Gray first light at the plain gateway of Mizpah: the wooden gate standing open on an empty lane, a stone bench in the gate passage with a clay cup lying on its side, thin mist on the terraces beyond; no one there.

After the fall

Jeremiah 41

Has trust ever been broken at your own table?

18 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

Where we are

1The callJosiah’s thirteenth year (about 627 BC): a prophet to the nations
2–6Return to MeBroken cisterns, faithless Judah, disaster from the north
7–10The temple gateThe temple sermon, a weeping prophet, the living God
11–20Covenant and complaintThe broken covenant, the potter, Jeremiah’s confessions
21–29Shepherds and prophetsKings judged, the Branch, seventy years, the yoke, the letter
30–33The Book of ComfortRestoration, the new covenant, a field bought in a siege
34–39The last days of JudahThe scroll burned, the cistern, Jerusalem falls (586 BC)
40–45After the fallGedaliah at Mizpah, the flight to Egypt, a word for BaruchChapter 41
46–51The nationsEgypt to Babylon: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
52Jerusalem fallsThe record of 586 BC, and a king released

The Murder of Gedaliah

In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate a meal together there.

Jeremiah 41:1

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Evening in a stone courtyard at Mizpah, a still life: a low wooden table set for many with flat loaves, a bowl of lentils, a dish of figs and grapes, clay cups and a burning clay oil lamp; no people.

Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.

On the second day after the murder of Gedaliah, when no one yet knew about it, eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.

And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When Ishmael encountered the men, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

And when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.

Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

Far off at dawn, a straggling column of Judean captives, women in good dark robes among poorer families and a few donkeys, small in the landscape as they descend bare eastern slopes toward the Jordan valley, the hills of Ammon blue beyond the river.

Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah—the daughters of the king along with all the others who remained in Mizpah—over whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.

Question

Quick question

Ten of the men from the north bargained for their lives. Look at 41:8.

What did the ten men say they had hidden in the field?

Johanan Rescues the Captives

Stylised map · locations approximate

Where it happened

Mizpah and its roads

Mizpah lay about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The mourners came south from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. Ishmael set off east for Ammon, and Johanan caught up with him at Gibeon, a few miles south-west of Mizpah. Then the remnant went south to Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, on the way to Egypt.

When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him heard of all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. And they found him near the great pool in Gibeon.

When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the army with him, they rejoiced, and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.

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

Evening in a rough hill camp: Judean soldiers, women, children and a few court officials in long linen robes gathered around small fires, donkeys tethered, everyone quiet and watchful.

Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him took the whole remnant of the people from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children, and court officials he had brought back from Gibeon.

0:16

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt to escape the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of the Chaldeans because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Pray

Lord, You saw the meal at Mizpah and what no one else saw. When trust is broken, keep me from bitterness and from running; let me leave judgment with You. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Jeremiah 41

0 of 52 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

Jeremiah 41:1

or swipe left