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Jeremiah 40

ירמיהו פרק מ׳

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 40 of 52 | Day: 253 of 742

Date: October 22, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 40 opens on the morning after the catastrophe. Yerushalayim has been taken, the Temple and the palace burned, the walls broken down, and the bulk of the population marched off toward Bavel. Chapter 39 told that story in compressed, almost clinical prose, and it ended on two small notes of mercy: Yirmiyahu released from the court of the guard into the care of Gedalyahu son of Achikam (39:14), and a word of deliverance for Eved-melech the Kushite (39:15-18). Chapter 40 returns to the prophet and tells the story of his release a second time and at greater length, and then turns to something no previous chapter of the book has shown: the attempt to rebuild a Judean community on the ruins, under a Judean governor appointed by Bavel. For a few verses the reader is allowed to hope. Exiles come home, the harvest is gathered in abundance, and a wise and moderate leader tells the people that it will go well with them. The chapter ends, however, with a warning that the governor refuses to believe, and the reader who knows the next chapter already hears the footsteps of his murderer.

The opening verse is a famous puzzle. It announces ‘the word that came to Yirmiyahu from the LORD,’ and then no word follows; instead we hear the speech of Nevuzaradan, the chief of the executioners (רב טבחים), and a narrative of events. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all solve the problem in the same way: the word in question is the prophecy that came at the end of ten days (42:7), when the survivors asked whether to flee to Egypt, and the text prefaces it with the whole story of how Yirmiyahu came to be among them. Radak adds that after the prophet was confined in the court of the guard, no further word of the LORD came to him until the whole episode had run its course. Both Rashi and Radak also record a midrashic reading in which the word is ‘return to Gedalyahu’ itself. In the version Rashi cites from Eichah Rabbah, Yirmiyahu is offered the choice of going down with the exiles or remaining with those left behind, and he answers that if he went with the exiles he could do little for them; let their Creator go with them, for He can help them greatly. Radak’s version is that the prophet did not know which to choose, and could not decide until the word of God told him to return. Either way, the midrash turns the opening verse into a moment of decision, and that is exactly what the chapter narrates.

The image of Yirmiyahu in chains at Rama, bound among the captives of Yerushalayim and Yehudah, raises a second difficulty, since chapter 39 had him released by the Babylonian officers and handed over to Gedalyahu. Metzudat David reconciles the two accounts: after he had been released to dwell among the people, the Kasdim came back to round up the population for exile, and Yirmiyahu was swept up with the rest and brought in fetters to Rama, where Nevuzaradan found him and freed him. Rashi offers a more striking reading drawn from the Pesikta. It is impossible, he says, that Nevuzaradan chained the prophet, since Nevuchadnetzar had ordered that no harm be done to him (39:12); rather, Yirmiyahu went into exile of his own accord, and whenever he saw a band of young men linked by collars he would put his own neck in among them. The prophet who had spent forty years warning of the exile chose to share its chains. Radak, for his part, notes that Rama is where Nevuzaradan had remained while the other officers of Bavel entered the city, which explains why the scene of release is there.

Nevuzaradan’s speech in verses 2 and 3 is one of the stranger moments in the book: a Babylonian general preaching Yirmiyahu’s own theology back to him. The LORD your God spoke this evil against this place, and He brought it and did as He had said, because you sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice. Rashi, following the Pesikta, hears in it a rebuke of the grieving prophet: why are you troubled over them, when you prophesied to them and they would not listen? Metzudat David reads it as a statement of theology: it was God who brought the disaster, and Nevuchadnetzar did not prevail by the strength of his own hand. Radak notes that the Babylonians had heard what Yirmiyahu was prophesying, and that the plural ‘you sinned’ is addressed to the people as a whole. The irony is heavy. The prophet who was jailed, beaten, lowered into a pit of mud and branded a traitor by the princes of Yehudah is now vindicated in public by the conqueror. And from that vindication Metzudat David draws Nevuzaradan’s conclusion in verse 4: since you warned them to make peace with us, there is no guilt on you, and therefore I release you today from the fetters on your hands. Rashi explains the verb (פתחתיך) as untying, as in the camels that were unloosed in Bereshit 24:32, following Targum Yonatan, while noting that Menachem took it as actual opening.

The offer is remarkably generous: come with me to Bavel and I will set my eye upon you, or, if you prefer, see, the whole land is before you; go wherever it is good and right in your eyes. Verse 5 is grammatically abrupt, and the commentators read it differently. Metzudat David and Radak take it as an elliptical exchange: Yirmiyahu had not yet answered, but Nevuzaradan understood that he meant to stay, and so he said, return to Gedalyahu son of Achikam son of Shafan, or go wherever you choose, without compulsion. Rashi reads the words ‘return to Gedalyahu’ as the voice of God, answering a prophet who still did not wish to go back: the poor remnant left in the land under Gedalyahu need you too, just as the exiles do. The general gives him provisions and a gift (ארחה ומשאת), which Radak explains as two kinds of present, and sends him away, and Yirmiyahu comes to Gedalyahu at Mitzpa and dwells among the people who remained in the land. The prophet who could have lived out his days in comfort under Babylonian protection chooses the ruined land and the poorest of its people. That choice is the hinge of the chapter and of the rest of his life.

Gedalyahu himself is a carefully chosen figure. His grandfather Shafan was the scribe of King Yoshiyahu, and his father Achikam had protected Yirmiyahu from the mob in the days of Yehoyakim (26:24). He belongs to the circle of officials who had listened to the prophet, and he governs in the spirit of the prophet’s counsel. When the officers of the scattered Judean forces and their men hear that the king of Bavel has appointed him, they come in to Mitzpa: Yishmael son of Netanyahu, Yochanan and Yonatan the sons of Kare’ach, and the rest. Radak explains that these were soldiers who had fled from the Kasdim in every direction and set up commanders of their own. Gedalyahu swears to them: do not be afraid to serve the Kasdim; dwell in the land and serve the king of Bavel, and it will be well with you (וייטב לכם). Metzudat David explains the reassurance as a promise that the yoke would not be heavy, provided only that they served the king faithfully. His own role, he says in verse 10, will be to stand before the Kasdim who come through Mitzpa, so that, as Metzudat David puts it, they do no harm to the people, since the king had given him the authority to prevent it. The others are to gather wine, summer fruit and oil, which Rashi and Radak explain as dried figs and other fruits preserved by drying, and to settle in the towns they have taken.

This is Yirmiyahu’s own program, the program of the letter to the exiles in chapter 29 and of the field at Anatot in chapter 32, now applied in the land itself. And for a moment it works. In verses 11 and 12 the Judeans who had fled to Moav, Amon and Edom and the other lands hear that a remnant (שארית) has been left in Yehudah and return, and they gather wine and summer fruit in very great abundance. The verbs of return and ingathering, so often used in the book for the hoped-for end of exile, appear here in a small, provisional form. The land that had been threatened with desolation yields a rich harvest to the remnant who come back to it. It is as if the curse has been lifted just enough to show what the land could still give.

The final scene breaks the spell. Yochanan son of Kare’ach and the army officers come to Mitzpa with a warning: do you know that Ba’alis king of Amon has sent Yishmael son of Netanyah to strike you down? Metzudat David explains that Ba’alis incited Yishmael against him, and Yishmael accepted. Yochanan then comes privately and offers to kill Yishmael himself, with no one the wiser, lest the governor be murdered and all Yehudah gathered around him be scattered and the remnant of Yehudah perish. Gedalyahu forbids it: do not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely about Yishmael. His refusal is the refusal of a decent man who will not sanction a secret killing on the strength of a rumor, and yet it is fatal. The Talmud (Niddah 61a) draws the lesson that although one must not accept slander, one must take precautions against it, and holds Gedalyahu responsible for failing to do so. The next chapter will tell how Yishmael, of the royal seed, murdered him at his own table, and the day of his death became the fast of Gedalyah. Chapter 40 thus traces, in sixteen verses, the whole arc of the remnant’s hope: the prophet freed and choosing the land, the scattered gathered and the harvest brought in, and finally a governor too trusting to defend the fragile peace he had built.

פרק מ׳ · Chapter 40

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

הַדָּבָ֞ר אֲשֶׁר־הָיָ֤ה אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ מֵאֵ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה אַחַ֣ר ׀ שַׁלַּ֣ח אֹת֗וֹ נְבוּזַרְאֲדָ֛ן רַב־טַבָּחִ֖ים מִן־הָרָמָ֑ה בְּקַחְתּ֣וֹ אֹת֗וֹ וְהֽוּא־אָס֤וּר בָּֽאזִקִּים֙ בְּת֨וֹךְ כׇּל־גָּל֤וּת יְרוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ וִֽיהוּדָ֔ה הַמֻּגְלִ֖ים בָּבֶֽלָה׃

English:

The word that came to Jeremiah from GOD, after Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, set him free at Ramah, to which he had taken him, chained in fetters, among those from Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

The heading announces a word of the LORD to Yirmiyahu, but no prophecy follows here. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain that it refers to the word that came at the end of ten days (42:7), prefaced by the whole story. Rashi, citing the Pesikta, adds that Nevuzaradan did not chain the prophet; Yirmiyahu went into exile of his own accord, putting his neck among the chained captives.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הדבר אשר היה. מה שנא' בסוף הענין (ירמיה מב) ויהי מקץ עשרת ימים ויהי דבר ה' וגו' אלא שכתב תחלה על מה נאמר לו ומדרש אגדה באיכה רבתי מה היה הדבר ושובה אל גדליהו אמר לו או את נחית עמהון ואנא מסובר הכא או את סובר הכא ואנא נחית עמהון אמר אין אנא נחית עמהון מה אנא מהני להון אלא יחות ברייהון עמהון דסגין הוא מהני להון: מן הרמה. שהיה גולה מעצמו עמהן היה רואה כת שלולים בקולרין היה מכניס צוארו ביניהם וכו' כדאיתא בפסיקתא דאפטרתא דברי ירמיהו שא"א לומר שנתנו נבוזראדן באזיקים שהרי צוהו נבוכדנאצר אל תעש לו מאומה רע (לעיל לט): באזיקים. בזיאו"ש בלע"ז:
The word that came What is stated at the end of the section (42:7): "And it was at the end of ten days that the word of the Lord came etc.," but he first wrote on account of what it was said to him. And the Midrash Aggadah in Lamentations Rabbah (Proem 34): What was the word? "And return to Gedaliah." He said to him: Either you go down with them and I will remain (?) here, or you remain here and I will go down with them. He replied: If I go down with them, what will I help them? Rather, let their Creator go down with them, for He will help them exceedingly. from Ramah Where he went into exile by himself with them. He would see a group [of youths] joined by a collar and would put his neck between them, etc., as is stated in Pesikta of the Haftarah Divrei Yirmiyahu (p. 113). For it is impossible to say that Nebuzaradan put him in chains since Nebuchadnezzar commanded him, "Do him no harm" (above 39:12). in fetters Heb. באזקים, ceps in French, fetters.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיִּקַּ֥ח רַב־טַבָּחִ֖ים לְיִרְמְיָ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ דִּבֶּר֙ אֶת־הָרָעָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

The chief of the guards took charge of Jeremiah, and he said to him, “The ETERNAL your God threatened this place with this disaster;

The Babylonian chief of the executioners takes Yirmiyahu aside and speaks the prophet's own message back to him: your God decreed this evil against this place. Rashi, following the Pesikta, hears a rebuke -- why grieve over them, when you prophesied and they did not listen? Radak notes that the Babylonians had heard what Yirmiyahu was prophesying, and Metzudat David reads it as an admission that he knew the prophecy was in God's name.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ה' אלהיך דבר וגו'. למה אתה מצטער עליה' והלא אתה נבאת להם ולא שמעו כדאיתא בפסיקתא:
"The Lord your God spoke" Why are you troubled about them? Did you not prophesy to them and they did not hearken? As it is stated in Pesikta d'Rav Kahana (p. 113a).

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֵ֥א וַיַּ֛עַשׂ יְהֹוָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֵּ֑ר כִּֽי־חֲטָאתֶ֤ם לַֽיהֹוָה֙ וְלֹא־שְׁמַעְתֶּ֣ם בְּקוֹל֔וֹ וְהָיָ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם (דבר) [הַדָּבָ֥ר] הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

and now GOD has brought it about, by acting on the threat—because you sinned against GOD and did not pay heed. That is why this has happened to you.

Nevuzaradan completes his theology: God brought the disaster and did as He had spoken, because the people sinned and did not listen. Metzudat David stresses that it was God who did it, not Nevuchadnetzar's own strength, and that 'not listening' means refusing the prophet's call to submit to Bavel. Radak notes the written form davar, read hadavar, and that 'you sinned' addresses the people as a whole.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּ֞ה הִנֵּ֧ה פִתַּחְתִּ֣יךָ הַיּ֗וֹם מִֽן־הָאזִקִּים֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־יָדֶ֒ךָ֒ אִם־ט֨וֹב בְּעֵינֶ֜יךָ לָב֧וֹא אִתִּ֣י בָבֶ֗ל בֹּ֚א וְאָשִׂ֤ים אֶת־עֵינִי֙ עָלֶ֔יךָ וְאִם־רַ֧ע בְּעֵינֶ֛יךָ לָבֽוֹא־אִתִּ֥י בָבֶ֖ל חֲדָ֑ל רְאֵה֙ כׇּל־הָאָ֣רֶץ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ אֶל־ט֨וֹב וְאֶל־הַיָּשָׁ֧ר בְּעֵינֶ֛יךָ לָלֶ֥כֶת שָׁ֖מָּה לֵֽךְ׃

English:

Now, I release you this day from the fetters that were on your hands. If you would like to go with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. And if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, you need not. See, the whole land is before you: go wherever seems good and right to you.”—

Nevuzaradan unties the fetters and offers a free choice: come to Bavel under his protection, or go anywhere in the land. Rashi explains the verb as untying, as in the camels unloosed in Bereshit 24:32. Metzudat David gives the general's reasoning -- since Yirmiyahu had urged peace with Bavel, he bears no guilt -- and explains 'I will set my eye upon you' as a promise to watch over him.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
פתחתיך. לשון ויפתח הגמלים (בראשית כ״ד:ל״ב) וכת"י וכען הא שריתך ומנחם פתר כולם לשון פתיחה ממש:
I have released you Heb. פתחתיך, an expression related to "And he untied (ויפתח) the camels" (Gen. 24.32). And so did Jonathan render: Behold, now I have untied you. But Menahem (p. 147) interpreted all of them as an expression of actual opening (פתיחה).

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וְעוֹדֶ֣נּוּ לֹֽא־יָשׁ֗וּב וְשֻׁ֡בָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָ֣ה בֶן־אֲחִיקָ֣ם בֶּן־שָׁפָ֡ן אֲשֶׁר֩ הִפְקִ֨יד מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֜ל בְּעָרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֗ה וְשֵׁ֤ב אִתּוֹ֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעָ֔ם א֠וֹ אֶל־כׇּל־הַיָּשָׁ֧ר בְּעֵינֶ֛יךָ לָלֶ֖כֶת לֵ֑ךְ וַיִּתֶּן־ל֧וֹ רַב־טַבָּחִ֛ים אֲרֻחָ֥ה וּמַשְׂאֵ֖ת וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵֽהוּ׃

English:

But [Jeremiah] still did not turn back. —“Or go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has put in charge of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go wherever you want to go.” The chief of the guards gave him an allowance of food, and dismissed him.

A terse, elliptical verse. Radak and Metzudat David explain that Yirmiyahu had not yet answered, but Nevuzaradan sensed he meant to stay and pointed him to Gedalyahu, without compelling him. Rashi reads 'return to Gedalyahu' as God's own voice: the poor remnant needs you too, like the exiles. The general sends him off with provisions and a gift, two kinds of present according to Radak.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ועודנו לא ישוב. בכל זאת לא היה חפץ לשוב אמר לו הקב"ה ושובה אל גדליהו אשר הופקד על העניים הנשארים גם הם צריכין לך כשאר הגולים: ארוחה ומשאת. מתנן ונבזבן:
But he would still not return Despite this, he did not wish to return. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "And return to Gedaliah," who was appointed over the remaining poor people. They, too, need you, like the rest of the exiles. an allowance and a present Heb. ארחה ומשאת. Jonathan renders: מתנן וּנבזבן.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֧א יִרְמְיָ֛הוּ אֶל־גְּדַלְיָ֥ה בֶן־אֲחִיקָ֖ם הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב אִתּוֹ֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעָ֔ם הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ {פ}

English:

So Jeremiah came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

Yirmiyahu makes his choice: not comfort in Bavel but the ruined land, among the poor remnant under Gedalyahu at Mitzpa. Metzudat David notes simply that Mitzpa was where Gedalyahu had his seat. The prophet who foretold the exile chooses to remain with those left behind, a decision that will shape the rest of his life.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ֩ כׇל־שָׂרֵ֨י הַחֲיָלִ֜ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּשָּׂדֶ֗ה הֵ֚מָּה וְאַנְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־הִפְקִ֧יד מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֛ל אֶת־גְּדַלְיָ֥הוּ בֶן־אֲחִיקָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכִ֣י ׀ הִפְקִ֣יד אִתּ֗וֹ אֲנָשִׁ֤ים וְנָשִׁים֙ וָטָ֔ף וּמִדַּלַּ֣ת הָאָ֔רֶץ מֵאֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־הׇגְל֖וּ בָּבֶֽלָה׃

English:

The army officers in the open country, and their men with them, heard that the king of Babylon had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam in charge of the region, and that he had put in his charge the men, women, and children—of the poorest in the land—those who had not been exiled to Babylon.

The commanders of the scattered Judean forces hear that the king of Bavel has appointed Gedalyahu over the land and the poor left behind. Metzudat David explains that they were 'in the field' because they had fled the city before the Kasdim. Radak adds that these were soldiers who had scattered in every direction and set up officers of their own to lead them.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶל־גְּדַלְיָ֖ה הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה וְיִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בֶּן־נְתַנְיָ֡הוּ וְיוֹחָנָ֣ן וְיוֹנָתָ֣ן בְּנֵֽי־קָ֠רֵ֠חַ וּשְׂרָיָ֨ה בֶן־תַּנְחֻ֜מֶת וּבְנֵ֣י ׀ (עופי) [עֵיפַ֣י] הַנְּטֹפָתִ֗י וִֽיזַנְיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּן־הַמַּ֣עֲכָתִ֔י הֵ֖מָּה וְאַנְשֵׁיהֶֽם׃

English:

So they with their men came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah; Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah; Seraiah son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai the Netophathite; and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite.

The officers and their men come in to Mitzpa, and the roll call introduces the chief actors of the coming tragedy: Yishmael son of Netanyahu, the future assassin, and Yochanan son of Kare'ach, who will warn of him and later lead the flight to Egypt. Metzudat David notes that each of these came together with his men. The written form Ofai is read Eifai.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיִּשָּׁבַ֨ע לָהֶ֜ם גְּדַלְיָ֨הוּ בֶן־אֲחִיקָ֤ם בֶּן־שָׁפָן֙ וּלְאַנְשֵׁיהֶ֣ם לֵאמֹ֔ר אַל־תִּֽירְא֖וּ מֵעֲב֣וֹד הַכַּשְׂדִּ֑ים שְׁב֣וּ בָאָ֗רֶץ וְעִבְד֛וּ אֶת־מֶ֥לֶךְ בָּבֶ֖ל וְיִיטַ֥ב לָכֶֽם׃

English:

Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan reassured them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.

Gedalyahu swears to the officers: do not fear to serve the Kasdim; stay in the land, serve the king of Bavel, and it will be well with you. Metzudat David explains the reassurance -- do not dread a heavy yoke, but serve the king faithfully and he will not make it heavy. It is Yirmiyahu's own counsel, now spoken by the governor.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַאֲנִ֗י הִנְנִ֤י יֹשֵׁב֙ בַּמִּצְפָּ֔ה לַֽעֲמֹד֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָבֹ֖אוּ אֵלֵ֑ינוּ וְאַתֶּ֡ם אִסְפוּ֩ יַ֨יִן וְקַ֜יִץ וְשֶׁ֗מֶן וְשִׂ֙מוּ֙ בִּכְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּשְׁב֖וּ בְּעָרֵיכֶ֥ם אֲשֶׁר־תְּפַשְׂתֶּֽם׃

English:

I am going to stay in Mizpah to attend upon the Chaldeans who will come to us. But you may gather wine and figs and oil and put them in your own vessels, and settle in the towns you have occupied.”

Gedalyahu will remain at Mitzpa to stand before the Kasdim, so that, as Metzudat David explains, they do no harm to the people, since the king had given him the authority to prevent it. The others are to gather wine, summer fruit and oil and settle in the towns they have taken. Rashi and Radak explain 'kayitz' as dried figs and other fruits preserved by drying.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וקיץ. דבלה:
and dried figs Heb. וקיץ, dried figs.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וְגַ֣ם כׇּֽל־הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים אֲשֶׁר־בְּמוֹאָ֣ב ׀ וּבִבְנֵֽי־עַמּ֨וֹן וּבֶאֱד֜וֹם וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר בְּכׇל־הָֽאֲרָצוֹת֙ שָֽׁמְע֔וּ כִּֽי־נָתַ֧ן מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֛ל שְׁאֵרִ֖ית לִיהוּדָ֑ה וְכִי֙ הִפְקִ֣יד עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם אֶת־גְּדַלְיָ֖הוּ בֶּן־אֲחִיקָ֥ם בֶּן־שָׁפָֽן׃

English:

Likewise, all the Judeans who were in Moab, Ammon, and Edom, or who were in other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had let a remnant stay in Judah, and that he had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan in charge of them.

News of the remnant spreads to the Judeans who had fled to Moav, Amon, Edom and other lands. Metzudat David explains that they had escaped there during Nevuchadnetzar's war. They hear that the king of Bavel has left a remnant in Yehudah and placed Gedalyahu over it -- a small, provisional sign that the land is not wholly lost.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיָּשֻׁ֣בוּ כׇל־הַיְּהוּדִ֗ים מִכׇּל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִדְּחוּ־שָׁ֔ם וַיָּבֹ֧אוּ אֶרֶץ־יְהוּדָ֛ה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָ֖הוּ הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה וַיַּאַסְפ֛וּ יַ֥יִן וָקַ֖יִץ הַרְבֵּ֥ה מְאֹֽד׃ {ס}         

English:

All these Judeans returned from all the places to which they had scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered large quantities of wine and figs.

The scattered Judeans return to the land and to Gedalyahu at Mitzpa, and they gather wine and summer fruit in great abundance. Metzudat David notes that they had been driven out during the war. The language of return and ingathering, so often reserved in the book for the end of exile, appears here in miniature, and the land yields its fruit to the remnant.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וְיֽוֹחָנָן֙ בֶּן־קָרֵ֔חַ וְכׇל־שָׂרֵ֥י הַחֲיָלִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה בָּ֥אוּ אֶל־גְּדַלְיָ֖הוּ הַמִּצְפָּֽתָה׃

English:

Johanan son of Kareah, and all the army officers in the open country, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

Yochanan son of Kare'ach and the other field commanders come again to Mitzpa. Metzudat David explains why the text repeats that they were 'in the field,' having fled the city before the Kasdim: it is written again here to connect it to the following verse, where these men deliver their warning to the governor.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו הֲיָדֹ֤עַ תֵּדַע֙ כִּ֞י בַּעֲלִ֣יס ׀ מֶ֣לֶךְ בְּנֵֽי־עַמּ֗וֹן שָׁלַח֙ אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בֶּן־נְתַנְיָ֔ה לְהַכֹּתְךָ֖ נָ֑פֶשׁ וְלֹא־הֶאֱמִ֣ין לָהֶ֔ם גְּדַלְיָ֖הוּ בֶּן־אֲחִיקָֽם׃

English:

and said to him, “Do you know that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

The officers warn Gedalyahu that Ba'alis king of Amon has sent Yishmael son of Netanyah to kill him, but Gedalyahu does not believe them. Metzudat David explains that Ba'alis incited Yishmael against him and Yishmael accepted the commission. Radak notes only that the name Ba'alis is spelled with a samekh.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וְיוֹחָנָ֣ן בֶּן־קָרֵ֡חַ אָמַ֣ר אֶל־גְּדַלְיָהוּ֩ בַסֵּ֨תֶר בַּמִּצְפָּ֜ה לֵאמֹ֗ר אֵ֤לְכָה נָּא֙ וְאַכֶּה֙ אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בֶּן־נְתַנְיָ֔ה וְאִ֖ישׁ לֹ֣א יֵדָ֑ע לָ֧מָּה יַכֶּ֣כָּה נֶּ֗פֶשׁ וְנָפֹ֙צוּ֙ כׇּל־יְהוּדָה֙ הַנִּקְבָּצִ֣ים אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְאָבְדָ֖ה שְׁאֵרִ֥ית יְהוּדָֽה׃

English:

Johanan son of Kareah also said secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Let me go and strike down Ishmael son of Nethaniah—and nobody else will know about it; otherwise he will kill you, and all the Judeans who have gathered about you will be dispersed, and the remnant of Judah will perish!”

Yochanan comes to Gedalyahu in secret and offers to kill Yishmael before Yishmael kills him, with no one knowing. Metzudat David explains that no one would know who struck him or why, and that otherwise those gathered would be scattered and no remnant would remain. Yochanan sees clearly that the whole fragile community depends on one man's life.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר גְּדַלְיָ֤הוּ בֶן־אֲחִיקָם֙ אֶל־יוֹחָנָ֣ן בֶּן־קָרֵ֔חַ אַֽל־[תַּעֲשֵׂ֖ה] (תעש) אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה כִּי־שֶׁ֛קֶר אַתָּ֥ה דֹבֵ֖ר אֶל־יִשְׁמָעֵֽאל׃ {פ}

English:

But Gedaliah son of Ahikam answered Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing: what you are saying about Ishmael is not true!”

Gedalyahu forbids the plan: you are speaking falsely about Yishmael. Metzudat David explains that 'el Yishmael' here means 'about Yishmael,' and Radak notes that the written and read forms of 'do not do' share one meaning. The Talmud (Niddah 61a) faults him for not taking precautions against the report, and the next chapter will show the cost of his trust.

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