Gedaliah

AI summary: Gedaliah matters because he stands at the painful threshold between destroyed kingdom and remnant survival. The cross references present him as the governor entrusted with the poorest of the land, the focal point for those trying to remain, and the victim of assassination that triggers further fear and dislocation. His story helps explain why the post-destruction remnant becomes even more unstable. Taken together, the material presents Gedaliah as a sobering figure of limited hope cut short in the ruins of Judah.¹

The son of Ahikam, and grandson of Shaphan, secretary of king Josiah (Jer. 26:24). After the destruction of Jerusalem (see ZEDEKIAH), Nebuchadnezzar left him to govern the country as tributary to him (2 Kings 25:22; Jer. 40:5; 52:16). Ishmael, however, at the head of a party of the royal family, “Jewish irreconcilables”, rose against him, and slew him and “all the Jews that were with him” (Jer. 41:2, 3) at Mizpah about three months after the destruction of Jerusalem. He and his band also plundered the town of Mizpah, and carried off many captives. He was, however, overtaken by Johanan and routed. He fled with such of his followers as escaped to the Ammonites (41:15). The little remnant of the Jews now fled to Egypt. ³