Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”
Parallel Translations
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Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”
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Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
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Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying: 'Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it; wherefore should he take thy life, that all the Jews that are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?'
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 40:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered up your enemy into your hand today. Now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.”
- 2 Samuel 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel.”
- 1 Samuel 24:4 David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly.
- 2 Samuel 18:3 But the people said, “You shall not go out; for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.”
- Job 31:31 if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
- Jeremiah 12:3-4 But you, Yahweh, know me. You see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals and birds are consumed; because they said, “He won’t see our latter end.”
- Jeremiah 42:2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us;
- Ezekiel 33:24-29 “Son of man, those who inhabit the waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many. The land is given us for inheritance.’ Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land? You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. So should you possess the land?” ’ “You shall tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword. I will give he who is in the open field to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’
- John 11:50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (5 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 40:15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake…
Jer 40:15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know [it]: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Ver. 15. Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael.] He offereth his service for the slaying of Ishmael, and it had been happy he had done it, sed immodico obsequio sibi fidem derogat, his forwardness rendereth him suspected. Gedaliah seemeth to have been of our Queen Elizabeth’s temper, who was heard to profess, that she could believe nothing of her people that parents would not believe of their children. {a}
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{a} Camden.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Discerning that Gedaliah took no great notice of his…
Discerning that Gedaliah took no great notice of his word spoken to him in the presence of the other captains, he goeth to him secretly, offereth him his service to prevent the stroke, if he might have commission from him; mindeth him that if he did not value his own life, yet he ought to consider in what a condition the people would be in case he were cut off; they were now but a small remnant, and then that remnant also would perish.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah…
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly,.... Partly that he might, as he thought, more easily prevail upon him, and persuade him to believe the information given; and partly for the sake of the proposal he had to make to him, which it was not proper should be publicly made:
saying, let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it; that he had slain him, or that Gedaliah had given him leave to do it:
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wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews that are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? suggesting, that it was not barely his losing his own life, which is, and ought to be, precious to every man, and should be carefully preserved, but it would be a public loss; the people, being without a governor, would disperse here and there, fearing their own lives and property would not be safe under a murderer; and that the Chaldeans would be so incensed by such an action, as to come and revenge his death on them; and thus being scattered about, some one way, and some another, would be no more under any form of government as a body politic, and so perish as such, at least; and thus all their hopes, which began to revive, of their beings commonwealth again, would be lost: with this argument Johanan hoped to prevail on Gedaliah to give him leave to slay the conspirator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. the remnant of Judah perish] Johanan no doubt…
15. the remnant of Judah perish] Johanan no doubt hoped to influence a high-minded man like Gedaliah by this argument that on his life depended the welfare of those who remained yet in the country.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Johanan ... Kareah
Johanan ... Kareah
See how you translated these men's names in Jeremiah 40:8. (See: How to Translate Names)
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Gedaliah
See how you translated this name in Jeremiah 39:14.
Ishmael ... Nethaniah
See how you translated these men's names in Jeremiah 40:8.
No one will suspect me
"No one will think that I did it"
Why should he kill you?
Johanan uses a rhetorical question to try to change Gedaliah's thinking. It can be translated as a statement. AT: "You should not allow him to kill you." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Why allow all of Judah that has been gathered to you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah destroyed?
Johanan uses a rhetorical question to try to get Gedaliah to think about what will happen if Gedaliah does what Gedaliah is planning to do. AT: "If you do this, all of Judah that has been gathered to you will be scattered and the remnant of Judah will be destroyed." (See: Rhetorical Question)
all of Judah
The word "all" is a generalization. AT: "many of the people of Judah" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
that has been gathered to you
This can be translated in active form. AT: "who have come to you" or "whom Yahweh has brought to you" (See: Active or Passive)
to be scattered
This can be translated in active form. AT: "to have the Chaldeans scatter them" or "to flee away to many different lands" (See: Active or Passive)
the remnant of Judah destroyed
This can be translated in active form. AT: "allow the Chaldeans to destroy the remnant of Judah" or "and allow the remnant of Judah to perish" (See: Active or Passive and Ellipsis)
remnant of Judah
"remnant of the people of Judah." See how you translated this in Jeremiah 40:11.
Ahikam
See how you translated this name in Jeremiah 26:24.
translationWords
Mizpah
remnant
kingdom of Judah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.