Murder in Mizpah
$10The Murder of Judah’s Governor
After Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, they put a man named Gedaliah in charge of the people left in Judah. He was a good leader, and he told the people, “You don’t have anything to fear from the Babylonians anymore. You can stay here. And if you serve the king of Babylon, everything will go well for you” (Jeremiah 40:9).
Many people who had run away during the war came back and started farming again.
Ishmael the prince kills Governor Gedaliah
One day, a man named Ishmael came to visit Gedaliah in the town of Mizpah. Ishmael was from a royal family, and some people thought he should be in charge instead. But he didn’t come to talk—he came to kill. While they were eating together, Ishmael and his men attacked and murdered Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:2). Then they killed the Babylonian soldiers and others who were with him.
More murder
The next day, some travelers came to Mizpah, bringing gifts for worship. They didn’t know what had happened. Ishmael and his men tricked them, killed most of them, and threw their bodies into a well. He captured the rest of the people in Mizpah and tried to take them away to another land.
Ishmael hits the road running
But a man named Johanan heard about the murders and chased after Ishmael. When Ishmael saw Johanan and his men coming, he ran away with a few of his followers. The people Ishmael had captured were rescued.
After that, the people of Judah were terrified. They were afraid Babylon would punish them for Gedaliah’s death. So they started making plans to run away to Egypt.