Jeremiahchapter 40
16 verses · Jeremiah, written by Baruch · 7th to 6th century BC · The Prophets
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.
Introduction
Jeremiah, written by Baruch, The Prophets, Jeremiah Overview.
This chapter opens the part of the book set after the fall of Jerusalem. The Babylonians had made Judah a province and set a governor over it at Mizpah, since the capital lay in ruins. Its first hearers were the poor left in the land and the families coming back from the countries around. For a short season it seemed that ordinary life could begin again. Listen for the choice given to Jeremiah, and for the warning the new governor refuses to believe. The chapter is the calm before the violence of the next.
Context
- Who
- The people left in the land, trying to work out whether life could restart
- What
- An account of Jeremiah's release at Ramah, the rule of Gedaliah at Mizpah, the return of scattered Judeans, and the warning of a plot against the governor.
- Where
- Ramah, where the captives were gathered for deportation, and Mizpah, a few miles north of Jerusalem, the new seat of the province.
- When
- About 586 BC, in the months after the fall of Jerusalem.
- Why
- To show that God left a remnant in the land with a real chance to live at peace under Babylon.
Historical context
The chapter opens with a scene worth picturing: Jeremiah is found in chains at Ramah among all the captives being carried away, a prisoner in a holding camp where the columns were assembled and shackled before the long march. The Babylonian commander singles him out, unbinds him, and offers him a choice of Babylon with an allowance or staying with the governor. He stays.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Mizpah, generally identified with the mound of Tell en-Nasbeh a few miles north of Jerusalem, becomes the administrative centre because Jerusalem is uninhabitable. Excavation there shows the site continuing in use through this period while Jerusalem lay in ruins.
Gedaliah son of Ahikam is installed as governor. His father had saved Jeremiah's life at the trial in chapter 26, and his grandfather Shaphan was Josiah's secretary. A seal reading belonging to Gedalyahu who is over the house was found at Lachish, and is often connected with this man, though the identification cannot be proved from the seal alone.
His policy is practical and hopeful: settle in the towns, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, store them in your vessels, and serve the king of Babylon. The harvest that year was reportedly abundant. Judeans who had fled to Moab, Ammon and Edom during the war started coming back.
Significance
For the first hearers this was the one chapter where things might have turned out differently. The land was quiet, the harvest was in, and a decent man from a good family was in charge.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The warning that ends it is the tragedy in miniature. Johanan tells the governor plainly that the king of Ammon has sent Ishmael to assassinate him, and Gedaliah refuses to believe it. A seal from a site in Ammon naming a servant of Baalisha shows there really was a king of that name across the river.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the fourth verse it carries Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Miketz 39.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and his headwords, which carry the verse in that translation's wording, are never quoted.
Rashi reports two readings of the word that came to Jeremiah after Ramah. By the plain order the word is the one given at the end of ten days, told in the forty-second chapter. By Lamentations Rabbah it was the command to return to Gedaliah, and Jeremiah's answer about the exiles was "let their Creator go down with them, for He will help them exceedingly" (Rashi on Jeremiah 40:1:1).
Jeremiah's chains at Ramah he reads as chosen. The prophet went into exile "by himself with them", putting his neck into the collar among the youths, as the Pesikta tells. Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that he come to no harm, so Nebuzaradan could not have bound him (Rashi on Jeremiah 40:1:2). The captain's speech Rashi hears as comfort: "Why are you troubled about them? Did you not prophesy to them and they did not hearken?" (Rashi on Jeremiah 40:2:1).
The release of the fourth verse he reads as untying, with Targum Jonathan, and he reports that Menahem read the word as opening (Rashi on Jeremiah 40:4:1). Jeremiah's reluctance to go he answers with God's word about the poor left in the land: "They, too, need you, like the rest of the exiles" (Rashi on Jeremiah 40:5:1).
The corpus carries seventeen further notes on this chapter without an English text. Each is marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, so each is cited here and none is quoted. The notes of Radak are cited at Radak on Jeremiah 40:2:1, 40:3:1, 40:4:1, 40:7:1, 40:10:1, 40:14:1 and 40:16:1. The notes of Metzudat David are cited at Metzudat David on Jeremiah 40:3:1, 40:6:1, 40:7:1, 40:8:1, 40:9:1, 40:11:1, 40:12:1, 40:13:1 and 40:15:1. The note of Malbim is cited at Malbim on Jeremiah 40:9:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries nineteen rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 34, Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:1:5, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 13:9, Pesikta Rabbati 29:1 and Rosh Hashanah 23b:9. On the third verse it holds Bava Batra 10b:11, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bava Batra 1:22 and Pesikta DeRav Kahana 2:5. On the fourth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Miketz 39, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayeshev 16 and Sifrei Devarim 1:3. On the seventh verse it holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 73:4. On the eighth verse it holds Tractate Soferim 7:4.
On the tenth verse it holds Introductions to Amoraic Literature, Part II (Notes and Interpretations for Chapters of the Talmud), Baba Batra, Chapter III 22. It holds Introductions to Amoraic Literature, Part II (Notes and Interpretations for Chapters of the Talmud), Baba Batra, Chapter III 47, Kiddushin 26a:10 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 23:20:13 there as well. On the thirteenth verse it holds Niddah 61a:15. On the sixteenth verse it holds Tractate Soferim 7:2. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Jeremiah 40:1:1 to 40:5:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 40:2:1, 40:3:1, 40:4:1, 40:7:1, 40:10:1, 40:14:1 and 40:16:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Jeremiah 40:3:1, 40:6:1, 40:7:1, 40:8:1, 40:9:1, 40:11:1, 40:12:1, 40:13:1 and 40:15:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Malbim, Malbim on Jeremiah 40:9:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/jeremiah/40.json, the 19 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Loosed from His Chains at Ramah: Go Back to Gedaliah
Jeremiah 40:1-3
released him at Ramah: Nebuzaradan finds Jeremiah “bound in chains among all the captives.” The captain states the reason in Jeremiah’s terms: “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place.” He adds, “Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed His voice, this thing has happened to you.”
Jeremiah 40:1
“Ramah - Ramah was a city in the tribe of Benjamin near Gibeon. Babylon - Jeremiah was by mistake and expressly contrary to the king's orders carried amongst the other prisoners; probably the captain of the guard at that place called over his prisoners, and among them found the prophet contrary to his expectation.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Jeremiah 40:1
“Jeremiah, who was sanctified in the womb and was known in his mother's belly, enjoyed the high privilege because he was predestined to the blessing of virginity. And when all were captured and even the vessels of the temple were plundered by the king of Babylon, he alone was liberated by the enemy, did not know the insults of captivity and was supported by the conquerors; and Nebuchadnezzar, though he gave Nebuzaradan no charge concerning the Holy of Holies, did give him charge concerning Jeremiah.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Against Jovinianus 1.33patristic
Jeremiah 40:1
“As what follows is mainly a historical narrative, it seems that the title “The word ...” was appropriate not merely to a prediction of the future, but to an account of the past, if written by a prophet. The Jews regarded history as inspired if written by a seer, and thus their historical books are called “the early prophets.” Ramah - Probably all the prisoners of note were collected at Ramah indiscriminately, and examined there.”
Jeremiah 40:1
“The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum; but there being no prophecy in this and the following chapter, only a narration of facts, this is generally referred to what came ten days after, and which begins Jer 42:7; so Jarchi and Kimchi; all between being included in a parenthesis, or a relation of facts preparatory, to lead on to it; though Abarbinel takes it to be a general title to all histories and prophecies in this book, from henceforward to the end of it.”
A Babylonian officer explains the disaster in Jeremiah's terms. Adam Clarke says he owns Jeremiah as a true prophet, whose word has come to pass. Matthew Henry says the people had heard this from their prophets and ignored it, and now they hear it from the captain of the guard.
Jeremiah 40:2
“The Lord thy God hath pronounced - I know that thou art a true prophet, for what thou hast predicted from thy God is come to pass.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:2
“The people of Israel had been often told this from the pulpit by their prophets, and they would not regard it; now they are told it from the bench by the conqueror, whom they dare not contradict and who will make them regard it. Note, Sooner or later men shall be made sensible that their sin is the cause of all their miseries.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the LORD has fulfilled it: Nebuzaradan names the cause as well as the event: the people sinned against the LORD and did not obey. John Gill reads the verse as providence bringing about what the LORD foretold by his prophet. The sermon Judah refused is now preached by its conqueror.
Jeremiah 40:3
“Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:3
“Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said,.... As he purposed, so it came to pass; as he foretold by his prophet, so it was brought about by his providence.”
Jeremiah 40:4-6
I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists: Nebuzaradan frees Jeremiah and gives him a choice: come to Babylon, “I will take care of you,” or stay, “the whole land is before you.” He gives him “a ration and a gift”. Jeremiah goes to Gedaliah at Mizpah and stays “among the people who were left in the land.”
Jeremiah 40:4
“He now tells us, that he, as yet bound with chains, had been brought forth to Ramah in that miserable condition. These things appear inconsistent, but, as I have said, we must bear in mind, that there is an omission in that summary, which we have noticed.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
John Gill admits the opening words are hard to construe. Albert Barnes gives the reading of most modern commentators, that Jeremiah had not yet answered when the captain of the guard chose Gedaliah for him. Matthew Henry says the ration and gift kept Jeremiah alive in a land laid waste.
Jeremiah 40:5
“Now while he was not yet gone back - Most modern commentators render “And as he yet answered nothing, Return then, he said, to Gedaliah ...” Victuals - A ration of food. A reward - A present.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:5
“He set him at liberty, but it was in a country that was laid waste, and in which, as the posture of it now was, he might have perished, though it was his own country, if he had not been thus kindly furnished with necessaries.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah went to Gedaliah: Jeremiah chooses to stay with the poor of the land. Mizpah, a town of Benjamin as John Gill notes, is now the seat of government. Matthew Henry calls the settlement under Gedaliah life from the dead, though Jeremiah had foretold no such good days.
Jeremiah 40:6
“Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah,.... A city in the tribe of Benjamin, not far from Ramathon; which, as Josephus says, was about five miles from Jerusalem.”
Gathering Wine and Summer Fruits: the Remnant Returns
Jeremiah 40:7-10
When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard: The commanders hear that Gedaliah has been appointed, and they come to him at Mizpah. Gedaliah swears, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans,” the counsel Jeremiah gave in 29:5-7. Gill notes Gedaliah was the grandson of Shaphan, who read the law to Josiah in 2 Kings 22:10.
Jeremiah 40:7
“The men would be the old and infirm: the women those whose husbands and protectors had perished in the wars (e. g. Jer 41:10). The word children includes all the inferior members of a household.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:7
“To show that he designed to make and keep them easy he did not give this commission to one of the princes of Babylon, but to one of their brethren, who, they might be sure, would seek their peace. He was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, one of the princes.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Johanan and Ishmael arrive in the same company. Adam Clarke notes that Ishmael had taken refuge with Baalis of Ammon during the siege, and Baalis later employed him to kill Gedaliah (40:14). John Wesley takes these men for leaders of small bands that escaped the notice of the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 40:8
“Ishmael the son of Nethaniah - This is he who afterwards murdered Gedaliah. He had been employed to do this by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, with whom he appears to have taken refuge during the siege. See Jer 40:14.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:8
“Ishmael - It is likely these were commanders of parties, which either were within the city 'till it was taken, and then escaped, or where somewhere in the country, and not so much regarded by the Chaldeans, who were more intent upon the conquest of the city, than pursuing these little parties.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The captains had fought Babylon and feared they would find no pardon, so Gedaliah gives his oath, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain. Matthew Henry adds that God's sentence had bound Judah to yield to Babylon. Jeremiah had given Zedekiah the same counsel at 27:12.
Jeremiah 40:9
“Fear not--They were afraid that they should not obtain pardon from the Chaldeans for their acts. He therefore assured them of safety by an oath. serve--literally, "to stand before" (Jer 40:10; Jer 52:12), that is, to be at hand ready to execute the commands of the king of Babylon.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 40:9
“Fear not the sin of it." Though the divine law had forbidden them to make leagues with the heathen, yet the divine sentence had obliged them to yield to the king of Babylon. "Fear not the reproach of it, and the disparagement it will be to your nation; it is what God has brought you to, has bound you to, and it is no disgrace to any to comply with him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 40:9
“To serve the Chaldeans - literally, as margin; to be their minister and lieutenant. Gedaliah supposed that officers of high rank would come from time to time from Babylon to look after the king’s interests. But whatever was ordered would be done through him, as being the prime minister. Gather ye wine - As Jerusalem was captured in the fifth month, August, it would now be autumn, and there would be fruit upon the trees, enough to maintain the scanty population during the winter. Taken - Or, seized.”
gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil: Gedaliah takes the dealings with Babylon on himself and sends the people to the harvest. Albert Barnes notes that autumn fruit would carry the survivors through the winter. Matthew Henry faults him for asking no oath in return.
Jeremiah 40:10
“He does not now add that these very fruits were to constitute the chief part of the tribute to be paid to Babylon: which, though fruitful in corn, was less productive of grapes, figs, and olives [HERODOTUS, 1.193]. The grant of "vineyards" to the "poor" (Jer 39:10) would give hope to the discontended of enjoying the best fruits (Jer 40:12).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:10
“Gedaliah is willing thus to give them the assurance of an oath that he will do his part in protecting them, but, being apt to err (as many good men are) on the charitable side, he did not require an oath from them that they would be faithful to him, else the following mischief might have been prevented.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 40:11-12
When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom: Jews who fled to “Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other lands” return to Gedaliah at Mizpah when they hear a remnant has been left. They gather “an abundance of wine grapes and summer fruit.” The harvest is brief, since the next verses carry the threat that ends it.
Jeremiah 40:11
“It would be a great reviving to those that were dispersed to come together again, to those that were dispersed into foreign countries to come together in their own country, to those that were under strange kings to be under a governor of their own nation. See here in wrath God remembered mercy, and yet admitted some of them upon a further trial of their obedience.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
an abundance of wine grapes and summer fruit: The exiles come home from Moab, Ammon and Edom and find a full harvest waiting. The brief return answers on a small scale the promise of 32:15 that fields and vineyards would again be bought in the land. Matthew Henry sees a dark cloud already gathering.
Jeremiah 40:12
“Here is a dark cloud gathering over this infant state, and threatening a dreadful storm. How soon is this hopeful prospect blasted! For when God begins in judgment he will make an end.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Warned of Ishmael's Plot, and Not Believing It
Jeremiah 40:13-16
came to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Johanan and the commanders warn Gedaliah that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael to kill him. Johanan offers to kill Ishmael secretly, asking why the remnant should perish, but Gedaliah answers, “What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.” The next chapter shows the warning was true.
Jeremiah 40:13
“6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land. The title of this part of the book, which begins the chapter, seems misapplied ( The word which came to Jeremiah ), for here is nothing of prophecy in this chapter, but it is to be referred to ch. xlii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Baalis king of the Ammonites: Albert Barnes says Baalis held a grudge against Ahikam's family. He says Ishmael son of Nethaniah, of royal blood, envied Gedaliah his rule over the land. Adam Clarke says Gedaliah did not believe them because he believed evil of no man, and calls it greatness of soul.
Jeremiah 40:14
“Baalis--named from the idol Baal, as was often the case in heathen names. Ammonites--So it was to them that Ishmael went after murdering Gedaliah (Jer 41:10). slay--literally, "strike thee in the soul," that is, a deadly stroke.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 40:14
“But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed then not - The account given of this man proves him to have been a person of uncommon greatness of soul. Conscious of his own integrity and benevolence, he took the portrait of others from his own mind; and therefore believed evil of no man, because he felt none towards any in his own breast. He may be reproached for being too credulous and confident: but any thing of this kind that may be justly charged against him serves only to show the greatness of his mind.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Johanan son of Kareah offers to kill Ishmael in secret before Ishmael can take Gedaliah's life. Matthew Henry says the offer showed more zeal than justice, for no one is safe if killing to prevent a crime is lawful. Johanan's fear for the remnant comes true in chapter 41.
Jeremiah 40:15
“Wherefore should he slay thee? Herein he showed more courage and zeal than sense of justice; for, if it be lawful to kill for prevention, who then can be safe, since malice always suspects the worst? That Gedaliah, being a man of sincerity himself, would by no means give credit to the information given him of Ishmael's treachery.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Gedaliah forbids the killing. Adam Clarke says Gedaliah could not believe of Ishmael an evil he was incapable of himself, and lost his life for it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call it a mystery of providence that God lets the righteous walk into such a trap (Isaiah 57:1).
Jeremiah 40:16
“Thou shalt not do this thing - He cannot be so base. Thou speakest falsely of Ishmael - He thought it quite possible that the man who was capable of becoming an assassin was capable of telling a lie; and therefore he would not credit what he said. Had he been a little more distrustful, he would have saved his own life. The next chapter shows that Johanan’s information was too true. So noble Gedaliah lost his life by not believing that evil of others of which he himself was incapable.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.