And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.
22 26. Gedaliah is made governor of the people remaining in Jerusalem. He is slain, and the people flee to Egypt (Not in Chronicles. Cf. Jeremiah, chaps. 40. and 41)
22. And as for the people that remained ] R.V. were left. The change is in accordance with A.V. in verse 11 above.
made Gedaliah ruler ] R.V. governor. This man was of a conspicuous family, and is described by Josephus ( Ant. x. 9. 1 3) as a man gentle and just. His father Ahikam had influence enough in the evil days of Jehoiakim to be able to protect and save the life of Jeremiah (Jer 26:24). His grandfather Shaphan was one of the great personages in the court of Josiah. Beyond what is related in these verses, little is known of Gedaliah, though the history of his brief rule is somewhat expanded by Jeremiah in the two chapters 40. and 41.
The change of rendering is in conformity with A.V. in Jer 40:7, and with the verse 23 next following.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
We may be allowed to conjecture that Jeremiah, in gratitude for Ahikams service to himself Jer 26:24, recommended his son Gedaliah to Nebuzaradan, and through him to Nebuchadnezzar, for the office of governor.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Made Gedaliah – ruler.] This was no regal dignity; he was only a sort of hind or overseer, appointed to regulate the husbandmen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A righteous and good man, and a friend to the prophet Jeremiah, Jer 26:24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22-26. Nebuchadnezzar . . . madeGedaliah . . . rulerThe people permitted to remain were,besides the king’s daughters, a few court attendants and others (Jer40:7) too insignificant to be removed, only the peasantry whocould till the land and dress the vineyards. Gedaliah was Jeremiah’sfriend (Jer 26:24), andhaving, by the prophet’s counsel, probably fled from the city asabandoned of God, he surrendered himself to the conqueror (Jer 38:2;Jer 38:17), and being promoted tothe government of Judea, fixed his provincial court at Mizpeh. He waswell qualified to surmount the difficulties of ruling at such acrisis. Many of the fugitive Jews, as well as the soldiers ofZedekiah who had accompanied the king in his flight to the plains ofJericho, left their retreats (Jer 40:11;Jer 40:12) and flocked around thegovernor; who having counselled them to submit, promised them oncomplying with this condition, security on oath that they wouldretain their possessions and enjoy the produce of their land (Jer40:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 22-24. And as for the people that remained,…. That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom,
[See comments on Jer 40:7],
[See comments on Jer 40:8],
[See comments on Jer 40:9].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Installation of Gedaliah the governor. His assassination, and the flight of the people to Egypt. – Much fuller accounts have been handed down to us in Jer 40-44 of the events which are but briefly indicated here.
2Ki 25:22-23 Over the remnant of the people left in the land Nebuchadnezzar placed Gedaliah as governor of the land, who took up his abode in Mizpah. Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, who had interested himself on behalf of the prophet Jeremiah and saved his life (Jer 26:24), and the grandson of Shaphan, a man of whom nothing more is known (see at 2Ki 22:12), had his home in Jerusalem, and, as we may infer from his attitude towards Jeremiah, had probably secured the confidence of the Chaldaeans at the siege and conquest of Jerusalem by his upright conduct, and by what he did to induce the people to submit to the judgment inflicted by God; so that Nebuchadnezzar entrusted him with the oversight of those who were left behind in the land-men, women, children, poor people, and even a few princesses and court-officials, whom they had not thought it necessary or worth while to carry away (Jer 40:7; Jer 41:10, Jer 41:16), i.e., he made him governor of the conquered land. Mizpah is the present Nebi Samwil, two hours to the north-west of Jerusalem (see at Jos 18:26). – On hearing of Gedaliah’s appointment as governor, there came to him “all the captains of the several divisions of the army and their men,” i.e., those portions of the army which had been scattered at the flight of the king (2Ki 25:5), and which had escaped from the Chaldaeans, and, as it is expressed in Jer 40:7, had dispersed themselves “in the field,” i.e., about the land. Instead of we have in Jer 40:7 the clearer expression , “and their men,” whilst in our text receives its more precise definition from the previous word . Of the military commanders the following are mentioned by name: Ishmael, etc. (the eht( .cte ,l before , is explic., “and indeed Ishmael”). Ishmael, son of Mattaniah and grandson of Elishama, probably of the king’s secretary mentioned in Jer 36:12 and Jer 36:20, of royal blood. Nothing further is known about the other names. We simply learn from Jer 40:13. that Johanan had warned Gedaliah against the treachery of Ishmael, and that when Gedaliah was slain by Ishmael, having disregarded the warning, he put himself at the head of the people and marched with them to Egypt, notwithstanding the dissuasions of Jeremiah (Jer 41:15.). Instead of “Johanan the son of Kareah,” we have in Jer 40:8 “Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah;” but it is uncertain whether has crept into the text of Jeremiah from the previous merely through a mistake, and this mistake has brought with it the alteration of into (Ewald), or whether has dropped out of our text through an oversight, and this omission has occasioned the alteration of into (Thenius, Graf, etc.). The former supposition is favoured by the circumstance that in Jer 40:13; Jer 41:11, Jer 41:16, Johanan the son of Kareah alone is mentioned. In Jer 40:8 ( Chethb ) stands before , according to which it was not Seraiah who sprang from Netophah, but Ophai whose sons were military commanders. He was called Netophathite because he sprang from Netopha in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem (Neh 7:26; Ezr 2:22), the identity of which with Beit Nettif is by no means probable (see at 2Sa 23:28). The name is written in Jeremiah; he was the son of the Maachathite, i.e., his father sprang from the Syrian district of Maacah in the neighbourhood of the Hermon (see at Deu 3:14).
2Ki 25:24 As these men were afraid of the vengeance of the Chaldaeans because they had fought against them, Gedaliah assured them on oath that they had nothing to fear from them if they would dwell peaceably in the land, be submissive to the king of Babel, and cultivate the land (cf. Jer 40:9 and Jer 40:10). “Servants of the Chaldees” are Chaldaean officials who were subordinate to the governor Gedaliah.
2Ki 25:25 In the seventh month, i.e., hardly two months after the destruction of Jerusalem, came Ishmael with ten men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and murdered him together with the Jews and Chaldaeans, whom he had with him as soldiers to do his bidding and for his protection. This occurred, according to Jer 41:1., when Gedaliah had received them hospitably and had invited them to eat with him. Ishmael was instigated to commit this murder by the Ammonitish king Baalis, and Gedaliah had previously been made acquainted with the intended crime and put upon his guard by Johanan, but had put no faith in the information (Jer 40:13-16).
2Ki 25:26 After Ishmael had performed this deed, and had also treacherously murdered a number of men, who had come to the temple with a sacrifice from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, he took the Jews who were at Mizpah prisoners, with some kings’ daughters among them, intending to take them over to the Ammonites; but as soon as his deed became known, he was pursued by Johanan and the rest of the military chiefs and was overtaken at Gibeon, whereupon those who had been led away by him went over to Johanan, so that he was only able to make his escape with eight men and get away to the Ammonites (Jer 41:4-15). Johanan then went with the rest of the military commanders and the people whom he had brought back into the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, with the intention of fleeing to Egypt for fear of the Chaldaeans. There they did indeed have recourse to the prophet Jeremiah, to inquire of him the word of the Lord; but they did not allow themselves to be diverted from their intention by the word of the Lord which he announced to them, that if they remained in the land they need not fear anything from the king of Babel, but if they went to Egypt they should all perish there with sword, hunger, and pestilence, or by the prediction that the Lord would also deliver Pharaoh Hophra into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 42). They went to Egypt notwithstanding, taking the prophet himself with them, and settled in different cities of Egypt, where they gave themselves up to idolatry, and did not suffer themselves to be drawn away from it even by the severe judgments which the prophet Jeremiah predicted as sure to fall upon them (Jer 43:1-13 and 44). In the verse before us we have simply a brief allusion to the eventual result of the whole affair. “Because they were afraid of the Chaldaeans,” namely, that they might possibly take vengeance upon them for the murder of the governor.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Dispersion of the Remnant of Judah. | B. C. 552. |
22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. 25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees. 27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
In these verses we have,
I. The dispersion of the remaining people. The city of Jerusalem was quite laid waste. Some people there were in the land of Judah (v. 22) that had weathered the storm, and (which was no small favour at this time, Jer. xlv. 5) had their lives given them for a prey. Now see, 1. What a good posture they were put into. The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah, one of themselves, to be their governor and protector under him, a very good man, and one that would make the best of the bad, v. 22. His father Ahikam was one that countenanced and protected Jeremiah when the princes had vowed his death, Jer. xxvi. 24. It is probable that this Gedaliah, by the advice of Jeremiah, had gone over the Chaldeans, and had conducted himself so well that the king of Babylon entrusted him with the government. He resided not at Jerusalem, but at Mizpah, in the land of Benjamin, a place famous in Samuel’s time. Thither those came who had fled from Zedekiah (v. 4) and put themselves under his protection (v. 23), which he assured them of if they would be patient and peaceable under the government of the king of Babylon, v. 24. Gedaliah, though he had not the pomp and power of a sovereign prince, yet might have been a greater blessing to them than many of their kings had been, especially having such a privy-council as Jeremiah, who was now with them, and interested himself in their affairs, Jer 40:5; Jer 40:6. 2. What a fatal breach was made upon them, soon afterwards, by the death of Gedaliah, within two months after he entered upon his government. The utter extirpation of the Jews, for the present, was determined, and therefore it was in vain for them to think of taking root again: the whole land must be plucked up, Jer. xlv. 4. Yet this hopeful settlement is dashed to pieces, not by the Chaldeans, but by some of themselves. The things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes that they knew not when they were well off, nor would believe when they were told. (1.) They had a good governor of their own, and him they slew, out of spite to the Chaldeans, because he was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, v. 25. Ishmael, who was of the royal family, envying Gedaliah’s advancement and the happy settlement of the people under him, though he could not propose to set up himself, resolved to ruin him, and basely slew him and all his friends, both Jews and Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar would not, could not, have been a more mischievous enemy to their peace than this degenerate branch of the house of David was. (2.) They were as yet in their own good land, but they forsook it, and went to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldeans, v. 26. The Chaldeans had reason enough to be offended at the murder of Gedaliah; but if those that remained had humbly remonstrated, alleging that it was only the act of Ishmael and his party, we may suppose that those who were innocent of it, nay, who suffered greatly by it, would not have been punished for it: but, under pretence of this apprehension, contrary to the counsel of Jeremiah, they all went to Egypt, where, it is probable, they mixed with the Egyptians by degrees, and were never heard of more as Israelites. Thus was there a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience, and Egypt had the last of them, that the last verse of that chapter of threatenings might be fulfilled, after all the rest, Deut. xxviii. 68, The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again. These events are more largely related by the prophet Jeremiah, ch. xl. to ch. xlv. Quaeque ipse miserrima vidit, et quorum pars magna fuit–Which scenes he was doomed to behold, and in which he bore a melancholy part.
II. The reviving of the captive prince. Of Zedekiah we hear no more after he was carried blind to Babylon; it is probable that he did not live long, but that when he died he was buried with some marks of honour, Jer. xxxiv. 5. Of Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, who surrendered himself (ch. xxiv. 12), we are here told that as soon as Evil-merodach came to the crown, upon the death of his father Nebuchadnezzar, he released him out of prison (where he had lain thirty-seven years, and was now fifty-five years old), spoke kindly to him, paid more respect to him than to any other of the kings his father had left in captivity (v. 28), gave him princely clothing instead of his prison-garments, maintained him in his own palace (v. 29), and allowed him a pension for himself and his family in some measure corresponding to his rank, a daily rate for every day as long as he lived. Consider this, 1. As a very happy change of Jehoiachin’s condition. To have honour and liberty after he had been so long in confinement and disgrace, the plenty and pleasure of a court after he had been so long accustomed to the straits and miseries of a prison, was like the return of the morning after a very dark and tedious night. Let none say that they shall never see good again because they have long seen little but evil; the most miserable know not what blessed turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted, Ps. cx. 15. However the death of afflicted saints is to them such a change as this was to Jehoiachin: it will release them out of their prison, shake off the body, that prison-garment, and open the way to their advancement; it will send them to the throne, to the table, of the King of kings, the glorious liberty of God’s children. 2. As a very generous act of Evil-merodach’s. He thought his father made the yoke of his captives too heavy, and therefore, with the tenderness of a man and the honour of a prince, made it lighter. It should seem all the kings he had in his power were favoured, but Jehoiachin above them all, some think for the sake of the antiquity of his family and the honour of his renowned ancestors, David and Solomon. None of the kings of the nations, it is likely, had descended from so long a race of kings in a direct lineal succession, and by a male line, as the king of Judah. The Jews say that this Evil-merodach had been himself imprisoned by his own father, when he returned from his madness, for some mismanagement at that time, and that in prison he contracted a friendship with Jehoiachin, in consequence of which, as soon as he had it in his power, he showed him this kindness as a sufferer, as a fellow-sufferer. Some suggest that Evil-merodach had learned from Daniel and his fellows the principles of the true religion, and was well affected to them, and upon that account favoured Jehoiachin. 3. As a kind dispensation of Providence, for the encouragement of the Jews in captivity, and the support of their faith and hope concerning their enlargement in due time. This happened just about the midnight of their captivity. Thirty-six of the seventy years were now past, and almost as many were yet behind, and now to see their king thus advanced would be a comfortable earnest to them of their own release in due time, in the set time. Unto the upright there thus ariseth light in the darkness, to encourage them to hope, even in the cloudy and dark day, that at evening time it shall be light; when therefore we are perplexed, let us not be in despair.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Kings postscript, 2Ki 25:22-30
The student should read Jeremiah, chapters 39-44, for the fullest account in the Scriptures pertinent to this period of the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem. There it will be found that Jeremiah was released and treated kindly by Nebuzar-adan, and given choice of going with the captives to Babylon or remaining in the land. Jeremiah chose to remain in Jerusalem, where he observed the violence against Gedaliah, who had been appointed governor, warned the people not to fear the Chaldeans, and advised against their descent into Egypt. However he was compelled to accompany the people to Egypt, where he is last heard of prophesying against their idolatry in that country.
Nebuchadnezzar chose a good man to be governor of Judah under him, Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan the scribe, who had served Josiah so well during his reign. Gedaliah had the good of the land at heart, and wanted the people to settle down, forget their fear of the Babylonians, which he told them was groundless as long as they obeyed his rulership. A number of roving bands of men who fled into hiding from the armies of Nebuchadnezzar began to reappear, and Gedaliah sought to involve them in the rebuilding of the ruined land. Among them was one, Ishmael, who was related to the royal family. The captains of several other bands seem to have looked to him for leadership and to act on his command. He pretended friendship to Gedaliah, who trusted him implicitly. Though Gedaliah was warned by some of his friends of Ishmael’s hostile intent he refused to believe it (Jer 40:13-16). So in the seventh month (Jerusalem had fallen in the fourth month) Ishmael, with the backing of Baalis, the Ammonite king, fell upon Gedaliah during a meal prepared for them, killed him and his Jewish council, and all the Chaldeans still there, took the rest of the people captive, and headed for sanctuary in Ammon.
Johanan, who had warned Jeremiah, gathered his men and pursued Ishmael, recapturing the people, though Ishmael escaped, returning them to Bethlehem (Jer 41:16-18 and context). The people were afraid that the king of Babylon would retaliate against them for the murder of Gedaliah, his men, and the Chaldeans. They asked Jeremiah to seek the will of God for them, whether they should flee into Egypt. When he had done so Jeremiah informed them that the Lord would have them stay in the land. However they refused to accept it. They determined to go to Egypt anyway and compelled Jeremiah to accompany them (Jeremiah, chapters 42,43).
The inspired author of Kings has a final postscript about Jehoiachin, the boy king of Judah who surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, along with his mother, after a reign of only three months. This was the son of Jehoiakim, and was the last generation of David to sit on his throne, until Jesus Christ renews the kingdom in the end of this age. When Jehoiachin had been captive for thirty-seven years a new king of Babylon, Evil-merodach, gave him his freedom, and honored him by setting his throne above all the other captive kings in Babylon. He would have been either forty-five or fifty-five years of age, and enjoyed the bounties of royalty provided by the king of Babylon for the remainder of his days.
There is an interesting note about Jehoiachin in Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the last four kings of Judah (Jer 22:28-30). There he is called Coniah, and the prophet foretells that no descendant of his will ever prosper sitting on the throne of David. This prophecy negates any throne rights of Jesus through his lineage, which was the lineage of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Therefore the lineage of Mary comes down to Jesus through Nathan, the brother of Solomon (cf. Mat 1:6 ff with Lu 3:31 and foregoing verses).
2Ch 36:22-23
Chronicles Postscript – 2Ch 36:22-23
The closing verses of Second Chronicles form a transition from the end of the kingdom to the return of the captivity. Verse 20 showed that those whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away, and their descendants, were servants to the Babylonian (or Chadean) kings until the advent of the Persian empire. This is said to be in keeping with the word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah, that the exile would continue until the land observed its sabbaths. These were denied in the long centuries of apostasy and failure to adhere to the law of Moses in regard to the land. So the land lay untilled for the seventy years of captivity to atone for four hundred ninety years in which no sabbath of the land had been observed (Jer 25:8-14; Jer 27:6-8; Jer 29:10).
Verses 22-23 furnish the close of the Chronicles and kingdom period and introduction to the post-exile period. They are repeated almost verbatim in Ezr 1:1-3. The fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy was not delayed, for its enactment began in the very first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, when he had overcome Babylon and made it a part of his own empire. Jewish tradition relates that Cyrus heard of the prophecies of Isaiah (see Isa 44:24 to Isa 45:4) and Jeremiah and was so flattered by them that he sought at once to bring them to pass. Whether this is true or not, the Scriptures make it plain that his decision was by the will of the Lord, who “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,” and he made the proclamation. He published it throughout his empire and put it into writing. In it he is very flattering of himself, stating that God had made him ruler of all kingdoms of the earth. Though this was certainly not literally true he did control all the well-known nations of his time. His decree was that all among the people of his empire who would, should go up to Jerusalem in Judah and these erect a house for the Lord, who had commanded Cyrus so to do. This is one of the most emphatic examples of fulfilled prophecy in the Scriptures and is assurance that all shall be fulfilled in their proper time.
Some lessons: 1) Ultimate judgment for sin is inevitable; 2) Satan’s henchmen are cruel servants of a cruel master; 3) Satanic power will destroy everything beautiful; 4) Some people make promises never intending to keep them, if it turns out contrary to their personal desire; 5) all prophecy of God will come to pass without failure in the least point.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. THE APPOINTMENT AND ASSASSINATION OF GEDALIAH 25:2226
TRANSLATION
(22) As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan. (23) When all the captains of the armies heard, they and the men, that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came unto Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, (the sons of Ephai) the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of a Maachathite, they and their men. (24) And Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, Do not fear because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. (25) And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama of the royal seed and ten men with him came and smote Gedaliah, so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him in Mizpah. (26) And all the people from the least to the greatest, and the captains of the armies arose, and went to Egypt; for they feared because of the Chaldeans.
COMMENTS
After the fall of Jerusalem, Judah became a province of the Babylonian empire. The Holy City had been completely destroyed, reduced to a heap of ashes. But it was not the intention of Nebuchadnezzar to leave the whole land desolate. The Great King appointed Gedaliah, a member of a prominent Jewish family, as governor over the poor of the land whom he had left behind. Gedaliah was an ideal choice. He came from a God-fearing and influential family[697] which through the years had supported the contention of Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar had been appointed by God to be ruler of the world. Some conjectureand they are probably correctthat Gedaliah had followed the advice of Jeremiah and defected to the Chaldeans early in the siege of Jerusalem. Under the leadership of Gedaliah, Nebuchadnezzar intended to create in Judah a self-governing commonwealth under Babylonian sovereignty. The Great King hoped to maintain the loyalty of the new colony by granting to them as much freedom as possible, especially freedom of religion. Thus he hoped to create a state in western Asia upon which he could depend in any future showdown with Egypt (2Ki. 25:22).
[697] Gedaliahs father, Ahikam, had once protected Jeremiah when he was on trial for his life (Jer. 26:24). His grandfather Shaphan had been secretary of state under the godly King Josiah (UK 2Ki. 22:8).
The wisdom of Nebuchadnezzars choice of Gedaliah became evident at once. Gedaliah immediately launched into a program of reconstruction. His first goal was to unite the various factions into which the remnant of the people was divided. Scattered throughout the land were small guerrilla bands which had somehow escaped capture and destruction by the Chaldean army. Once the main body of foreign troops withdrew, these guerrilla units either came voluntarily or were summoned to Mizpah. Among those named as meeting with Gedaliah at Mizpah are Ishmael who later turned traitor and murdered Gedaliah; Johanan the son of Kareah who later led the remnant to Egypt; Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai[698] who hailed from the town of Netophah near Bethlehem; and Jaazaniah (called Jezaniah in Jer. 42:1) the son of Hoshaiah[699] who hailed from the Aramean region of Maachah which adjoined Bashan on the north (2Ki. 25:23).
[698] The words and the sons of Ephai have apparently dropped out of the text of Kings and are to be supplied from the parallel passage in Jer. 40:8.
[699] Jer. 42:1.
Gedaliah honestly and forthrightly presented his program to those captains, and urged them to use their influence to secure peace throughout the land. First, he assured these soldiers that they had no reason to fear serving the Chaldeans. It may be that Gedaliah used his influence to secure from Nebuchadnezzar amnesty for all those who participated in the war against Babylon. In the second place, Gedaliah called upon these leaders and their followers to dwell peacefully in the land and render service to the king of Babylon. If they continued to do this, he promised them a life of peace (2Ki. 25:24).
The tranquility of the tiny remnant in Palestine was soon shattered. Ishmael, a member of the royal family, began plotting behind the scenes to assassinate Gedaliah. Just what motivated Ishmael in this ruthless plot is not clear. It may be that he resented the fact that Gedaliah had been appointed governor rather than a member of the royal family. On the other hand, Ishmael may have despised and hated Gedaliah for collaborating with the Babylonians. Whatever the explanation for the dastardly deed which he committed, it is clear that Ishmael was being used as a political pawn of Baalis, the king of Ammon. Baalis must have coveted the territory of Judah for himself and decided that Gedaliah was standing in the way (cf. Jer. 40:14).
Gedaliah was warned of the treacherous plot against him but gave no heed to the report (Jer. 40:13-14). In the seventh month[700] Ishmael set his plan in motion. He and ten cutthroats proceeded to Mizpah. Suspecting nothing, Gedaliah entertained these men hospitably (Jer. 41:1). During the course of the banquet, Ishmael and his men rose up suddenly and slew the governor, the Jewish officials who served with him, and his Babylonian bodyguard (2Ki. 25:25). Josephus the Jewish historian adds the tradition that Gedaliah was intoxicated at the time he was murdered. Throughout the exile the Jews observed the third day of the seventh month as a fast day to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah (cf. Zec. 7:5; Zec. 8:19).
[700] Unfortunately the narrator has failed to mention the year in which the assassination took place. Does he mean that Gedaliah was assassinated in the same year in which Jerusalem was captured and burned? If so, then Gedaliahs governorship lasted only about three months. It is perhaps better (though certainly not necessary) to think here in terms of a governorship which lasted a few years. The Babylonians attempted to avenge the death of Governor Gedaliah in 582 B.C. (Jer. 52:30). If Gedaliah died in the seventh month of 587 B.C. it would be difficult to explain why it took the Babylonians six years to respond to the new rebellion in Judah.
The Book of Jeremiah expands at great length on the events associated with the death of Gedaliah. On the very next day Ishmael massacred seventy innocent pilgrims who were making their way to the ruins of the Jerusalem Temple to worship (Jer. 41:4-9). The women, children and older men who were left in Mizpah were taken captive by Ishmael before the murderer and his men hastily made their way toward Ammon. Fortunately Johanan and the other guerrilla captains heard of what had happened and intercepted Ishmael at Gibeon. The hostages were rescued, but Ishmael and his men escaped (Jer. 41:10-16). Fearful of Babylonian retaliations, the scared remnant departed immediately for Egypt. At their first camping spot near Bethlehem, Jeremiah pleaded with them to trust the Lord and remain in the land (Jer. 41:17 to Jer. 42:22). But the worldly captains accused Jeremiah of attempting to deceive them, and so they pushed on toward Egypt[701] (2Ki. 25:26).
[701] On the activities of the remnant in Egypt and Jeremiahs prophecies against them, see Jer. 43:8 to Jer. 44:30.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(22) Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.Ahikam was one of Josiahs princes (2Ki. 22:12). In the reign of Jehoiakim he saved the prophet Jeremiah from the popular fury (Jer. 26:24). Nebuzaradan committed the prophet to the care of Gedaliah, who probably, like his father, sympathised with Jeremiahs views (Jer. 39:13-14). After hesitating whether to accompany Nebuzaradan to Babylon or not, the prophet finally decided upon repairing to Gedaliah at Mizpah (Jer. 40:1-6). Gedaliahs magnanimous behaviour in regard to Ishmael (Jer. 40:16 seq.) shows that he was not a traitor and deserter as some have misnamed him. Rather he was a disciple of Jeremiah, and did his utmost to induce the remnant over which he was appointed governor to submit with patience to their divinely-ordered lot, as the prophet urged them to do.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(22-26) An extract from Jeremiah 40-63, relating to the people left in the land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
APPOINTMENT AND ASSASSINATION OF GEDALIAH, 2Ki 25:22-26.
The events of this section are narrated with ample details in Jeremiah 40-44, and to those chapters the student must go for a fuller history of those who survived the fall of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gedaliah Governor of Judah
v. 22. And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had left, even over them he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. v. 23. And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, v. 24. And Gedahiah sware to them and to their men, v. 25. But it came to pass in the seventh month, v. 26. And all the people, both small and great, v. 27. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, v. 28. and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, v. 29. and changed his prison garments, v. 30. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
2Ki 25:22. Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam Ahikam, the father of Gedaliah, was a person in such credit in all the latter reigns, that he had been able to screen Jeremiah from the resentment of the king, and the fury of the people; so that it is very probable that the prophet, in gratitude to the father, obtained this favour for the son from Nebuzaradan. This might also be the motive which induced him to go and live with him in Judea, rather than to go to Babylon, when that general put it to his option, not without some considerable encouragements to invite him to the latter. See Jer 39:11; Jer 39:18 and Univ. Hist.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jeremiah had told Baruch that his life should be given for a prey, and here we find certain of the people were preserved, Jer 45:5 . It was the mercy of God, in the midst of judgment, to incline the King of Babylon to preserve some of the people, and to have Gedaliah, a faithful man, made Governor. And no doubt many of the faithful availed themselves of his mild government. But yet we see, even in the midst of judgments, as in the case of Ishmael, how evil men will exercise their dreadful purposes. What became of those who upon this event fled to Egypt, is not said. Perhaps the Lord had some gracious design in the permission. See Isaiah in that sweet prophecy, Isa 19:18-25 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 25:22 And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.
Ver. 22. Over them he made Gedaliah ruler. ] A pious, prudent, and meek-spirited man, a cut down by envy, that sharp-ranged malignity, which none can stand before. Pro 27:4
a Josephus saith he was , a moderate and just man.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Remnant Flee to Egypt
2Ki 25:22-30
Thus at last the city, which had been full of people, sat solitary, bewailed by Jeremiah in exquisite elegies. The poorest only were left, under Gedaliah, the constant friend to Jeremiah. See Jer 40:6. His brief rule brought a gleam of light, a transient relief from the long monotony of disaster and despair. But the dastardly murder of this noble man by Ishmael, who was jealous of him, added the last bitter ingredient to the already bitter cup of the harried remnant, Jer 40:1-16; Jer 41:1-18. Notwithstanding Jeremiahs earnest protestations, they finally deserted their own land, and settled in Egypt, Jer 44:1.
Thus ended the kingdom of Judah, and thereafter the Jews became a scattered people. Though the return under Ezra seemed likely to renew their kingdom, this also was a transient dream which ended in their final overthrow in a.d. 70. Note how pathetically, in his last paragraph, the chronicler snatches at the one small crumb of comfort left, in the pity providentially shown to Jehoiachin by the Babylonian king. God had not forgotten the sure mercies of David!
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
the people: Jer 40:5, Jer 40:6-12
Gedaliah: 2Ki 25:25, Jer 39:14, Jer 41:2
Ahikam: 2Ki 22:12, 2Ch 34:20, Jer 26:24
Reciprocal: 2Ki 22:9 – Shaphan Jer 36:11 – Shaphan Jer 40:7 – all the Eze 8:11 – Shaphan
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 25:22. Over them he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, ruler A righteous and good man, and a friend to the Prophet Jeremiah, Jer 26:24. Ahikam, his father, was a person in such credit in all the latter reigns, that he had been able to screen Jeremiah from the resentment of the king and the fury of the people; so that it is very probable the prophet, in gratitude to the father, obtained this favour for the son, from Nebuzaradan. Or, as some think, Gedaliah, by the advice of Jeremiah, had gone over to the Chaldeans, and had approved himself so well, that on that account the king of Babylon judged it proper to intrust him with the government. Gedaliahs good conduct, together with the obligations which Jeremiah was under to his father, was probably the motive which induced the prophet to live with him in Judea rather than go to Babylon, when the Chaldean general put it to his option, not without some considerable encouragement to invite him to the latter, Jer 39:11.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
GEDALIAH
B.C. 586
2Ki 25:22-30
“Vedi che son un che piango.”
– DANTE, “Inferno.”
“No rather steel thy melting heart To act the martyr s sternest part, To watch with firm, unshrinking eye Thy darling visions as they die, Till all bright hopes and hues of day Have faded into twilight grey.”
– KEBLE
IN deciding that he would not accompany Nebuchadrezzar to Babylon, Jeremiah made the choice of duty. In Chaldaea he would have lived at ease, in plenty, in security, amid universal respect. He might have helped his younger contemporary Ezekiel in his struggle to keep the exiles in Babylon faithful to their duty and their God. He regarded the exiles as representing all that was best and noblest in the nation; and he would have been safe and honored in the midst of them, under the immediate protection of the great Babylonian king. On the other hand, to return to Judaea was to return to a defenseless and a distracted people, the mere dregs of the true nation, the mere phantom of what they once had been. Surely his life had earned the blessing of repose? But no! The hopes of the Chosen People, the seed of Abraham, Gods servant, could not be dissevered from the Holy Land. Rest was not for him on this side of the grave. His only prayer must be, like that which, Senancour had inscribed over his grave, Eternite, deviens mon asile! The decision cost him a terrible struggle; but duty called him, and he obeyed. It has been supposed by some critics that the wild cry of Jer 15:10-21 expresses his: anguish at the necessity of casting in his lot with the remnant; the sense that they needed his protecting influence and prophetic guidance; and the promise of God that his sacrifice should not be ineffectual for good to the miserable fragment of his nation, even though they should continue to struggle against him.
So with breaking heart he saw Nebuzaradan at Ramah marshalling the throng of captives for their long journey to the waters of Babylon. Before them, and before the little band which returned with him to the burnt Temple, the dismantled city, the desolate house, there lay an unknown future; but in spite of the exiles doom it looked brighter for them than for him, as with tears and sobs they parted from each other. Then it was that-
“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refuseth to be comforted, because they are not. Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy time to come, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” {Jer 31:15-17}
Disappointed in the fidelity of the royal house of Judah, Nebuchadrezzar had not attempted to place another of them on the throne. He appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, his satrap (pakid) over the poor remnant who were left in the land. In this appointment we probably trace the influence of Jeremiah. There is no one whom Nebuchadrezzar would have been so likely to consult. Gedaliah was the son of the prophets old protector, {Jer 26:24} and his grandfather Shaphan had been a trusted minister of Josiah. He thoroughly justified the confidence reposed in him, and under his wise and prosperous rule there seemed to be every prospect that there would be at least some pale gleam of returning prosperity. The Jews, who during the period of the siege had fled into all the neighboring countries, no sooner heard of his viceroyalty than they came flocking back from Moab, and Ammon, and Edom. They found themselves, perhaps for the first time in their lives, in possession of large estates, from which the exiles of Babylon had been dispossessed; and favored by an abundant harvest, “they gathered wine and summer fruits very much.” {Jer 40:12}
Jerusalem-dismantled, defenseless, burnt-was no longer habitable. It was all but deserted; so that jackals and hyenas prowled even over the mountain of the Lords House. All attempt to refortify it would have been regarded as rebellion, and such a mere lodge in a garden of cucumbers would have been useless to repress the marauding incursions of the envious Moabites and Edomites, who had looked on with shouts at the destruction of the city, and exulted when her carved work was broken down with axes and hammers. Gedaliah therefore fixed his headquarters at Mizpah, about six miles north of Jerusalem, of which the lofty eminence could be easily secured. It was the watchtower from which Titus caught his first glimpses of the Holy City, as many a traveler does to this day, and the point at which Richard I averted his eyes with tears, saying that he was unworthy to look upon the city which he was unable to save. Here, then, Gedaliah lived, urging upon his subjects the policy which his friend and adviser Jeremiah had always supported, and promising them quietness and peace if they would but accept the logic of circumstances-if they would bow to the inevitable, and frankly acknowledge the suzerainty of Nebuchadrezzar. It was perhaps as a pledge of more independence in better days to come that Nebuzaradan had left Gedaliah in charge of the young daughters of King Zedekiah, who had with them some of their eunuch-attendants. As that unfortunate monarch was only thirty-two years old when he was blinded and carried away, the princesses were probably young girls; and it has been conjectured that it was part of the Chaldaean kings plan for the future that in time Gedaliah should be permitted to marry one of them, and re-establish at least a collateral branch of the old royal house of David.
How long this respite continued we do not know. The language of Jer 39:2; Jer 41:1, compared with 2Ki 25:8, might seem to imply that it only lasted two months. But since Jeremiah does not mention the year in Jer 41:1, and as there seems to have been yet another deportation of Jews by Nebuchadrezzar five years later, {Jer 52:30} which may have been in revenge for the murder of his satrap, some have supposed that Gedaliahs rule lasted four years. All is uncertain, and the latter passage is of doubtful authenticity; but it is at least possible that the vengeful atrocity committed by Ishmael followed almost immediately after the Chaldean forces were well out of sight. Respecting these last days of Jewish independence, “History, leaning semisomnous on her pyramid, muttereth something, but we know not what it is.”
However this may be, there seem to have been guerilla bands wandering through the country, partly to get what they could, and partly to watch against Bedouin marauders. Johanan, the son of Kareah, who was one of the chief captains among them, came with others to Gedaliah, and warned him that Baalis, King of Ammon, was intriguing against him, and trying to induce a certain Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama-who, in some way unknown to us, represented, perhaps on the female side, the seed royal-to come and murder him. Gedaliah was of a fine, unsuspicious temperament, and with rash generosity he refused to believe in the existence of a plot so ruinous and so useless. Astonished at his noble incredulity, Johanan then had a secret interview with him and offered to murder Ishmael so secretly that no one should know of it. “Why,” he asked, “should this man be suffered to ruin everything, and cause the final scattering of even the struggling handful of colonists at Mizpah and in Judah?” Gedaliah forbade his intervention. “Thou shalt not do this,” he said: “thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.”
But Johanans story was only too true. Shortly afterwards, Ishmael, with ten confederates, came to visit Gedaliah at Mizpah, perhaps on the pretext of seeing his kinswomen, the daughters of Zedekiah. Gedaliah welcomed this ambitious villain and his murderous accomplices with openhanded hospitality. He invited them all to a banquet in the fort of Mizpah; and after eating salt with him, Ishmael and his bravoes first murdered him, and then put promiscuously to the sword his soldiers, and the Chaldaeans who had been left to look after him. The gates of the fort were closed, and the bodies were flung into a deep well or tank, which had been constructed by Asa in the middle of the courtyard when he was fortifying Mizpah against the attacks of Baasha, King of Israel.
For two days there was an unbroken silence, and the peasants at Mizpah remained unaware of the dreadful tragedy. On the third day a sad procession was seen wending its way up the heights. There were scattered Jews in Shiloh and Samaria who still remembered Zion; and eighty pilgrims, weeping as they went, came with shaven beards and rent garments to bring a minchah and incense to the ruined shrine at Jerusalem. In the depth of their woe they had even violated a law, {Lev 19:28; Lev 21:5} of which they were perhaps unaware, by cutting themselves in sign of their misery. Mizpah would be their last halting-place on the way to Jerusalem; and the hypocrite Ishmael came out to them with an invitation to share the hospitality of the murdered satrap. No sooner had the gate of the charnel-house closed upon them, than Ishmael and his ten ruffians began to murder this unoffending company. Crimes more aimless and more brutal than those committed by this infinitely degenerate scion of the royal house it is impossible to conceive. The place swam with blood. The story “reads almost like a page from the annals of the Indian Mutiny.” Seventy of the wretched pilgrims had been butchered and flung into the tank, which must have been choked with corpses, like the fatal well at Cawnpore when the ten survivors pleaded for their lives by telling Ishmael that they had large treasures of country produce stored in hidden places, which should be at his disposal, if he would spare them.
As it was useless to make any further attempt to conceal his atrocities, Ishmael now took the young princesses and the inhabitants of Mizpah with him, and tried to make good his escape to his patron the King of Ammon. But the watchful eye of Johanan, the son of Kareah, had been upon him, and assembling his band he went in swift pursuit. Ishmael had got no farther than the Pool of Gibeon, when Johanan overtook him, to the intense joy of the prisoners. A scuffle ensued; but Ishmael and eight of his bloodstained desperadoes unhappily managed to make good their escape to the Ammonites. The wretch vanishes into the darkness, and we hear of him no more.
Even now the circumstances were desperate. Nebuchadrezzar could not in honor overlook the frustration of all his plans, and the murder, not only of his viceroy, but even of his Chaldaean commissioners. He would not be likely to accept any excuses. No course seemed open but that of flight. There was no temptation to return to Mizpah with its frightful memories and its corpse-choked tank. From Gibeon the survivors made their way to Bethlehem, which lay on the road to Egypt, and where they could be sheltered in the caravanserai of Chimham. Many Jews had already taken refuge in Egypt. Colonies of them were living in Pathros, and at Migdol and Noph, under the kindly protection of Pharaoh Hophrah. Would it not be well to join them?
In utter perplexity Johanan and the other captains and all the people came to Jeremiah. How he had escaped the massacre at Mizpah we do not know; but now he seemed to be the only man left in whose prophetic guidance they could confide. They entreated him with pathetic earnestness to show them the will of Jehovah; and he promised to pray for insight, while they pledged themselves to obey implicitly his directions.
The anguish and vacillation of the prophets mind is shown by the fact that for ten whole days no light came to him. It seemed as if Judah was under an irrevocable curse. Whither could they return? What temptation was there to return? Did not return mean fresh intolerable miseries? Would they not be torn to pieces by the robber bands from across the Jordan? And what could be the end of it but another deportation to Babylon, with perhaps further massacre and starvation?
All the arguments seemed against this course; and he could see very clearly that it would be against all the wishes of the down-trodden fugitives, who longed for Egypt, “where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread.”
Yet Jeremiah could only give them the message which he believed to represent the will of God. He bade them return. He assured them that they need have no fear of the King of Babylon, and that God would bless them; whereas if they went to Egypt, they would die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. At the same time-doomed always to thwart the hopes of the multitude-he reproved the hypocrisy which had sent them to ask Gods will when they never intended to do anything but follow their own.
Then their anger broke out against him. He was, as always, the prophet of evil, and they held him more than half responsible for being the cause of the ruin which he invariably predicted. Johanan and “all the proud men” (zedim) gave him the lie. They told him that the source of his prophecy was not Jehovah, but the meddling and pernicious Baruch. Perhaps some of them may have remembered the words of Isaiah, that a day should come when five cities, of which one should be called Kir-Cheres (“the City of Destruction”)-a play on the name Kir-Heres, “the City of the Sun,” On or Heliopolis-should speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts, and there should be an altar in the land of Egypt and a matstsebah at its border in witness to Jehovah, and that though Egypt should be smitten she should also be healed. {Isa 19:18-22}
So they settled to go to Egypt; and taking with them Jeremiah, and Baruch, and the kings daughters, and all the remnant, they made their way to Tahpanhes or Daphne (Jer 2:16; Jer 44:1; Eze 30:18; Jer 43:7; Jer 46:14; Herod. 2:30), an advanced post to guard the road to Syria. Mr. Flinders Petrie in 1886 discovered the site of the city at Tel Defenneh, and the ruins of the very palace which Pharaoh Hophrah placed at the disposal of the daughters of his ally Zedekiah. It is still known by the name of “The Castle of the Jews Daughters” – El Kasr el Bint el Jehudi.
In front of this palace was an elevated platform (mastaba) of brick, which still remains. In this brickwork Jeremiah was bidden by the word of Jehovah to place great stones, and to declare that on that very platform, over those very stones, Nebuchadrezzar should pitch his royal tent, when he came to wrap himself in the land of Egypt, as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and to burn the pillars of Heliopolis with fire.
Jeremiah still had to face stormy times. At some great festival assembly at Tahpanhes he bitterly reproached the exiled Jews for their idolatries. He was extremely indignant with the women who burned incense to the Queen of Heaven. The multitude, and especially the women, openly defied him. “We will not hearken to thee,” they said. “We will continue to burn incense, and offer offerings to the Queen of Heaven, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. It is only since we have left off making cakes for her and honoring her that we have suffered hunger and desolation; and our husbands were always well aware of our proceedings.”
Never was there a more defiantly ostentatious revolt against God and against His prophet! Remonstrance seemed hopeless. What could Jeremiah do but menace them with the wrath of Heaven, and tell them that in sign of the truth of his words the fate of Pharaoh Hophrah should be the same as the fate of Zedekiah, King of Judah, and should be inflicted by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar.
So on the colony of fugitives the curtain of revelation rushes down in storm. The prophet went on the troubled path which, if tradition be true, led him at last to martyrdom. He is said to have been stoned by his infuriated fellow-exiles. But his name lived in the memory of his people. It was he (they believed) who had hidden from the Chaldaeans the Ark and the sacred fire, and some day he should return to reveal the place of their concealment. When Christ asked His disciples six hundred years later, “Whom say the people that I am?” one of the answers was, “Some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He became, so to speak, the guardian saint of the land in which he had suffered such cruel persecutions.
But the historian of the Kings does not like to leave the close of his story in unbroken gloom. He wrote during the Exile. He has narrated with tears the sad fate of Jehoiachin; and though he does not care to dwell on the Exile itself, he is glad to narrate one touch of kindness on the part of the King of Babylon, which he doubtless regarded as a pledge of mercies yet to come. Twenty-six years had elapsed since the capture of Jerusalem, and thirty-seven since the captivity of the exiled king, when Evil-Merodach, the son and successor of Nebuchadrezzar, took pity on the imprisoned heir of the House of David. He took Jehoiachin from his dungeon, changed his garments, spoke words of encouragement to him, gave him a place at his own table, assigned to him a regular allowance from his own banquet, and set his throne above the throne of all the other captive kings who were with him in Babylon. It might seem a trivial act of mercy, yet the Jews remembered in their records the very day of the month on which it had taken place, because they regarded it as a break in the clouds which overshadowed them-as “the first gleam of heavens amber in the Eastern grey.”