Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 40:7-12
Re-establishment Of Judah Under The Governorship Of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 40:7).
Once the news got about that Gedaliah had been appointed governor, that Judah was now populated by ‘the poor of the land', and that the land was comparatively at rest, the commanders who were still leading armies of resistance, together with their men, and the Jews who had fled for refuge abroad, determined to return to the land and submit to him. There would no doubt still be many women remaining in the land, tending what remained of the flocks and trying to scratch a living from the land, many of them wives of the resistance fighters.
‘Now when all the captains of the forces who 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 to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon,'
The news of Gedaliah's appointment soon reached the ears of the various resistance movements operating throughout Judah (the captains of the forces who were in the countryside, probably operating from the mountains which provided good hiding places and difficulty of access). They learned that the Babylonians had set up a new state under Gedaliah, populated by ‘the poor of the land', who were no doubt seen as those who had no influence and no political axe to grind, and could thus safely be left in Judah in order to re-establish it. Allowing the land to turn into a wilderness would do no one any good. These men of the resistance clearly recognised that further resistance was useless and decided that it was in the interests of all Judah that they cooperate with a new government under Judean governorship.
‘Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, to wit, 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 the Maacathite, they and their men.'
So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah in order to negotiate with him. We have here a list of the resistance leaders, the first of whom would shortly reveal himself a traitor, but who is named first because he was of royal blood. As a result of what they had heard their purpose was to come to an agreement with Gedaliah, whom they knew that they could trust, and to offer to lay down their arms as long as they were given sufficient guarantees of their own safety and the safety of their men.
That Ishmael was of royal birth we know from Jeremiah 41:1, and we may presume from what follows that he resented Gedaliah as a result and saw him as a usurper. But that his aim was one of revenge rather than one of patriotism, comes out in that his intention was not to restore Judah. Indeed he knew perfectly well that Nebuchadrezzar would subsequently seek revenge on Judah for what had happened and thus planned to seek refuge in Ammon. We know almost nothing about the others save that Jezaniah was apparently a resident alien, being the son of a Maacathite, and Netophath was a town near Bethlehem. Jezaniah may or may not be identical with Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah mentioned in Jeremiah 42:1.
‘And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”
Gedaliah had presumably been briefed by Nebuchadrezzar as to the stance that he must take up, and was therefore able to assure the men that if they laid down their arms and were cooperative they would be safe from reprisals.
“As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come unto us, but you, gather for yourselves wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
He pointed out that he would be dwelling at Mizpah acting for the good of Judah and negotiating for Judah with the Babylonian contingent, who would be at Mizpah to oversee his governorship. He would act as a guarantor of their acceptance by the Babylonians. Meanwhile they were free to dwell in the cities that they had taken possession of, presumably due to the Babylonian withdrawal, and to gather the wine, summer fruits and oil which would be growing on the fruit trees left standing by the Babylonians, for present needs and for storage. The grain and barley harvests would have to await the following year, no harvest presumably having been sown or gathered that year due to the invasion.
‘In the same way when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who 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, then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.'
It is clear that the land soon became fairly well populated again. Apart from ‘the poor of the land' who would have been numerous, and had been allowed to remain and take land there, refugees who had fled from the invasion to surrounding countries now returned in droves. And there was plenty of food for all from the abundance of wine and summer fruits. Ammon and Moab were to the east of Judah, across the Jordan. Edom was south and south-east of Judah.