Jeremiah 40 Study Notes: Jeremiah Freed and Gedaliah Governs
Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain, frees Jeremiah and says the LORD brought ruin on Judah for its sin. Jeremiah stays with Gedaliah at Mizpah, who urges the survivors to serve Babylon and gather the harvest. Gedaliah then dismisses Johanan’s warning that Ishmael son of Nethaniah plans to kill him.
General
How did Gedaliah respond when Johanan privately offered to kill Ishmael before Ishmael could strike (Jeremiah 40:15-16)?
Answer: He forbade it and said the report about Ishmael was false
Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the other commanders warned Gedaliah that Baalis, the Ammonite king, had dispatched Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to murder him, but Gedaliah refused to credit the report (40:13-14). Johanan then spoke to him in private and offered to kill Ishmael secretly. He argued that if Gedaliah were killed, the Judeans gathered around him would be scattered and the survivors in Judah would be lost (40:15). Gedaliah told him not to do it and insisted that what he was saying about Ishmael was untrue (40:16). The warning proved correct: Ishmael and his men killed Gedaliah (41:2), and Ishmael later escaped to the Ammonites (41:15). The parallel account in 2 Kings records the same killing (2 Kings 25:25).
- Jeremiah 40:13-14 (BSB)“Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.”Johanan and the commanders warn Gedaliah of the plot against him, but he does not believe them.
- Jeremiah 40:15-16 (BSB)“Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.””Johanan offers to kill Ishmael in secret, and Gedaliah refuses and calls the report untrue.
- Jeremiah 41:2 (BSB)“Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.”The warning proves true: Ishmael and his men kill Gedaliah.
- Jeremiah 41:15 (BSB)“But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went to the Ammonites.”After his crimes Ishmael escapes to the Ammonites, the people whose king had sent him.
- 2 Kings 25:25 (BSB)“In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.”The parallel account in Kings also records that Ishmael killed Gedaliah.
Theological
What was Gedaliah’s reply to Johanan’s secret proposal to kill Ishmael (Jeremiah 40:15-16)?
Answer: He forbade it and said the report about Ishmael was false
Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the field commanders reported that Baalis, the Ammonite king, had commissioned Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to assassinate Gedaliah, but Gedaliah refused to believe it (40:13-14). Johanan pressed the matter privately, offering to kill Ishmael quietly, since Gedaliah’s death would scatter the gathered Judeans and doom the surviving remnant (40:15). Gedaliah forbade it and dismissed the report as false (40:16). Events vindicated the warning: Ishmael struck Gedaliah down (41:2) and then fled to the Ammonites (41:15), and the parallel account in 2 Kings records the assassination as well (2 Kings 25:25).
- Jeremiah 40:13-14 (BSB)“Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.”Johanan and the commanders warn Gedaliah of the plot against him, but he does not believe them.
- Jeremiah 40:15-16 (BSB)“Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.””Johanan offers to kill Ishmael in secret, and Gedaliah refuses and calls the report untrue.
- Jeremiah 41:2 (BSB)“Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.”The warning proves true: Ishmael and his men kill Gedaliah.
- Jeremiah 41:15 (BSB)“But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went to the Ammonites.”After his crimes Ishmael escapes to the Ammonites, the people whose king had sent him.
- 2 Kings 25:25 (BSB)“In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.”The parallel account in Kings also records that Ishmael killed Gedaliah.
General
What did Gedaliah urge the army commanders and their men to do (Jeremiah 40:9-10)?
Answer: Settle in the land, serve Babylon’s king, and gather the harvest
When the commanders who had been out in the countryside came to Mizpah, Ahikam’s son Gedaliah gave them his sworn word. He told them not to fear serving the Chaldeans (the Babylonians), but to settle down in Judah and serve Babylon’s king, and all would be well for them (40:9). He would stay at Mizpah to speak for them before the Chaldean officials, while they brought in the grape, fruit and oil harvest, stored it in jars, and lived in the towns they had taken over (40:10). This was the same counsel God had given through Jeremiah: the nation that bowed under Babylon’s rule would be left on its own soil to farm it (27:11-12). Nebuzaradan had already given some poor people vineyards and fields (39:10), and the parallel account in 2 Kings records the same oath (2 Kings 25:24).
- Jeremiah 40:9-10 (BSB)“Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken.””Gedaliah swears an oath to the commanders and urges them to settle down under Babylon and bring in the crops.
- Jeremiah 27:11-12 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.” And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!”The LORD had already said through Jeremiah that a nation submitting to Babylon would be left on its own soil to farm it.
- Jeremiah 39:10 (BSB)“But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.”Nebuzaradan had left some of the poorest people in Judah and given them vineyards and fields.
- 2 Kings 25:24 (BSB)“And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.””The parallel account in Kings records the same oath and counsel from Gedaliah.
Theological
What counsel did Gedaliah give the field commanders under oath (Jeremiah 40:9-10)?
Answer: Settle in the land, serve Babylon’s king, and gather the harvest
Ahikam’s son Gedaliah bound himself by oath to the commanders who came to him at Mizpah: they need not fear submitting to the Chaldeans, and if they settled down under Babylon’s king, things would go well for them (40:9). He would represent them at Mizpah before the Chaldean authorities, while they harvested the vintage, summer produce and oil and occupied the towns they held (40:10). His policy echoes the prophetic word Jeremiah had pressed on Zedekiah: submission to Babylon was the LORD’s appointed way for the nation to remain in its land (27:11-12). Babylon had already left the poor with vineyards and fields (39:10), and the parallel record in 2 Kings preserves the same oath (2 Kings 25:24).
- Jeremiah 40:9-10 (BSB)“Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken.””Gedaliah swears an oath to the commanders and urges them to settle down under Babylon and bring in the crops.
- Jeremiah 27:11-12 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.” And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!”The LORD had already said through Jeremiah that a nation submitting to Babylon would be left on its own soil to farm it.
- Jeremiah 39:10 (BSB)“But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.”Nebuzaradan had left some of the poorest people in Judah and given them vineyards and fields.
- 2 Kings 25:24 (BSB)“And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.””The parallel account in Kings records the same oath and counsel from Gedaliah.
General
After Nebuzaradan freed Jeremiah and let him choose where to go, what did Jeremiah do (Jeremiah 40:4-6)?
Answer: He joined Gedaliah in Mizpah and remained among those left
Nebuzaradan took the chains off Jeremiah and gave him a choice: come to Babylon and be looked after, or stay, since the whole land lay open before him (40:4). Before Jeremiah left, the captain advised him to go back to Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, whom Babylon’s king had set over Judah’s towns, and sent him off with food and a gift (40:5). Jeremiah joined Gedaliah at Mizpah, living among the people still in the land (40:6). Gedaliah’s family had stood with Jeremiah before: his father Ahikam had protected Jeremiah from being killed (26:24), and the Babylonian officers had earlier placed Jeremiah in Gedaliah’s care (39:14). Through all of this, God kept His promise from Jeremiah’s call that his enemies would not overcome him (1:19).
- Jeremiah 40:4 (BSB)“But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.””Nebuzaradan frees Jeremiah and lets him choose between Babylon and staying in the land.
- Jeremiah 40:5-6 (BSB)“But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go anywhere else that seems right.” Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him. So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.”Jeremiah is advised to return to Gedaliah, receives food and a gift, and goes to Mizpah.
- Jeremiah 26:24 (BSB)“Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.”Gedaliah’s father Ahikam had earlier shielded Jeremiah from being put to death.
- Jeremiah 39:14 (BSB)“had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard, and they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.”The Babylonian captains had already handed Jeremiah over to Gedaliah’s care.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At his call the LORD promised Jeremiah that his enemies would not overcome him, because God would rescue him.
Theological
Given his freedom by Nebuzaradan, where did Jeremiah choose to go (Jeremiah 40:4-6)?
Answer: He joined Gedaliah in Mizpah and remained among those left
Released from his chains, Jeremiah was offered protection in Babylon or liberty to go wherever he wished in the land (40:4). Nebuzaradan commended Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, Babylon’s appointee over the towns of Judah, and dismissed Jeremiah with provisions and a gift (40:5). Jeremiah chose to remain with Gedaliah at Mizpah among the people left in Judah (40:6). Gedaliah’s family had stood by the prophet before: Ahikam had saved him from death (26:24), and the Babylonian officers had already committed him to Gedaliah (39:14). The LORD’s pledge at Jeremiah’s commissioning, that opponents would fight him but not prevail (1:19), is visibly kept through a pagan captain’s kindness.
- Jeremiah 40:4 (BSB)“But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.””Nebuzaradan frees Jeremiah and lets him choose between Babylon and staying in the land.
- Jeremiah 40:5-6 (BSB)“But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go anywhere else that seems right.” Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him. So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.”Jeremiah is advised to return to Gedaliah, receives food and a gift, and goes to Mizpah.
- Jeremiah 26:24 (BSB)“Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.”Gedaliah’s father Ahikam had earlier shielded Jeremiah from being put to death.
- Jeremiah 39:14 (BSB)“had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard, and they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.”The Babylonian captains had already handed Jeremiah over to Gedaliah’s care.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At his call the LORD promised Jeremiah that his enemies would not overcome him, because God would rescue him.
General
When Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain of the guard, set Jeremiah free, how did he explain the disaster that had fallen on Judah (Jeremiah 40:2-3)?
Answer: The LORD had decreed it and done it because they sinned
Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian officer who commanded the royal guard, found Jeremiah in chains among the captives being taken into exile and set him free at Ramah (40:1). He was carrying out Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier order to look after the prophet (39:11-12). Then this foreign commander told Jeremiah that his God had announced this calamity against the place and had now brought it about just as He promised, because the people had sinned and refused to obey Him (40:2-3). Even a pagan officer could see what Judah had refused to believe: the fall of Jerusalem was the LORD’s own judgment. Moses had warned that onlookers would one day ask why the land was ruined and be told it was because Israel abandoned the LORD’s covenant, His binding agreement with them (Deuteronomy 29:24-25). Lamentations makes the same confession about the LORD carrying out what He had planned (Lamentations 2:17).
- Jeremiah 40:1 (BSB)“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.”Nebuzaradan finds Jeremiah in chains among the captives and releases him at Ramah.
- Jeremiah 40:2-3 (BSB)“The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place, and now the LORD has fulfilled it; He has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed His voice, this thing has happened to you.”The Babylonian captain explains the fall of Judah as the LORD’s judgment for the people’s sin.
- Jeremiah 39:11-12 (BSB)“Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, saying, “Take him, look after him, and do not let any harm come to him; do for him whatever he says.””Nebuzaradan was acting on Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier order to look after Jeremiah and keep him from harm.
- Deuteronomy 29:24-25 (BSB)“So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”Moses foretold that the nations would ask why the LORD had ruined the land, and the answer would be that Israel had forsaken His covenant.
- Lamentations 2:17 (BSB)“The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.”The lament over Jerusalem confesses the same truth: the LORD carried out the judgment He had decreed long before.
Theological
How did Nebuzaradan account for Judah’s ruin when he released Jeremiah (Jeremiah 40:2-3)?
Answer: The LORD had decreed it and done it because they sinned
Acting on Nebuchadnezzar’s standing order concerning the prophet (39:11-12), Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, discovered Jeremiah bound among the exiles and freed him at Ramah (40:1). His explanation of the catastrophe is theological: Jeremiah’s God had pronounced this judgment on the place and had now fulfilled His word, because the people had sinned against Him and refused His voice (40:2-3). The Gentile commander thus confesses what Judah’s leaders had refused to accept: the LORD Himself brought this judgment, and it fell justly on the people for their own sin. Moses had foretold that the nations would ask why the land lay ruined and would be told that Israel had forsaken the LORD’s covenant (Deuteronomy 29:24-25), and Lamentations confesses that the LORD accomplished the decree He had ordained long before (Lamentations 2:17).
- Jeremiah 40:1 (BSB)“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.”Nebuzaradan finds Jeremiah in chains among the captives and releases him at Ramah.
- Jeremiah 40:2-3 (BSB)“The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place, and now the LORD has fulfilled it; He has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed His voice, this thing has happened to you.”The Babylonian captain explains the fall of Judah as the LORD’s judgment for the people’s sin.
- Jeremiah 39:11-12 (BSB)“Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, saying, “Take him, look after him, and do not let any harm come to him; do for him whatever he says.””Nebuzaradan was acting on Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier order to look after Jeremiah and keep him from harm.
- Deuteronomy 29:24-25 (BSB)“So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”Moses foretold that the nations would ask why the LORD had ruined the land, and the answer would be that Israel had forsaken His covenant.
- Lamentations 2:17 (BSB)“The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.”The lament over Jerusalem confesses the same truth: the LORD carried out the judgment He had decreed long before.
General
True or False: When Jews living in nearby lands such as Moab and Edom heard that Gedaliah had been placed over Judah, they came back and gathered a large harvest (Jeremiah 40:11-12).
Answer: True
This is true. News spread that Babylon’s king had let a remnant (a small surviving part of the people) remain in Judah with Gedaliah over them (40:11). Jews who had been driven into the surrounding countries returned from all those places and joined Gedaliah at Mizpah, bringing in a great quantity of grapes and other fruit (40:12). For a short time, life in the land under Gedaliah matched what God had said through Jeremiah: a people who submitted to Babylon would stay in their own land and work it (27:11). The poor who had been left behind had already been given vineyards and fields (39:10).
- Jeremiah 40:11-12 (BSB)“When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them, they all returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered an abundance of wine grapes and summer fruit.”Jews who had been scattered to surrounding lands come back to Judah and gather a rich harvest.
- Jeremiah 27:11 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.””God had promised that a people who submitted to Babylon would remain in their land and work it.
- Jeremiah 39:10 (BSB)“But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.”The poor who were left behind had been given vineyards and fields to work.
Theological
True or False: Jews who had been scattered to Moab, Edom and other nearby lands returned to Gedaliah when they heard of his appointment, and they gathered a large harvest (Jeremiah 40:11-12).
Answer: True
This is true. When word reached the dispersed Jews that Babylon had preserved a surviving remnant within Judah under Gedaliah (40:11), they came back from the lands where they had been driven and gathered to him at Mizpah, bringing in an abundant vintage and summer harvest (40:12). For a brief season the remnant enjoyed what the LORD had promised to a people who submitted to Babylon’s yoke: continued life and cultivation in their own land (27:11). The poor left behind had already been given vineyards and fields (39:10).
- Jeremiah 40:11-12 (BSB)“When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them, they all returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered an abundance of wine grapes and summer fruit.”Jews who had been scattered to surrounding lands come back to Judah and gather a rich harvest.
- Jeremiah 27:11 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.””God had promised that a people who submitted to Babylon would remain in their land and work it.
- Jeremiah 39:10 (BSB)“But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.”The poor who were left behind had been given vineyards and fields to work.