41:1-3
So, in due course, Ishmael came and murdered Gedaliah. He used deception, pretending to be accepting Gedaliah’s hospitality. He also killed all the Israelites who were with Gedaliah, along with the Babylonian soldiers. This was a foolish thing to do, as it would only antagonise the Babylonians, which could not be a wise thing to do. Ishmael was of royal blood, and so probably took badly to the new situation. His pride led to the evil that he did.
41:4-9
Ishmael was a thoroughly nasty piece of work. Eighty men came to honour the Lord, to make offerings to Him. Ishmael pretended to be friendly to them, but then slaughtered the lot. We hear of atrocities in various countries of the world on a more or less weekly basis. Things have always been like that. Ten of them, however, did survive, after offering to give their wheat and barley to Ishmael. The cistern the bodies were thrown into had a history.
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