups: the poor, the officers and their men, and the returning refugees of verses 11–12. They share only the fact that they were not taken.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

8 Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

Related Scriptures #

Gedaliah repeats Jeremiah's counsel

Gedaliah's oath echoes what Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon: “seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for…

Gedaliah's oath echoes what Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon: “seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it” (Jer. 29:7). Second Kings gives nearly the same oath: “Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you” (2 Kgs. 25:24).

The Lord later puts the same promise in His own words to the survivors, using the verbs of Jeremiah's call: “If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up” (Jer. 42:10; compare Jer. 1:10). The chapter gives a few harvest months in which that promise could be seen working.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

11 Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;

12 Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

Context #

Why the refugees came back

Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and “all the countries” return because they hear that Babylon “had left a remnant of Judah” under Gedaliah.

Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and “all the countries” return because they hear that Babylon “had left a remnant of Judah” under Gedaliah. They come on the strength of a report, to a place where they were promised safety on one condition: submission to the king of Babylon. The harvest of “wine and summer fruits very much” is the evidence that the plan was working.

The refugees' return also shows what the murder will cost. When Gedaliah dies, those who gathered to him are scattered again, and the survivors leave for Egypt “because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them” (Jer. 41:17–18).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Verses 13–16

A warning Gedaliah will not hear

In plain words

Johanan and the other officers came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and asked, “Don't you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” Gedaliah did not believe them. Johanan then spoke privately: “Let me kill Ishmael. No one will know. Why should he kill you, scatter all the Jews who have gathered to you, and let the remnant of Judah perish?” Gedaliah answered, “Do not do this. What you say about Ishmael is false.”

13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

14 And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

Context #

Gedaliah would not believe

Gedaliah's refusal to believe the plot against him ends the remnant's brief peace.

Gedaliah's refusal to believe the plot against him ends the remnant's brief peace. Ishmael came to Mizpah with ten men, ate with Gedaliah, and killed him, and with him “all the Jews that were with him… and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war” (Jer. 41:1–3). “The good governor was warned of this, but he would not believe those who had informed him of the plot.”

Why Baalis the king of Ammon wanted Gedaliah dead the text does not say. Personal hostility is possible, or the hope of removing “the only remaining support of the Jews” and taking the country, but which it was “cannot be determined.” Johanan's secret offer to kill Ishmael first is the one way out the chapter shows, and Gedaliah answers that Johanan “speakest falsely.” Gedaliah's answer is the last word of the chapter, and chapter 41 shows what it cost.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 40

Ramah links this chapter to the birth of Christ. Jeremiah wrote of weeping there (Jer. 31:15), the chapter shows the captives gathered there, and Matthew says the weeping was fulfilled when Herod killed the children of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:17–18). In Jeremiah 31 the Lord answers the weeping at once: “Refrain thy voice from weeping… for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy” (Jer. 31:16). The Lord's word about Jerusalem proved true in judgment, as Nebuzar-adan's words in verses 2–3 admit, and the same chapter of Jeremiah that names Ramah promises return from the land of the enemy.

Worth exploring next

The next chapter. Read Jer. 41 for the murder of Gedaliah and what follows.
The survivors' request. Read Jer. 42–Jer. 43, where the remnant asks Jeremiah for the Lord's word and then refuses it.
Rachel at Ramah. Compare Jer. 31:15–17 and Matt. 2:16–18.
The family of Shaphan. Read 2 Chr. 34:14–21 and Jer. 26:16–24.

Sources & further reading

“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
“Ramah”, Bible Dictionary.
Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Jeremiah 37–44: Babylon Conquers Judah, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide.
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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