Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 41:6

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

6. weeping all along ] so as to feign equal concern with them for the fate of the Temple, and thus put them off their guard.

Come to Gedaliah ] probably as governor, to whom therefore they should shew respect and offer greeting.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ishmaels conduct seems to have been dictated by the malicious desire utterly to frustrate Gedaliahs work.

Weeping – By this artifice he lured them into Mizpah. The Septuagint: as they were … weeping.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. Weeping all along as he went] This felonious hypocrite pretended that he also was deeply afflicted, and wished to bear them company in their sorrow.

Come to Gedaliah] He will appoint you vineyards and fields.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

He cometh out weeping, the better to deceive them into his trap, that they might believe he was as they equally affected with Gods dispensations, and inviteth them to the new governor for protection, as if he had been one of his courtiers and friends: by those arts he concealeth his bloody design against them.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. weepingpretending to weep,as they did, for the ruin of the temple.

Come to Gedaliahas ifhe was one of Gedaliah’s retinue.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth to Mizpah to meet them,…. Hearing there was such a number of men upon the road to Jerusalem, in such a habit, and upon such a design, he thought it advisable to go out and meet them, and stop them, and decoy them into the city, and there destroy them; lest, if they should have got any hint of what had been done by him, they should spread it, and raise the country upon him, before he had executed his whole design:

weeping all along as he went; pretending equal concern for the destruction of the land, city, and temple, as they had:

and it came to pass, as he met them; when he came up to them, and some discourse had passed between them:

he said unto them, come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; as if he was alive, and for whom he had a great respect, and whose character was well known to these men; and thought that this would be an inducement to come along with him: this he said either to try them, whether they had heard anything upon the road of the death of him; or as an argument to come into the city, suggesting the governor would gladly receive, and liberally entertain them. This looks as if their design was not to come to Mizpah, but to go on their way to Jerusalem, had they not been met with by him, and had he not thus solicited them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet these men, always weeping as he went ( , cf. Ges. 131, a b ; Ew. 280, b). If they came from Ephraim by way of Gibeon (el Jb ), the road on to Jerusalem passed close by Mizpah. When Ishmael met them, he asked them to come to Gedaliah (to Mizpah). But when they had entered the city, “Ishmael slew them into the midst of the pit” (which was there), i.e., killed them and cast their corpses into the pit.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(6) Weeping all along as he went.The treacherous prince met them as sharing in their grief. He does not tell them of the murder; but assuming that they have heard of Gedaliahs appointment as Satrap, invites them to come and see him, as being now within the bounds of his jurisdiction. The LXX., it may be noted, represents the pilgrims, and not Ishmael, as weeping.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. Weeping all along as he went Literally, going to go and weep weeping continually. The idea is well expressed in our version. He simulated grief for the same purpose for which the Indian lies in ambush.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 41:6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

Ver. 6. And Ishmael came forth of Mizpah to meet them. ] This was another manner of meeting than that at Mizpah in Samuel’s days. 1Sa 7:3-6 O tempora! O mores!

Weeping all along as he went. ] Oh deep dissimulation and crocodile’s tears! a That creature, having killed some living beast, lieth upon the dead body, washeth the head thereof with her warm tears, which she afterwards devoureth together with the body. Tears, saith the author of the Turkish History, b speaking of Andronicus, another Ishmael, by nature were ordained to express the heaviness of the heart, flowing from the eyes as showers of rain from the clouds. In good men the most certain signs of greatest grief and sure testimonies of inward torment; but in Andronicus you are not so. You proceed of joy, you promise not to the distressed pity or compassion, but death and destruction. How many men’s eyes have you put out! How many have you drowned! How many have you devoured! Thus he; and much more to like purpose.

Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. ] This he saith fraudulently, like Sinon in the poet, that he might fish and find out how they stood affected to Gedaliah, whom he so deadly hated, that he slaughtered these poor folk for once owning him, or owing him any service.

a Vide pessimum ingenium: luget ut lugentes perdat. – Oecolamp.

b Turkish History, fol. 56.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

weeping all along as he went = going on and on weeping.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

weeping: etc. Heb. in going and weeping, Jer 50:4, 2Sa 1:2-16, 2Sa 3:16, Pro 26:23-26

Reciprocal: 2Sa 3:27 – quietly 2Sa 13:24 – let the king

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 41:6. On their way toward Jerusalem these people passed near Mizpah and Ishmael went out to meet them. He thought it might not be suitable to his plans for them to be living but rather since dead men tell nothing, it would be to his advantage and in-terest to get them out of the way. But to do so he must use some kind of deception, and he did so by pretending to sympathize with them and offering them some assistance. He invited them to come with him to Gedaliah who would be supposed to offer them some consolation.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 41:6-8. And Ishmael went forth to meet them, weeping all along as he went As if he sympathized with them, and bewailed, as they did, the desolations of Jerusalem. He appears to have been a complete hypocrite. As he met them he said, Come to Gedaliah He invites them to the new governor for protection, as if he had been one of his courtiers and friends, and by these arts conceals his bloody design against them. And when they came into the midst of the city Whence they could not easily escape; Ishmael slew them Though they had given him no provocation, and indeed, as it seems, were entire strangers to him. And, no doubt, he took the offerings they had brought, and converted them to his own use: for he that did not hesitate to commit such a murder certainly would not scruple to commit sacrilege. And cast them into the midst of the pit The words, and cast them, are not in the Hebrew, which is literally, slew them in the midst of the pit. So also the LXX., . The Complutensian edition, however, supplies , and cast them, which accords with the reading of the Syriac. The Vulgate renders the clause, interfecit eos Ismael circa medium laci: Ishmael slew them about the middle of the lake, or, pool; and Blaney reads, Ishmael massacred them at the pit. He and the men that were with him Hired, it seems, to assist him in this bloody work. But ten men were found that said, Slay us not, for we have treasures, &c. He slew seventy of them, but the remaining ten pleading for their lives, and urging that they had estates in the country of corn, oil, and honey, his covetousness prevailed over his cruelty, and he spared their lives, to become master of their property.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

41:6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said to them, Come {e} to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

(e) For his death was kept secret, and he pretended that he lamented for the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple but later slew them when they seemed to favour Gedaliah.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet these men, weeping as he went, pretending to share their grief. He invited them to come and see Gedaliah, who was now dead, as a way to trap them.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)