Jeremiah 41:6

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.

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.

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., εσφαξεν αυτους εις το φρεαρ. The Complutensian edition, however, supplies και ενεβαλεν, 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For his death was kept secret, and he feigned that he lament for the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Temple: but after slew them when they seemed to favor Gedaliah.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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.

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

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 Gedaliah’s 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Ishmael’s conduct seems to have been dictated by the malicious desire utterly to frustrate Gedaliah’s work.

Weeping - By this artifice he lured them into Mizpah. The Septuagint: “as they were ... weeping.”

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

He. Septuagint, "they." Yet Hebrew intimates that Ismahel feigned tears. (Calmet) --- He did not weep sincerely. (Worthington)

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).

He cometh out weeping, the better to deceive them into his trap, that they might believe he was as they equally affected with God’s 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.

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

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.

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

Weeping all along as he went. To testify his sympathy with their grief. But the reading of the Septuagint is more natural, "As they were going along and weeping."

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

Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet these men, always weeping as he went (הלך הלך וּבכה, cf. Ges. 131, ab; 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.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

to meet them

"to meet the 80 men"

Then it happened

This phrase is used here to mark where the action starts. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

It came about that

This phrase is used here to mark an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughtered them and threw them into a pit, he and the men who were with him

It is stated it in Jeremiah 41:8 that Ishmael and his men did not kill all 80 men. You can state here that they killed most of the 80 men. AT: "Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and the men who were with him, killed most of the 80 men and threw them into a pit"

translationWords

slaughter

pit

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.