Jeremiah 40:13

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁷When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon, ⁸they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah-Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite: they and their men. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ¹⁰As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather in wine, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken over." ¹¹When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them, ¹²they all returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered an abundance of wine and summer fruit. ¹³Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah¹⁴and said to him, "Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. "Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah," he said. "No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the Jews who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?" ¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Johanan: Johanan and his companions seem to have acted honestly in this affair. They had received intelligence of designs formed against Gedaliah's life, and consequently against the whole new settlement. Ishmael, being a branch of David's family, was probably displeased that another was preferred above him; and the king of the Ammonites, out of hatred to the Jews, employed him to slay Gedaliah. But Gedaliah, conscious of his own integrity and benevolence, took the portrait of others from his own mind; and therefore believed evil of no man, because he felt none towards any in his own breast. He may be reproached for being too credulous and confiding; but this only serves to shew the greatness of his soul; for a little mind is always suspicious, and ready to believe the worst of every person and thing. Jeremiah 40:6-8

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 16:9 - let me go Jeremiah 41:11 - Johanan Jeremiah 42:1 - all the Jeremiah 42:8 - Johanan Jeremiah 43:2 - Johanan 1 Corinthians 13:5 - thinketh

Cross-References

Genesis 7:4
For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made."

Genesis 40:19
Within three days Pharaoh will lift your head off of you and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body."

Genesis 40:22
But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted the dream to them.

2 Kings 25:27
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah's King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.

Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

Jeremiah 52:31
Now on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Moreover, Johanan the son of Kareah,.... Who seems to be the principal captain next to Ishmael, against whom an information is brought, and so not present; this captain is here only mentioned by name, and before next to Ishmael:

and all the captains of the forces that [were] in the fields; or that had been in the fields, and probably might be there again; see

Jeremiah 40:7; that is, the rest of them, besides Johanan mentioned, and Ishmael the conspirator: these

came to Gedaliah to Mizpah; they had been with him before, and being satisfied by him of the safety they would be in, in the service of the Chaldeans, under him, either returned to the fields from whence they came, or went to those cities and villages he directed them to; but, like honest and faithful men, knowing there was a conspiracy against his life, came in a body to inform him of it, for the greater certainty of it; as judging he would be more ready to give heed unto it, than if only a single person had informed him of it, as well as to show their affection and loyalty to him.