Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. – Jeremiah 41:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 7, 2026): Jeremiah 41

After the Second World War, the first war of the Cold War era was fought between the Soviet Union and the United States. The fighting took place in Greece. Nazi Germany and Italy had gained control of Greece throughout the middle portion of the Second World War. As a result, the Greek government became a government in exile. But when the nations allied with the United Kingdom and the United States began to take control of the war in the European theater, a power vacuum was created in Greece. As a result, by the end of the Second World War, no government clearly controlled Greece. So, from 1946 to 1949, the Greek government, which had been ruling in exile and was backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, waged a civil war against the Greek Communist Party, backed by the Soviet Union. However, the events of the Second World War had essentially set up this civil war.

The Babylonian conflict in Judah was over. The Babylonian army had been, for the most part, withdrawn. Jerusalem lay in ruins. The Babylonians had left Gedaliah and his supporters, all of whom had defected to the Babylonian army at some point during the war, in charge of the country. However, much like what happened in Greece after the Second World War during the 20^th Century, during the early years of the 6^th Century B.C.E., a power vacuum in Judah had been created by the Babylonian-Judean war, and that left conditions favorable for the beginning of a new civil war.

Jeremiah writes that in this case, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (to differentiate him from Ishmael, the son of Zedekiah, both of whom were part of the Royal family, but Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, was from a much more remote branch of the family), disagreed with who the Babylonians had left in control of the nation. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, strongly believed that he was the one who should have been left in control of Judah. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and assassinated Gedaliah.

Gedaliah, on the other hand, seems to have taken no precautions against a possible uprising. Rabbinic writings indicate that Gedaliah was known for eating and drinking well, and our understanding is that Gedaliah invited Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, to share food and drink with him. Ishmael took advantage of the situation, and when Gedaliah and his men were drunk enough, Ishmael and his men killed them.

But Jeremiah also wants to make sure that the reader understands the enormity of Ishmael's crime. Throughout his prophecies, Jeremiah is clear that Nebuchadnezzar (and Babylon) wins the conflict with Judah because God decreed it. And here, Jeremiah says that Ishmael takes his sword and kills "the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land." Ishmael, in killing Gedaliah, was not only guilty of killing his own countryman, but he killed the man that Nebuchadnezzar had placed on the throne. Therefore, he opposed the will of his God, who had placed Nebuchadnezzar in control of the nation. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 42