Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 41:2
Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
2. Then arose Ishmael and the ten men ] Gedaliah’s retinue may not have been very large, and were probably quite unsuspecting. The murders seem to have been committed privately at the entertainment. Next day ( Jer 41:4) no one knew of it. Ishmael’s action was apparently useless as well as criminal. However, he may have been prepared to go any length to shew spite at the appointment of a ruler who was not, like himself (see Jer 41:1), of the royal house, or his object possibly was to keep the land in a state of unrest, so as to help out Baalis’s ambitious wishes; also, if Baalis was going to annex Judah, Ishmael may have had an eye to the governorship.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. Smote Gedaliah] See the preceding chapter, Jer 40:14.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These ten men with their retinue fall upon Gedaliah, and barbarously murder him. Their quarrel against him was, that he was deputy governor to the king of Babylon; so desperately hardened were these Jews, that they would not yet see that God had given their country into the hand of the king of Babylon, who having now a right of conquest over them, had authority to set whom he pleased as his viceroy or deputy governor over them, to whom they ought to have yielded all subjection and obedience.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. slew him whom the king of Babylonhad made governorThis assigns a reason for their slaying him,as well as showing the magnitude of their crime (Dan 2:21;Rom 13:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him,…. After they had eat and drank well, they rose up from their seats at table:
and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword,
and slew him; they all drew their swords and thrust at him, and were assisting in the murder of him; though it is probable that it was Ishmael that gave him the mortal wound, since the phrase, “and slew him”, is singular. Josephus d says that Gedaliah prepared a splendid table, and made a sumptuous entertainment for them, and being drunk himself, which they observed, took the opportunity and slew him, and all at table with him:
whom the king Babylon had made governor over the land; which mentioned; both to aggravate the crime they were guilty of, and to observe the reason of it, and what it was that prompted them to it; for so the words may be rendered, “because the king of Babylon had made him governor over the land” e.
d Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4. e “quia illum praefecerat”, Vatablus. So Ben Melech.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) Then arose Ishmael.The narrative suggests the thought that, as in the massacre of Glencoe, the guests murdered their host at the very time when he was receiving them with open arms.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Had made governor This was his crime. It was not simply murder, but the slaying of a ruler; striking down not merely a human life but the State in him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 41:2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
Ver. 2. Then arose Ishmael. ] Taking the opportunity when Gedaliah and his guests were mero graves, saith Josephus, merry with wine, and so less able to resist.
And the ten men that were with.
And smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
And slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor.
“ Simul ista mundi conditor posuit Deus,
Odium atque regnum. ”
a Ishmael. See note on Jer 40:8.
had made. Compare Jer 40:5.
and smote: 2Ki 25:25
whom: Jer 40:7
Reciprocal: 2Sa 3:27 – quietly 2Ki 22:9 – Shaphan 2Ki 25:22 – Gedaliah Neh 6:2 – they thought Isa 24:2 – as with the people Jer 36:14 – Nethaniah Jer 40:5 – Go back Jer 40:14 – Ishmael Jer 40:16 – Thou shalt Jer 41:11 – Johanan Jer 41:15 – eight men Jer 41:18 – because
Jer 41:2. Ishmael and his group violated almost every rule of proper conduct that we can think of. They disregarded the law of gratitude; they took advantage of Gedaliahs confidence; they violated the laws of both God and man against murder, and that, too, by killing a man who was in
a position of authority. Not only so, hut they killed a man who not only had not sought his office, hut who was appointed thereto on account of his evident worthiness, seeing it was done by a man who had it in bis power to have humiliated him to the utmost had he been so minded.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary