Yeremia 40:6

40:6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah ¹  and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah. ² 

Yeremia 40:10

40:10 I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians ³  whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs, ⁴  and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over.” ⁵ 

Yeremia 41:3

41:3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans ⁶  who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian ⁷  soldiers who happened to be there. ⁸ 

Yeremia 41:14

41:14 All those people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.

[40:6]  ¹ sn Mizpah. It is generally agreed that this is the Mizpah that was on the border between Benjamin and Judah. It was located approximately eight miles north of Jerusalem and had been an important military and religious center from the time of the judges on (cf., e.g., Judg 20:1-3; 1 Sam 7:5-14; 1 Sam 10:17; 1 Kgs 15:22). It was not far from Ramah which was approximately four miles north of Jerusalem.

[40:6]  ² tn Heb “So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah…and lived with him among the people who had been left in the land.” The long Hebrew sentence has been divided in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

[40:10]  ³ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[40:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.

[40:10]  ⁵ tn This plus “Things will go well with you” is in essence the substance of the oath. The pronouns are emphatic, “And I, behold I will stay…and you, you may gather.” The imperatives in the second half of the verse are more a form of permission than of command or advice (cf. NJPS, REB, TEV and compare the usage in 40:4 and the references in the translator’s note there).

[41:3]  ⁶ sn All the Judeans. This can scarcely refer to all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah because v. 10 later speaks of Ishmael carrying off “the rest of the people who were at Mizpah.” Probably what is meant is “all the Judeans and Babylonian soldiers” that were also at the meal. It is possible that this meal was intended to seal a covenant between Gedaliah and Ishmael of Ishmael’s allegiance to Gedaliah and his Babylonian overlords (cf. Gen 26:30-31; 31:53-54; Exod 24:11). In any case, this act of treachery and deceit was an extreme violation of the customs of hospitality practiced in the ancient Near East.

[41:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Chaldean.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation. There are two cases of apposition with the repetition of the preposition or of the sign of the accusative in this verse, e.g., “who were with him, [namely] with Gedaliah” and “all the Chaldeans who happened to be there, [namely] the soldiers.”

[41:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “were found there.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.2.c.