This verse highlights the dangers of internal betrayal and the fragile hope of the Judahite survivors seeking stability under Gedaliah’s governance.
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?” (v.15). In this moment, the prophet Jeremiah describes a precarious situation following the Babylonian invasion of Judah around 586 BC. The setting is Mizpah, located north of Jerusalem, where the Babylonians appointed Gedaliah as governor over the devastated land. Johanan, a Jewish military leader, now pleads with Gedaliah in secrecy, imploring him to allow the elimination of Ishmael, who posed a real threat to the remnant’s stability.
By calling for an assassination, Johanan hopes to protect their fragile community. He argues that Ishmael’s conspiratorial ambitions will destroy what remains of Judah—“Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered…?” (v.15). Such language reveals the fear that all hope of reestablishing peace in the land might be wiped out by internal conflict, rather than by a foreign power. Gedaliah’s leadership, established under Babylonian sanction, rested on tenuous ground, and this verse underscores how a single act of violence could unravel the precarious unity of the survivors.
The plea also shows Johanan’s sense of responsibility for his people, as he perceives Ishmael is plotting to murder Gedaliah and sabotage any hope of rebuilding. Despite the harshness of Johanan’s solution—“Let me go and kill Ishmael”—he believes that preemptively striking Ishmael will avert a larger disaster. Through this dialogue, Scripture reveals the pressing need for wise leadership, the potential for internal strife among God’s people, and the enduring struggle to preserve a faithful remnant.
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Jeremiah 40:15 meaning
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?” (v.15). In this moment, the prophet Jeremiah describes a precarious situation following the Babylonian invasion of Judah around 586 BC. The setting is Mizpah, located north of Jerusalem, where the Babylonians appointed Gedaliah as governor over the devastated land. Johanan, a Jewish military leader, now pleads with Gedaliah in secrecy, imploring him to allow the elimination of Ishmael, who posed a real threat to the remnant’s stability.
By calling for an assassination, Johanan hopes to protect their fragile community. He argues that Ishmael’s conspiratorial ambitions will destroy what remains of Judah—“Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered…?” (v.15). Such language reveals the fear that all hope of reestablishing peace in the land might be wiped out by internal conflict, rather than by a foreign power. Gedaliah’s leadership, established under Babylonian sanction, rested on tenuous ground, and this verse underscores how a single act of violence could unravel the precarious unity of the survivors.
The plea also shows Johanan’s sense of responsibility for his people, as he perceives Ishmael is plotting to murder Gedaliah and sabotage any hope of rebuilding. Despite the harshness of Johanan’s solution—“Let me go and kill Ishmael”—he believes that preemptively striking Ishmael will avert a larger disaster. Through this dialogue, Scripture reveals the pressing need for wise leadership, the potential for internal strife among God’s people, and the enduring struggle to preserve a faithful remnant.