Jeremiah 41

The Governor Murdered at Mizpah

A prince of David's line murders the governor Babylon appointed, and the frightened remnant turns toward Egypt, stopping near Bethlehem.

The seventh month, after the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C. by the Bible Dictionary); the chapter does not name the year Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Jerusalem has fallen and most of its people are in exile. Nebuchadnezzar left “the poor of the land” behind and made Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, “ruler” over them (2 Kgs. 25:12, 2 Kgs. 25:22).

Jerusalem has fallen and most of its people are in exile. Nebuchadnezzar left “the poor of the land” behind and made Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, “ruler” over them (2 Kgs. 25:12, 2 Kgs. 25:22). Gedaliah governed from Mizpah, and Jeremiah, freed by the Babylonians, “dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land” (Jer. 40:6). Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, and Edom came back, and the harvest was large (Jer. 40:11–12).

Chapter 41 ends that fragile peace. It belongs with the chapters on either side: chapter 40 sets the scene and warns of the plot; chapter 42 asks what the Lord says about the way out. The same murder is told briefly in 2 Kgs. 25:25–26.

In brief: “Ishmael kills Gedaliah and carries the people of Mizpah captive—They are rescued by Johanan.” The events fall in “the seventh month.” The chapter gives no year; one reading reasons that it came only about two months after the destruction of Jerusalem.

The thread through the chapter

Jeremiah 41 is a chapter in which the Lord never speaks. The word “LORD” appears once, in the phrase “the house of the LORD” (verse 5), and Jeremiah himself is never named.

Jeremiah 41 is a chapter in which the Lord never speaks. The word “LORD” appears once, in the phrase “the house of the LORD” (verse 5), and Jeremiah himself is never named. Everything is done by men: a royal prince who murders his host, a company of mourners cut down on the road to a ruined sanctuary, an army captain who rescues the captives, and a frightened remnant that decides, in the last two verses, to go to Egypt.

The chapter's question is what the survivors do with their fear. They are afraid of Babylon, and the murder gives them reason. Gedaliah's advice had been to “serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you” (Jer. 40:9). The next chapter shows what happens when they ask for the Lord's word about their plan and then refuse it (Jer. 42:2, Jer. 42:14). Chapter 41 is the road that leads there, and it ends by Bethlehem, on the way to Egypt.

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

Verses 1–3

The meal and the murders

In plain words

In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they ate together. Then Ishmael and his ten men got up and killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor, with the sword. He also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Babylonian soldiers who were there.

1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.

Context #

A guest who came to kill

Ishmael, a man of royal blood, came to Gedaliah as a guest and was received as one.

Ishmael, a man of royal blood, came to Gedaliah as a guest and was received as one. “Of the seed royal” means he came from the royal family of Judah, and 2 Kings records the same title (2 Kgs. 25:25). One reading identifies his grandfather Elishama with a son of David of that name, which would make Ishmael “a lateral branch of the house of David.” That is a suggestion, not something the text states.

The motive is not given in this chapter. An earlier warning names it: “Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee” (Jer. 40:14). Gedaliah had been told, and Johanan had even offered to kill Ishmael quietly, but Gedaliah answered, “Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael” (Jer. 40:15–16). So the guest who “did eat bread” at his table was a man the governor had been warned about and refused to suspect. Why Baalis wanted Gedaliah dead is not stated.

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.

2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Context #

Gedaliah, son of Ahikam

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

Gedaliah came from a family that had served Josiah and had stood by Jeremiah. Josiah sent “Ahikam the son of Shaphan” with Hilkiah the priest and “Shaphan the scribe” to inquire of the Lord (2 Kgs. 22:12–13). His father Ahikam is the man of whom the book says, “the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death” (Jer. 26:24). When Jerusalem fell, the Babylonians took Jeremiah “out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah” (Jer. 39:14).

Gedaliah's policy was what Jeremiah had urged: “Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you” (Jer. 40:9). The refugees who returned from Moab, Ammon, and Edom gathered “wine and summer fruits very much” (Jer. 40:12). The murder ended Gedaliah's government, and with it that settlement.

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

3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.

Verses 4–9

The mourners and the pit

In plain words

The next day, before anyone knew, eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, with beards shaved, clothes torn, and cuts on their bodies, carrying grain offerings and incense to the house of the Lord. Ishmael went out to meet them, weeping as he walked, and said, “Come to Gedaliah.” When they were inside the town he killed them and threw the bodies into a pit. Ten of them said, “Don't kill us, we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field,” and he spared them. The pit was the one King Asa had made long before, against Baasha king of Israel.

4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,

5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.

Context #

Eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria

Eighty men came to the house of the LORD from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, and the text does not say who they were.

Eighty men came to the house of the LORD from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, and the text does not say who they were. One reading takes them to be “pious descendants of the Israelites who belonged to the kingdom of Israel” who still worshipped in Jerusalem, and who came “even after the destruction of Jerusalem” with grain offerings and incense on the site of the sanctuary, “with all the signs of deep sorrow” for its destruction. The text itself says only that they were going “to bring them to the house of the LORD.”

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.

Context #

Beards shaven, cuts in the flesh

Shaved beards, torn clothes, and cuts in the flesh were the marks of mourning.

Shaved beards, torn clothes, and cuts in the flesh were the marks of mourning. Jeremiah himself describes mourning in these terms: men would not “cut themselves, nor make themselves bald” for the dead of Jerusalem (Jer. 16:6), and Moab's grief is “every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings” (Jer. 48:37).

The law of Moses forbade the cutting. “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead” (Lev. 19:28; compare Deut. 14:1), and the priests were told not to shave off the corner of the beard or cut the flesh (Lev. 21:5). The text records the men's practice and passes no judgment on it.

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

6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.

8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.

Context #

Ten men who bought their lives

Ten of the eighty were spared because they offered Ishmael food: “we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.”

Ten of the eighty were spared because they offered Ishmael food: “we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” The Hebrew word, matmonim, means “hidden treasure,” so these are stores of grain, oil, and honey hidden in the field. Ishmael accepted the offer and “slew them not among their brethren.” The text does not say what he did with the stores.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.

9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.

Context #

Asa's pit

The pit went back to King Asa's fortifying of Mizpah. Baasha king of Israel had built Ramah “that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah” (1 Kgs.…

The pit went back to King Asa's fortifying of Mizpah. Baasha king of Israel had built Ramah “that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah” (1 Kgs. 15:17), and when he withdrew, Asa carried off its stones and timber and “built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah” (1 Kgs. 15:22). Jeremiah says that the pit “wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies” was one Asa “had made for fear of Baasha.” The 1 Kings verse speaks only of the stones and timber used to build Mizpah, so the pit is known from Jeremiah.

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

Verses 10–15

Captives taken and rescued

In plain words

Ishmael took captive everyone left in Mizpah, including the king's daughters, whom Nebuzaradan had put in Gedaliah's charge, and set out for Ammon. Johanan son of Kareah and the other army captains heard what Ishmael had done and went to fight him. They found him by the great waters, or pools, at Gibeon. When the captives saw Johanan they were glad, turned around, and went to him. Ishmael escaped with eight men and reached Ammon.

10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

Related Scriptures #

The king's daughters and Mulek

The king's daughters are mentioned here and again in Jer. 43:6, where they are among those who “came into the land of Egypt,” with Jeremiah and Baruch.

The king's daughters are mentioned here and again in Jer. 43:6, where they are among those who “came into the land of Egypt,” with Jeremiah and Baruch. That is all Jeremiah says about them. A Book of Mormon reader will think of Mulek, the only son of Zedekiah to escape: Nephi the son of Helaman says that “the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek” (Hel. 8:21), and Amaleki records that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla “came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah… was carried away captive into Babylon” (Omni 1:15).

It has been reasoned that “the most viable way to keep Mulek safe would have been to seek refuge in Egypt, just as other Israelites were doing at that time, including some of Zedekiah’s daughters (see Jeremiah 43:1–6).” This is a plausible reconstruction, not a recorded fact. Neither Jeremiah nor the Book of Mormon says how Mulek left Judah or whether he was in Mizpah.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture Central, “How Did Mulek Get to the New World?”, KnoWhy #753 (September 20, 2024).

11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

Context #

Johanan, rescuer and then rebel

Johanan was the army captain who had warned Gedaliah, and he is the one who saves the captives.

Johanan was the army captain who had warned Gedaliah, and he is the one who saves the captives. Told of the plot, he had said, “Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it,” and Gedaliah refused (Jer. 40:15–16). Now he “organized an army and attacked Ishmael’s men” and freed the prisoners.

The same man turns against the prophet in the next chapters. When Jeremiah tells the remnant not to go to Egypt, “Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men” answer, “Thou speakest falsely” (Jer. 43:2), and he “obeyed not the voice of the LORD” (Jer. 43:4). So the man who acts rightly against murder in chapter 41 leads the people against the Lord's word in chapter 43.

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.

12 Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.

14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.

15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

Verses 16–18

To Chimham, near Bethlehem

In plain words

Johanan and the captains led the people they had recovered, soldiers, women, children, and court officials, away from Gibeon. They stopped at the habitation of Chimham near Bethlehem, on their way to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Babylonians: Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor.

16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:

17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt,

Context #

The habitation of Chimham

The place is most likely named for the Chimham of David's day. When David returned from Absalom's revolt, the old man Barzillai asked the king to take his servant Chimham in his…

The place is most likely named for the Chimham of David's day. When David returned from Absalom's revolt, the old man Barzillai asked the king to take his servant Chimham in his place: “let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee” (2 Sam. 19:37–38). On one reading, the “habitation” at Bethlehem was an inn, or caravanserai, that this Chimham “is supposed to have built or founded… for the convenience of travellers.” Who built the place is a supposition.

The Bethlehem here is Bethlehem-Judah, “five miles south of Jerusalem.” The company stopped there on the way to Egypt, and in the next chapter they ask Jeremiah to pray “that the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk” (Jer. 42:3).

18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

Related Scriptures #

Why they ran for Egypt

The remnant fled for fear of reprisals. Ishmael had killed “the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war” (verse 3), so the Babylonians at Mizpah were dead along with…

The remnant fled for fear of reprisals. Ishmael had killed “the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war” (verse 3), so the Babylonians at Mizpah were dead along with the governor Babylon had made. “Worried about the Babylonians’ reaction to the Jews because of what happened,” the people moved to Chimham, “from there they intended to go to Egypt for safety.”

Jeremiah 42 shows what the Lord said about the plan. The people ask Jeremiah to pray for them, and the answer is that if they stay, “then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up” (Jer. 42:10), the verbs of Jer. 1:10 (“pull down,” “build,” “plant”) again. They answer, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread” (Jer. 42:14).

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 41

The remnant halts by Bethlehem, “Christ’s birthplace,” the town of which Micah foretold that out of “Beth-lehem Ephratah” would come “he… that is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2). Matthew records that Joseph later took the young child into Egypt and that it fulfilled “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matt. 2:14–15). Jeremiah 41 itself makes no connection between its refugees and the Savior; the link is the place where they stopped.

Worth exploring next

The warning ignored. Read Jer. 40:13–16 beside this chapter.
What the Lord said. Read Jer. 42:1–22 and Jer. 43:1–7, and compare Jer. 1:10.
A parallel account. Compare 2 Kgs. 25:22–26.
The Book of Mormon side. Read Hel. 8:21 and Omni 1:15–16 on Mulek and the people of Zarahemla.

Sources & further reading

The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
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.
“Eunuch”, Bible Dictionary.
“Gibeon, Gibeonites”, Bible Dictionary.
“Bethlehem”, Bible Dictionary.
Jeremiah 37–44: Babylon Conquers Judah, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide.
Scripture Central, “How Did Mulek Get to the New World?”, KnoWhy #753 (September 20, 2024).
Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

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