Jeremiah 40:15

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 Mizpah ¹⁴and 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

Let: 1 Samuel 24:4, 1 Samuel 26:8, Job 31:31

wherefore: Jeremiah 12:3, Jeremiah 12:4, 2 Samuel 18:3, 2 Samuel 21:17, Ezekiel 33:24-29, John 11:50

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 25:25 - Ishmael Isaiah 24:1 - scattereth Isaiah 33:15 - stoppeth

Cross-References

Genesis 14:13
Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

Genesis 39:20
So Joseph's master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king's prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,

Genesis 40:3
and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

Genesis 40:4
The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,

Genesis 40:8
"We both had dreams," they replied, "but there is no one to interpret them." Then Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

Genesis 40:10
and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.

Genesis 40:11
Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup into his hand."

Genesis 40:12
Joseph replied, "This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.

Genesis 40:17
In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."

Genesis 40:18
Joseph replied, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.