The Strand Study Bible

JEREMIAH 40:8

JEREMIAH 41:2

1211

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; 8 Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 1 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. 9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, 2 Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10 As 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. 11 Likewise 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 had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; 12 Even 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. 13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah,

and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14 And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent 3 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. 15 Then 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? 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael. READ NEXT - II Kings 25:25 Jeremiah 41 Ishmael kills Gedaliah (S/A - II Ki 25:25) Date Written - Oct 586 BC/AM 3414 1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. 2 Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and 4 smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam

1. II Ki 25:23 2. II Ki 25:24

3. Note - Ishmael , a member of the royal family and a court official (Jere 41:1), was one of several guerrilla leaders that still roamed the Judean countryside. Although six of the guerrilla leaders (Johanan, Jonathan, Seraiah, the sons of Ephai, and Jezaniah) ended up following Gedaliah’s leadership, Ishmael , who had aligned himself with Baalis, king of Ammon, did not. Eventually Ishmael murdered Gedaliah (Jere 41:1-2). NOTE – Learn to be a friend, not need a friend, and you’ll protect your- self from being duped. 4. II Ki 25:25

41:2 There appears to be but one reason why Ishmael wanted Gedaliah dead –Ishmael was of the royal seed (vs 1) and Gedaliah was not. Therefore Ishmael was envious of Gedaliah’s promotion. Envy is the art of counting another’s blessings instead of your own. Joseph Heller (1923-1999), an American Jewish novelist, once said: There is no disappointment so numbing…as someone no better than you achieving more. 1 Envy comes from wanting something that isn’t yours and then doing something about it. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: It is better to want what you have than to have what you want Question: Is there a difference between envy and jealously? And if so, how do we know that Ishmael was envious of Gedaliah and not merely jealous? Aristotle once said: The difference between envy and jealously is as follows: Whereas jealously desires to have the same or the same sort of thing for itself, envy desires to deprive another of what he has (Ishmael smote Gedaliah ). For example: People who loathe others for what they have (I Tim 6:1-2) end up talking about it (I Tim 6:3-4a), and talking about it leads to doing something about it (envy – I Tim 6:4b ). The Jewish religious leaders delivered Jesus to be crucified because people were following Him instead of them (Mt 27:15-18/Mk 15:10). They weren’t jealous, they were envious. NOTE – Whereas there are numerous scriptures in the Bible that point to the fact that God (and His ministers – II Cor 11:1-2) can become jealous for His people (Exo 20:5 & 34:14, Deut 4:24 & 5:9 & 6:15, Josh 24:19, Ezk 39:25 and Nah 1:2) and His work (Joel 2:18, Zech 1:14 & 8:2 and Jn 2:17), there is only one verse that points to the fact that God can become envious and deprive us of what we have ( Jms 4:5 ). 1 Joseph Heller quote: Public Domain 2 Aristotle. Art of Rhetoric (Sect 6, ch. 2.11.): Public Domain Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbor to have them through envy. 2