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Jeremiah 40

Jeremiah’s release and Judah’s gathering under Gedaliah offer fragile stability after judgment, while a reported assassination plot threatens the remnant.

Jeremiah is in chains among Judah’s captives when Nebuzaradan, Babylon’s captain of the guard, releases him at Ramah. The captain describes Jerusalem’s fall as YHWH’s judgment and lets Jeremiah choose where to live. Jeremiah joins Gedaliah, Babylon’s appointed governor, among those left in Judah. Displaced Jews return and gather an abundant harvest. But military leaders warn Gedaliah that Ishmael has been sent to kill him. Gedaliah rejects their report and forbids Johanan’s proposed killing of Ishmael.

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1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were carried away captive to Babylon.
2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this evil on this place;
3and the LORD has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you.
4Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, go there.”
5Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.
6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.
7Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon,
8then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men came to Gedaliah to Mizpah.
9Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.
10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
11Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
12then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered very much wine and summer fruits.
13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
14and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them.
15Then 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?”
16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jeremiah 40:2A Babylonian commander identifies Jerusalem’s disaster as judgment pronounced by YHWH, acknowledging God’s word behind Babylon’s victory.
Jeremiah 40:4Jeremiah receives freedom to choose his destination, setting up his decision to live among the people left in Judah.
Jeremiah 40:7Gedaliah’s appointment establishes a government for those spared deportation, including children and the poorest people in the land.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Kings recounts the same appointment of Gedaliah under Babylonian rule and his assurance to the remaining people that they can dwell in the land. Deuteronomy shares the warning that disobedience to YHWH brings national disaster and displacement, the explanation Nebuzaradan gives for Jerusalem’s fall.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Jeremiah choosing to live among those left in Judah?

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How does the warning about Ishmael change your reading of the abundant harvest?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 40

Why did Nebuzaradan release Jeremiah in Jeremiah 40?

The chapter records Nebuzaradan releasing Jeremiah but does not state his full reason. He acknowledges that YHWH brought the disaster he had announced because Judah disobeyed. He then offers Jeremiah care in Babylon or freedom to stay elsewhere, provides food and a gift, and lets him go.

Who was Gedaliah in Jeremiah 40?

Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, appointed by Babylon’s king to govern Judah’s remaining population. Based at Mizpah, he urged the military leaders and their men to serve Babylon and gather food. Displaced Jews returned to his administration, and Jeremiah lived among the people with him.

Why did Gedaliah refuse to believe the warning about Ishmael?

The chapter does not explain Gedaliah’s reasons. Johanan and the other commanders report that Baalis, king of Ammon, has sent Ishmael to kill him. Gedaliah disbelieves them. When Johanan offers to kill Ishmael in secret, Gedaliah forbids it and calls the accusation false. The chapter ends with the warning unresolved.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).