Jeremiah 41

This chapter belongs to the latter part of the book of Jeremiah, which portrays the condition of the people left in the land after the fall of Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 40, Johanan warned Gedaliah of Ishmael's plot, but Gedaliah did not believe him; this chapter recounts how that warning comes true.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 In the seventh month Ishmael, a member of the royal family, comes to Mizpah with ten men. While eating bread with Gedaliah, he kills him, along with the Jews and the Chaldean soldiers who were with him. For two days no one knows of it.
• Verses 5–9 Ishmael deceives eighty men coming from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria with offerings and incense, leads them into the city, kills them, and throws them into the pit that King Asa had made. He spares ten men who say they have stores of grain and oil hidden in the field.
• Verse 10 Ishmael takes captive the king's daughters and the rest of the people and sets out for Ammon.
• Verses 11–15 Johanan and the captains of the forces overtake Ishmael by the great waters in Gibeon. The captives go over to Johanan, and Ishmael escapes to Ammon with eight men.
• Verses 16–18 Fearing reprisal from the Chaldeans, Johanan and his company set out for Egypt and stop at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 41:2 "and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him" — The order of the Judean community, which had persisted even under Babylonian rule, collapses.
• Jeremiah 41:18 "Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them" — This verse reveals the motive for the flight to Egypt that unfolds in the following chapters.

People and Places

• Gedaliah: Son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan; the governor of the land of Judah appointed by Babylon.
• Ishmael: Son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama; a member of the royal family.
• Johanan: Son of Kareah; leader of the captains of the forces.
• Nebuzaradan: The Babylonian captain of the guard who had committed the people to Gedaliah's care.
• Mizpah: The city where Gedaliah resided. 1 Kings 15:22 records that King Asa built Mizpah.
• Gibeon: The place where Johanan overtook Ishmael.
• Shiloh and Samaria: Northern locations from which the pilgrims had come.
• Ammon: The country to which Ishmael fled.
• Bethlehem and Egypt: The place near which Johanan's company stopped and the land to which they intended to go.

Points for Reflection

• The text does not state the year in which these events took place. Some interpreters therefore place them in the same year as the fall of Jerusalem, while others place them several years later.
• Although the temple had already been destroyed, the pilgrims are on their way to "the house of the LORD" (verse 5). Many interpreters understand this as worship offered at the site of the ruined temple.
• Jewish tradition has understood the fast "in the seventh month" of Zechariah 7:5 as a fast mourning the death of Gedaliah, though the biblical text does not directly connect the two.
• Jeremiah himself does not appear in this chapter. The scene in which the remnant asks him for guidance follows in Jeremiah 42.