Jeremiah 40

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, set him free at Ramah. Nebuzaradan had found him bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken away to Babylon.

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.

NoteLORD printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God (the four Hebrew letters YHWH), which Jewish readers avoided saying aloud; where the text simply says "lord" as a title, ordinary lower case is used. Ramah was a town about five miles north of Jerusalem that the Babylonians used as a staging camp, where prisoners were held and sorted before the long march east. "Commander of the guard" translates a Babylonian court title (literally something like "chief of the butchers") for a very senior royal officer. The events follow the capture of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC.

2The commander of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, "The LORD your God said this disaster would come on this place,

2And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.

NoteA foreign officer speaking about "the LORD your God" was not unusual: in the ancient Near East a conquering army routinely explained a defeat by saying the defeated people's own god had abandoned them or turned against them, and victors often said so publicly.

3and now the LORD has brought it and done exactly what he said. This has come upon you all because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey him.

3Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

4But look, today I am taking off the chains that were on your wrists. If you want to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take good care of you. If you would rather not come with me to Babylon, then don't. Look, the whole land is open to you. Go wherever you think is good and right."

4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.

5Before Jeremiah turned to leave, Nebuzaradan added, "Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon has put him in charge of the towns of Judah. Live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you think best." Then the commander of the guard gave him food and a gift and let him go.

5Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

NoteThe opening words of this verse are obscure in the Hebrew (literally something like "and he was still not turning back") and it is not certain who is speaking or exactly what is meant; translations supply the speaker's name to make it readable. Gedaliah's father Ahikam and grandfather Shaphan were senior officials in the royal court at Jerusalem, and both had protected Jeremiah earlier in his life. Babylon did not appoint a new king over Judah but a governor, an administrator answering to Babylon.

6So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who were still left in the land.

6Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

NoteMizpah was a town in the territory of Benjamin, roughly eight miles north of Jerusalem. With Jerusalem burned and its walls broken down, Mizpah became the administrative center for what was left of Judah.

7The army commanders who were out in the countryside, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor over the land. They heard that Gedaliah had been put in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest people of the land and had not been taken away to Babylon.

7Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;

NoteThese were officers of Judah's army whose units had scattered rather than surrender when Jerusalem fell; they were still armed and living rough in open country. "The poorest of the land" were the people Babylon judged not worth deporting, farm laborers and the landless, who were left behind and given the vineyards and fields of the deported to work.

8So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, along with their men.

8Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

NoteNetophah was a village near Bethlehem. A Maacathite came from Maacah, a small Aramean territory near Mount Hermon, well to the north. Ishmael son of Nethaniah is later identified as a member of Judah's royal family (Jeremiah 41:1), which is why he had a claim of his own to press.

9Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, made a promise under oath to them and their men. He said, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Settle in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you.

9And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

Note"Chaldeans" is the Bible's usual name for the Babylonians; the Chaldeans were the tribal group from southern Mesopotamia that supplied Babylon's ruling dynasty at this time. An oath was a formal, legally binding guarantee sworn before God, not a casual assurance; Gedaliah was staking his own standing on the safety of men who had every reason to expect execution as holdout fighters.

10As for me, I will live at Mizpah and deal with the Chaldeans when they come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, store them in your jars, and live in the towns you have taken over."

10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

NoteWine grapes, summer figs and olives ripen in late summer and early autumn, months after Jerusalem fell, so this is the first normal harvest under the new arrangement. The "jars" are large ceramic storage vessels used for wine and oil. "The towns you have taken over" refers to settlements left empty by the deportations, now simply occupied by whoever was there.

11In the same way, all the Jews living in Moab, in the land of the Ammonites, in Edom, and in all the other countries heard the news. They heard that the king of Babylon had left some of the people of Judah in the land, and had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, in charge of them.

11Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;

NoteMoab, Ammon and Edom were neighboring kingdoms east and southeast of Judah, across the Jordan and the Dead Sea. People had fled there during the Babylonian invasion, as refugees crossing the nearest border.

12So all these Jews came back from every place where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered a very large harvest of wine grapes and summer fruit.

12Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

13Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders who were out in the countryside came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

14They said to him, "Do you know for certain that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

14And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

NoteAmmon had joined Judah in resisting Babylon and had not been conquered; a Babylonian-appointed governor next door was a threat to it. Ishmael, being of Judah's royal line, would have had his own reasons to resent a governor who was not a king and not a descendant of David.

15Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. He said, "Please let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it was me. Why should he kill you? Then all the Jews who have gathered around you would be scattered, and the people left in Judah would die out."

15Then 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?

Note"The people left in Judah" translates a term usually rendered "the remnant", the survivors of a disaster, here the fraction of Judah's population still living in the land after the deportations. Johanan's fear is that Gedaliah's murder would bring Babylonian reprisals and drive even those survivors out.

16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "You must not do this. What you are saying about Ishmael is not true."

16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.