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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 40

Jeremiah 40: freed at Ramah and Gedaliah's rule at Mizpah

General context

The chapter opens after Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard has released Jeremiah at Ramah, where he had been bound in chains among the captives bound for Babylon. The captain tells him that the Lord pronounced this evil on the place and brought it because the people sinned. He looses Jeremiah's chains and offers a choice: come to Babylon and be looked after, or go anywhere in the land. Before Jeremiah leaves, the captain adds that he may go to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and gives him food and a gift. Jeremiah goes to Gedaliah at Mizpah and lives among the people left in the land. The captains of the forces in the fields, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah and others, hear of Gedaliah's appointment and come to Mizpah. Gedaliah swears to them that they need not fear serving the Chaldeans; they should gather wine, summer fruits and oil and live in the cities they have taken, while he stays at Mizpah to deal with the Chaldeans. Jews scattered in Moab, Ammon, Edom and other countries return to Judah and gather a large harvest. Johanan and the captains warn Gedaliah that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael to kill him, but Gedaliah does not believe them. Johanan offers in secret to kill Ishmael so that the gathered remnant will not be scattered. Gedaliah forbids it and says Johanan speaks falsely of Ishmael.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 40:1, Jeremiah 40:2, Jeremiah 40:3, Jeremiah 40:4, Jeremiah 40:5, Jeremiah 40:6, Jeremiah 40:8, Jeremiah 40:9, Jeremiah 40:10, Jeremiah 40:11, Jeremiah 40:12, Jeremiah 40:14, Jeremiah 40:15, Jeremiah 40:16

Jeremiah 40 (KJV)

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzar-adan 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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;

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Verse 1 announces a word that came to Jeremiah, but no oracle follows in the chapter; the next word from the Lord is reported in chapter 42 after ten days. Jeremiah's release from chains at Ramah sits beside chapter 39's account of his removal from the prison court, and the text does not explain how he came to be among the captives. The Babylonian captain states Judah's sin and the Lord's judgment in the same terms Jeremiah used, and the narrator does not comment on a foreign officer saying so. Gedaliah's appointment by the king of Babylon is also recorded in 2 Kings, with the same oath to the captains. Baalis king of the Ammonites is named only in this warning. Ishmael is introduced by his father Nethaniah; the next chapter adds that he was of the seed royal. The text does not say why Gedaliah disbelieved the warning, only that he called it false. The gathering of wine and summer fruits is reported as very much, a note of plenty after the siege.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 40:1, Jeremiah 42:7, Jeremiah 39:14, Jeremiah 40:3, 2 Kings 25:24, Jeremiah 40:14, Jeremiah 41:1, Jeremiah 40:16, Jeremiah 40:12

Literary context

The chapter is built of choices offered and warnings refused. Nebuzar-adan gives Jeremiah an open choice and states it three ways, come, forbear, go where you please, and Jeremiah's decision takes a single verse. Gedaliah's oath to the captains, do not fear to serve the Chaldeans, is the counsel Jeremiah gave to Zedekiah and the nations, now spoken by a governor. The scene fills with returning Jews and harvest, then narrows to a whispered warning and a secret offer of killing. The chapter ends on Gedaliah's denial, "thou speakest falsely of Ishmael," so the reader carries the warning into chapter 41 knowing what the governor refused to believe. Ishmael's name heads the list of captains who come to Mizpah, and it is his name the warning turns on. The captain of the guard's speech gives the theology of the fall from the conqueror's mouth, matching the prophet's own words.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 40:4, Jeremiah 40:6, Jeremiah 40:9, Jeremiah 27:12, Jeremiah 40:12, Jeremiah 40:15, Jeremiah 40:16, Jeremiah 40:8, Jeremiah 40:2

Key moments

  1. Released at Ramah (Jeremiah 40:1). The captain of the guard frees Jeremiah from among the captives.
  2. Loosed from chains (Jeremiah 40:4). Nebuzar-adan offers Jeremiah a free choice of where to go.
  3. Jeremiah goes to Mizpah (Jeremiah 40:6). He joins Gedaliah and lives among the people left in the land.
  4. Fear not to serve the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 40:9). Gedaliah swears to the captains that submission will go well.
  5. The scattered return (Jeremiah 40:12). Jews from Moab, Ammon and Edom come back and gather a large harvest.
  6. A warning about Ishmael (Jeremiah 40:14). Johanan reports that the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah.
  7. Gedaliah refuses to believe (Jeremiah 40:16). He forbids Johanan's plan and calls the report false.

For reflection

Gedaliah refuses to believe a warning about one of the captains who came to him at Mizpah and says the accuser speaks falsely. What does it cost to assume the best about someone, and who bears that cost?

People in this chapter

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