Jer 41:7-9 | JFB | e4.org | 7. and cast them into . . . pit —He had not killed them in the pit (compare ); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version. the pit —the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city ( ). The trench or fosse round the city [GROTIUS ]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.

‏ Jeremiah 41:7-9

7. and cast them into . . . pit—He had not killed them in the pit (compare Jer 41:9); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version.

the pit—the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city (Jer 41:9; 1Ki 15:22). The trench or fosse round the city [GROTIUS]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.

8. treasures—It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared.

slew . . . not— (Pr 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.

9. because of Gedaliah—rather, "near Gedaliah," namely, those intercepted by Ishmael on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem and killed at Mizpah, where Gedaliah had lived. So 2Ch 17:15, "next"; Ne 3:2, Margin, literally, as here, "at his hand." "In the reign of Gedaliah" [CALVIN]. However, English Version gives a good sense: Ishmael's reason for killing them was because of his supposing them to be connected with Gedaliah.