Jeremiah 40:15

40:7-16 Jeremiah had never in his prophecies spoken of any good days for the Jews, to come immediately after the captivity; yet Providence seemed to encourage such an expectation. But how soon is this hopeful prospect blighted! When God begins a judgment, he will complete it. While pride, ambition, or revenge, bears rule in the heart, men will form new projects, and be restless in mischief, which commonly ends in their own ruin. Who would have thought, that after the destruction of Jerusalem, rebellion would so soon have sprung up? There can be no thorough change but what grace makes. And if the miserable, who are kept in everlasting chains for the judgment of the great day, were again permitted to come on earth, the sin and evil of their nature would be unchanged. Lord, give us new hearts, and that new mind in which the new birth consists, since thou hast said we cannot without it see thy heavenly kingdom.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly,.... Partly that he might, as he thought, more easily prevail upon him, and persuade him to believe the information given; and partly for the sake of the proposal he had to make to him, which it was not proper should be publicly made: saying, let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it; that he had slain him, or that Gedaliah had given him leave to do it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews that are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? suggesting, that it was not barely his losing his own life, which is, and ought to be, precious to every man, and should be carefully preserved, but it would be a public loss; the people, being without a governor, would disperse here and there, fearing their own lives and property would not be safe under a murderer; and that the Chaldeans would be so incensed by such an action, as to come and revenge his death on them; and thus being scattered about, some one way, and some another, would be no more under any form of government as a body politic, and so perish as such, at least; and thus all their hopes, which began to revive, of their beings commonwealth again, would be lost: with this argument Johanan hoped to prevail on Gedaliah to give him leave to slay the conspirator.

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?

It is difficult to say what object Baalis can have had in murdering Gedaliah. As an ally of Zedekiah Jeremiah 27:3 , he may have had a spite against the family of Ahikam for opposing, as most probably they did at Jeremiah's instigation, the league proposed Jeremiah 27 . Ishmael's motive was envy and spite at seeing a subject who had always opposed the war now invested with kingly power, in place of the royal family.

Discerning that Gedaliah took no great notice of his word spoken to him in the presence of the other captains, he goeth to him secretly, offereth him his service to prevent the stroke, if he might have commission from him; mindeth him that if he did not value his own life, yet he ought to consider in what a condition the people would be in case he were cut off; they were now but a small remnant, and then that remnant also would perish.

14. Baalis—named from the idol Baal, as was often the case in heathen names. Ammonites—So it was to them that Ishmael went after murdering Gedaliah (Jer 41:10). slay—literally, "strike thee in the soul," that is, a deadly stroke. Ishmael—Being of the royal seed of David (Jer 41:1), he envied Gedaliah the presidency to which he thought himself entitled; therefore he leagued himself with the ancient heathen enemy of Judah. believed … not—generous, but unwise unsuspiciousness (Ec 9:16).

Gedaliah is forewarned of Ishmael's intention to murder him. - After the return of those who had taken refuge in Moab, etc., Johanan the son of Kareah, together with the rest of the captains who were scattered here and there through the country, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, to say to him: "Dost thou know indeed that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take thy life?" The words "that were in the country" are neither a gloss, nor a thoughtless repetition by some scribe from Jeremiah 40:7 (as Hitzig and Graf suppose), but they are repeated for the purpose of distinguishing plainly between the captains with their men from the Jews who had returned out of Moab, Ammon, and Edom. הכּות, "to strike the soul, life" equals to kill; cf. Genesis 37:21 ; Deuteronomy 19:6 . What induced the king of Ammon to think of assassination - whether it was personal hostility towards Gedaliah, or the hope of destroying the only remaining support of the Jews, and thereby perhaps putting himself in possession of the country, - cannot be determined. That he employed Ishmael for the accomplishment of his purpose, may have been owing to the fact that this man had a personal envy of Gedaliah; for Ishmael, being sprung from the royal family ( Jeremiah 40:1 ), probably could not endure being subordinate to Gedaliah. - The plot had become known, and Gedaliah was secretly informed of it by Johanan; but the former did not believe the rumour.

Johanan then secretly offered to slay Ishmael, taking care that no one should know who did it, and urged compliance in the following terms: "Why should he slay thee, and all the Jews who have gathered themselves round thee be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?" Johanan thus called his attention to the evil consequences which would result to the remnant left in the land were he killed; but Gedaliah replied, "Do not this thing, for thou speakest a lie against Ishmael." The Qeri needlessly changes אל־תּעשׂ into אל־תּעשׂה; cf. Jeremiah 39:12 .

49 . from far , etc.] Isaiah 5:26 of Assyrians, Jeremiah 5:15 of Babylonians (though perhaps originally of Scythians). as the vulture swoopeth ] See on Deuteronomy 14:12 f.; cp. Hosea 8:1 of Assyrians; Habakkuk 1:8 , Jeremiah 48:40 ; Jeremiah 49:22 of Babylonians. whose tongue thou shalt not understand ] Lit. hear ; Jeremiah 5:15 of Babylonians, cp. Isaiah 28:11 of Assyrians (and Deuteronomy 33:9 ).

## negative particle no is to be understood; as 2 Samuel 15:27 , "The king said unto Zadok the priest (art not) thou a seer?" that is, thou dost perfectly see how things go; see Ezekiel 8:6; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Kings 16:31; Jeremiah 31:20 , and Jeremiah 23:23 . The interrogative, pwv, quomodo , how, sometimes absolutely denies; Exodus 6:12,30; Deuteronomy 7:17; Judges 16:15; Psalms 73:11 , and Psalms 137:4; Matthew 12:26,34; 23:33; Mr 4:13; Luke 6:42 ," Romans 10:14-15; 1 Corinthians 14:7,9,16; 1 Timothy 3:5; Hebrews 2:3 (&c.) Why, therefore, XXXX, is often put for prohibition; Genesis 27:45 , "Why should I be deprived of you both in one day?" that is, let me not be deprived of both: 1 Samuel 19:17 , "Why should I kill thee?" that is, let me not kill thee: see 2 Samuel 2:22; 2 Chronicles 25:16; Psalms 79:10; Ecclesiastes 5:5 , and Ecclesiastes 7:17- 18; Jeremiah 27:13,17 , and Jeremiah 40:15; Ezekiel 33:11; Daniel 1:10 . The use of interrogations is various, and almost serves every affection; ## 1. An interrogation, which denotes absurdity in a way of exploring it; as John 3:4 , "How can a man be born when he is old, can he enter a second time into his mother's womb?" as if he had said, this is absurd, and in my judgment cannot be; John 6:52 , "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" as if he had said, this is most absurd: see verse 60, and chap. xii. 34.

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