5 That there came H935 certain H582 from Shechem, H7927 from Shiloh, H7887 and from Samaria, H8111 even fourscore H8084 men, H376 having their beards H2206 shaven, H1548 and their clothes H899 rent, H7167 and having cut H1413 themselves, with offerings H4503 and incense H3828 in their hand, H3027 to bring H935 them to the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
And he burnt H8313 the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and the king's H4428 house, H1004 and all the houses H1004 of Jerusalem, H3389 and every great H1419 man's house H1004 burnt H8313 he with fire. H784
And he bought H7069 the hill H2022 Samaria H8111 of Shemer H8106 for two talents H3603 of silver, H3701 and built H1129 on the hill, H2022 and called H7121 the name H8034 of the city H5892 which he built, H1129 after the name H8034 of Shemer, H8106 owner H113 of the hill, H2022 Samaria. H8111
Ye are the children H1121 of the LORD H3068 your God: H430 ye shall not cut H1413 yourselves, nor make H7760 any baldness H7144 between your eyes H5869 for the dead. H4191
And Jacob H3290 came H935 to Shalem, H8004 a city H5892 of Shechem, H7927 which is in the land H776 of Canaan, H3667 when he came H935 from Padanaram; H6307 and pitched his tent H2583 before H6440 the city. H5892
And in the thirty H7970 H8141 and eighth H8083 year H8141 of Asa H609 king H4428 of Judah H3063 began Ahab H256 the son H1121 of Omri H6018 to reign H4427 over Israel: H3478 and Ahab H256 the son H1121 of Omri H6018 reigned H4427 over Israel H3478 in Samaria H8111 twenty H6242 and two H8147 years. H8141
Jehu H3058 met H4672 with the brethren H251 of Ahaziah H274 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 and said, H559 Who are ye? And they answered, H559 We are the brethren H251 of Ahaziah; H274 and we go down H3381 to salute H7965 the children H1121 of the king H4428 and the children H1121 of the queen. H1377 And he said, H559 Take H8610 them alive. H2416 And they took H8610 them alive, H2416 and slew H7819 them at the pit H953 of the shearing house, H1044 even two H8147 and forty H705 men; H376 neither left H7604 he any H376 of them.
And when Shechem H7927 the son H1121 of Hamor H2544 the Hivite, H2340 prince H5387 of the country, H776 saw H7200 her, he took H3947 her, and lay H7901 with her, and defiled her. H6031
For thy servants H5650 take pleasure H7521 in her stones, H68 and favour H2603 the dust H6083 thereof.
Wherefore Hanun H2586 took H3947 David's H1732 servants, H5650 and shaved off H1548 the one half H2677 of their beards, H2206 and cut off H3772 their garments H4063 in the middle, H2677 even to their buttocks, H8357 and sent them away. H7971
And the bones H6106 of Joseph, H3130 which the children H1121 of Israel H3478 brought up H5927 out of Egypt, H4714 buried H6912 they in Shechem, H7927 in a parcel H2513 of ground H7704 which Jacob H3290 bought H7069 of the sons H1121 of Hamor H2544 the father H1 of Shechem H7927 for an hundred H3967 pieces of silver: H7192 and it became the inheritance H5159 of the children H1121 of Joseph. H3130
Ye shall not round H5362 the corners H6285 of your heads, H7218 neither shalt thou mar H7843 the corners H6285 of thy beard. H2206 Ye shall not make H5414 any H3793 cuttings H8296 in your flesh H1320 for the dead, H5315 nor print H5414 any marks H7085 upon you: I am the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 41
Commentary on Jeremiah 41 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 41
Jer 41:1-18. Ishmael Murders Gedaliah and Others, Then Flees to the Ammonites. Johanan Pursues Him, Recovers the Captives, and Purposes to Flee to Egypt for Fear of the Chaldeans.
1. seventh month—the second month after the burning of the city (Jer 52:12, 13).
and the princes—not the nominative. And the princes came, for the "princes" are not mentioned either in Jer 41:2 or in 2Ki 25:25: but, "Ishmael being of the seed royal and of the princes of the king" [Maurer]. But the ten men were the "princes of the king"; thus Maurer's objection has no weight: so English Version.
eat bread together—Ishmael murdered Gedaliah, by whom he was hospitably received, in violation of the sacred right of hospitality (Ps 41:9).
2. slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor—This assigns a reason for their slaying him, as well as showing the magnitude of their crime (Da 2:21; Ro 13:1).
3. slew all the Jews—namely, the attendants and ministers of Gedaliah; or, the military alone, about his person; translate, "even (not 'and,' as English Version) the men of war." The main portion of the people with Gedaliah, including Jeremiah, Ishmael carried away captive (Jer 41:10, 16).
4. no man knew it—that is, outside Mizpah. Before tidings of the murder had gone abroad.
5. beards shaven, &c.—indicating their deep sorrow at the destruction of the temple and city.
cut themselves—a heathen custom, forbidden (Le 19:27, 28; De 14:1). These men were mostly from Samaria, where the ten tribes, previous to their deportation, had fallen into heathen practices.
offerings—unbloody. They do not bring sacrificial victims, but "incense," &c., to testify their piety.
house of … Lord—that is, the place where the house of the Lord had stood (2Ki 25:9). The place in which a temple had stood, even when it had been destroyed, was held sacred [Papinian]. Those "from Shiloh" would naturally seek the house of the Lord, since it was at Shiloh it originally was set up (Jos 18:1).
6. weeping—pretending to weep, as they did, for the ruin of the temple.
Come to Gedaliah—as if he was one of Gedaliah's retinue.
7. and cast them into … pit—He had not killed them in the pit (compare Jer 41:9); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version.
the pit—the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city (Jer 41:9; 1Ki 15:22). The trench or fosse round the city [Grotius]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.
8. treasures—It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared.
slew … not—(Pr 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.
9. because of Gedaliah—rather, "near Gedaliah," namely, those intercepted by Ishmael on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem and killed at Mizpah, where Gedaliah had lived. So 2Ch 17:15, "next"; Ne 3:2, Margin, literally, as here, "at his hand." "In the reign of Gedaliah" [Calvin]. However, English Version gives a good sense: Ishmael's reason for killing them was because of his supposing them to be connected with Gedaliah.
10. the king's daughters—(Jer 43:6). Zedekiah's. Ishmael must have got additional followers (whom the hope of gain attracted), besides those who originally set out with him (Jer 41:1), so as to have been able to carry off all the residue of the people. He probably meant to sell them as slaves to the Ammonites (see on Jer 40:14).
11. Johanan—the friend of Gedaliah who had warned him of Ishmael's treachery, but in vain (Jer 40:8, 13).
12. the … waters—(2Sa 2:13); a large reservoir or lake.
in Gibeon—on the road from Mizpah to Ammon: one of the sacerdotal cities of Benjamin, four miles northwest of Jerusalem, now Eljib.
13. glad—at the prospect of having a deliverer from their captivity.
14. cast about—came round.
16. men of war—"The men of war," stated in Jer 41:3 to have been slain by Ishmael, must refer to the military about Gedaliah's person; "the men of war" here to those not so.
eunuchs—The kings of Judah had adopted the bad practice of having harems and eunuchs from the surrounding heathen kingdoms.
17. dwelt—for a time, until they were ready for their journey to Egypt (Jer 42:1-22).
habitation to Chimham—his "caravanserai" close by Beth-lehem. David, in reward for Barzillai's loyalty, took Chimham his son under his patronage, and made over to him his own patrimony in the land of Beth-lehem. It was thence called the habitation of Chimham (Geruth-Chimham), though it reverted to David's heirs in the year of jubilee. "Caravanserais" (a compound Persian word, meaning "the house of a company of travellers") differ from our inns, in that there is no host to supply food, but each traveller must carry with him his own.
18. afraid—lest the Chaldeans should suspect all the Jews of being implicated in Ishmael's treason, as though the Jews sought to have a prince of the house of David (Jer 41:1). Their better way towards gaining God's favor would have been to have laid the blame on the real culprit, and to have cleared themselves. A tortuous policy is the parent of fear. Righteousness inspires with boldness (Ps 53:5; Pr 28:1).