Jeremiah 41:8

THE TAKING OF PRISONERS AT MIZPAH

"But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren. Now the pit wherein Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was that which Asa the king had made for the fear of Baasha the king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were at Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon."

"Slay us not, for we have stores hidden ..." (Jeremiah 41:8). This was merely a bribe, greedily accepted by Ishmael, the wondering being that he did not immediately slay them also, as soon as he discovered their store of hidden supplies. It was customary in those times to hide such supplies in excavations (cisterns and the like) by covering them with a layer of earth.

"The same (pit, or cistern) was that which Asa the king had made ..." (Jeremiah 41:9). The purpose of this is to explain that the cistern which Ishmael filled with the bodies of those whom he murdered was no ordinary cistern, but a very large one, originally intended to supplement the water supply of the whole city. Now any ordinary cistern would require several hundred men to fill it; and from this revelation here, we are compelled to conclude that it was actually some tremendous number of people who fell before the ruthless sword of this terminal rascal of the house of David.

"Then Ishmael carried away captive ..." etc. (Jeremiah 41:10). There would appear to have been a great many of these captives; and the prompt maneuver of Ishmael in an attempt to carry them into the land of the Ammonites indicates, as Jamieson said, that, "He probably meant to sell them all as slaves to the Ammonites."[5]

"The king's daughters ..." (Jeremiah 41:10). "These were not only the actual children of Zedekiah, but such other female members of the royal entourage as the Chaldeans had not cared to take away to Babylon."[6] It is not so stated in this passage, but it appears likely that Jeremiah was among the captives whom Ishmael was in the act of transporting to the land of the Ammonites.