_Now, in the seventh month_ Answering partly to our September, and
partly to October; two months after the taking of Jerusalem. The
murder of Gedaliah gave occasion to the fasts of the seventh month,
which the Jews observed after their return from captivity, Zechariah
7:5; Zechariah 8:19. _Ishmael t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ishmael also slew all the Jews and the men of war_ That is, all that
joined in opposing him, and in assisting Gedaliah: for several of the
commanders, as well as the greater part of the people, were still left
alive, as appears by the sequel of the story. _And on the second day
after, &c., no man k... [ Continue Reading ]
_There came fourscore men, having their beards shaven_, &c. “These
were tokens of great mourning, by which these persons expressed their
grief for the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Such
expressions of sorrow were forbidden to be used at funeral obsequies,
Leviticus 19:27; but might be law... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now the pit was it which Asa had made_, &c. The word בור, here and
elsewhere rendered _pit_, frequently signifies, _a cistern, basin_,
or, _reservoir;_ a large place made for receiving rain-water; which
seems to be the meaning of the word here. This pit, or reservoir, Asa,
who built and fortified M... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people_ All that
he did not slay: see note on Jeremiah 41:3; and among the rest
Zedekiah's daughters, who had been left to the care of Gedaliah, when
his sons were slain. These, it seems, being recovered by Johanan, were
taken with him into Egypt,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then took Johanan and the captains, all the remnant of the people_,
&c. It would have been a happy thing, if Johanan, when he had rescued
the captives, would have sat quietly down with them, in the land of
Judah, and governed them peaceably as Gedaliah did; but, instead of
that, he is for leading t... [ Continue Reading ]