2 Kings 25:22

GEDALIAH WAS MADE GOVERNOR OF JUDEA

"And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Serajah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of Maaeathite, they and their men. And Gedaliah sware to them and their men, and said unto them, Fear not because of the servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah so that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans."

"Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan" (2 Kings 25:22). "Gedaliah means `Yahweh is great'; he was a grandson of Shaphan, head of a prominent family in Judah. They had supported the reforms of Josiah and were friendly and helpful to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24)."[25] We might even suppose that Jeremiah could have mentioned Gedaliah favorably to Nebuchadnezzar which would help explain Nebuchadnezzar's appointment of him.

The full story of the shameful treachery of Ishmael and his murder of Gedaliah is found in Jeremiah 40-44, and reference is made to our extensive comments in those chapters.

"The captains of the forces, they and their men" (2 Kings 25:23). These were components of Zedekiah's army which had deserted him on the plains of Jericho and left him to the tender mercies of Nebuchadnezzar!

Gedaliah was a man of honor and good sense, and Ishmael's treacherous murder of this good man was probably due to two things: (1) his jealousy that Gedaliah had been appointed governor instead of himself, a member of the seed royal, and (2) the ambition of the king of the Ammonites who, for his own selfish reasons, wished to destroy Gedaliah. Gedaliah had been warned of Ishmael's enmity but unwisely refused to believe the warning.

"Gedaliah died ... and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah" (2 Kings 25:25). The use of the word "Jews" in this verse prompted the following from Honeycutt: "Technically, one should limit the word `Hebrew' to the pre-conquest period, `Israel' to the period of the conquest and the monarchy, and the word `Jew' to the post-exilic period."[26]