Jeremiah 41:12

Jer 41:12 Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that [are] in Gibeon.

Ver. 12. Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael.] This act of theirs carrieth the commendation of fortitude, of charity, and of piety. Like as did that of Abraham in rescuing Lot; of Gideon and Jehoshaphat in delivering the Israelites from their barbarous and blood-thirsty enemies; of Scanderbeg, Hunniades, Gustavus King of Sweden, &c. Unless Ishmael and Johanan did as Ishmael the Persian King of Selymus, and the Great Turk, who, fighting for the empire of the East, masked their aspiring thoughts under the veil of zeal to their religion. {a} It well appeareth now to the world that neither of them were right, whatever they pretended.

And they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.] Where, in David’s days, those youngsters of Helkathhazzurim had sheathed their swords in their fellows’ bowels. {2Sa 2:16}

{a} Turkish History, 515.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the . . . waters-- (Sa2 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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Here the Prophet informs us, that Ishmael did not attain his wishes; for he had resolved to sell; as it were, the people to the king of Ammon, but he was intercepted in his course. But he says first, that John the son of Kareah had heard the report, and that he, together with other leaders, went to meet him in order to intercept him in his journey. He says also that he collected all the men, even those who had been dispersed. All then they could have got, they enlisted, and went to fight with Ishmael. And the Prophet adds, that they found him at the great waters And I think they were so called because they were either a lake or a pool. I doubt not, then, but that it was a common name. Some say that the waters were then abundant, because there had been constant rains. But this conjecture is not probable. The simpler meaning is, that these waters were thus called, because in that part the abundance of water was not great in comparison with the lake. Ishmael then was found there. It is now added by the Prophet, that the captives rejoiced when they saw John, and immediately came over to his side. he therefore says, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) By the great waters that are in Gibeon.—Johanan and his friends had been unable to prevent the slaughter of which they had warned Gedaliah (Jer_41:15), but they were not too late to avenge it. Gibeon, retaining its name with little alteration in the modern El-jibe, lay about two miles from Mizpah; so that Ishmael must have halted on thinking himself safe against attack. On the east side of the hill on which it stands there are the remains of a large tank, about 120 feet by 100. It appears as the “pool of Gibeon” in 2Sa_2:13, as the scene of a conflict between Joab and Abner. Josephus (Ant. x. 9-15) places the attack on Ishmael at “the pool in Hebron,” which is mentioned in 2Sa_4:12. This, however, would hardly have been in Ishmael’s route to the country of the Ammonites.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Gibeon] See on Jer_28:1. The “great waters” apparently are to be identified with the “pool” of 2Sa_2:13. Gibeon was about a mile N. of Mizpah.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then they took all the men,.... All the soldiers that were under their command; this they did at once, believing the report to be true, as they had reason to do; since they knew of Ishmael's designs, and had given notice and warning of them to Gedaliah, though he would not listen to them:

and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah: resolving to give him battle, and to revenge the innocent blood he had shed, and rescue the captives out of his hands he was carrying to the Ammonites:

and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon; taking this road to the country of Ammon, though it was not quite the direct road; either to avoid the forces of Johanan; or rather for the sake of the hid treasure at Shechem, or Shiloh, or Samaria, the ten men had promised him for their lives. These great waters were the same with the pool at Gibeon, where the servants of Ishbosheth and the servants of David met, and sat one on one side, and the other on the other; and where twelve young men on each side slew one another, and from thence called Helkathhazzurim, Sa2 2:12; and the Targum calls it

"the pool of many waters, which were in Gibeon.''

Josephus (p) calls it a fountain in Hebron; which perhaps should be read Gibeon.

(p) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

An open pool still exists at Gibeon, and a large subterranean reservoir fed by a copious natural spring. Gibeon is about two miles north of Mizpah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Gabaon, famous for the battle of Abner, 2 Kings ii. 13.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

These

great waters are supposed to be a lake, or some great pool in Gibeon, the very same that is mentioned 2Sa 2:13, where Joab and the servants of David met, the one keeping on one side of the pool, the other on the other side.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. The great waters that are in Gibeon — Probably a reservoir or pool. Robinson describes such a pool still existing there fed by a natural spring. Gibeon is about two miles north of Mizpah, and was one of the sacerdotal cities of Benjamin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The great waters.., in Gibeon; i.e. the pool mentioned in 2Sa_2:13. Dr. Thomson (p. 670) speaks of a "pond or small lake" near El-Jib. Ishmael seems to be lingering over his journey to Ammon, in order to find the subterranean stores spoken of in ver. 8.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

by the great waters [By the pool of great waters.]

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.