Ishmael ben Nethaniah

Ishmael ben (= 'son of') Nethaniah was a member of the royal household of Judah

Judah

The name Judah can refer to:*Judah , fourth son of the Biblical patriarch Jacob All later individuals, groups and places of this name are directly or indirectly derived from this Judah....

 who, according to biblical accounts in II Kings

Books of Kings

The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...

 and Jeremiah

Book of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....

, assassinated Gedaliah

Gedaliah

According to the Hebrew Bible, Gedaliah was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon as governor of Yehud province, which was formed after the defeat of the Kingdom of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, in a part of the territory that previously formed the kingdom. He was supported by a...

 after he was appointed governor of Judah by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon

Neo-Babylonian Empire

The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...

. The biblical accounts suggest (and have perhaps been edited specifically for this purpose) that Ishmael ben Nethaniah’s actions were a key factor in the subsequent flight of the people of Judah to Egypt, something Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...

 counsels strongly against (Jeremiah 42 - 43). Nonetheless, the people, led by Johanan son of Kareah

Johanan

Johanan is a Hebrew name meaning 'the LORD is gracious'. Other forms of the name include John and Yochanan.Johanan ben Zakai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah...

, ignore his advice and depart for Egypt (Jeremiah 43:6).

Ishmael’s Origins

Ishmael ben Nethaniah is described in 2 Kings 25:25 as the son of Nethaniah, ‘son of Elishama

Elishama

Elishama may refer to:*Elishama Ben Ammihud, a biblical figure*Elishama, Israel, a moshav in central Israel*Elishama - son of David, born in Jerusalem *A descendant of Sheshan...

 of the royal family’. Jeremiah describes him as one of the chief officers of the (former) king Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim .On Josiah's death, Jehoiakim's younger brother Jehoahaz was proclaimed king, but after three months pharaoh Necho II deposed him and replaced him with the eldest son, Eliakim, who adopted the name Jehoiakim and became king at the age of twenty-five...

 (Jeremiah 41:1).

The assassination of Gedaliah

Ishmael was a soldier, described as a ‘captain of the forces’ (2 Kings 25:23; and Jeremiah 41:3). Together with a number of other such captains, Ishmael emerges from the surrounding open country (Jeremiah 40:7) and makes his way to Mizpah

Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah was a city of Benjamin.Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Biblical Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the...

, ancient cultic centre of the former kingdom of Israel, after Gedaliah is appointed governor. Although the forces were likely to have been those dispersed by the Babylonian army after the fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:5), it is possible that these ‘captains’ had become local warlords of heads of semi-autonomous militia during the intervening period.

In Jeremiah’s account, Johanan son of Kareah learns of the plot, and tries to warn Gedaliah. When his warning is ignored, he urges Gedaliah, in ‘private talks’ (Jeremiah 40:15-16), to let him kill Ishmael - a request the governor refuses, believing the rumours to be a lie. Commentators have noted Gedaliah’s lack of political acumen in the face of the looming threat, despite his seeming desire to do the best for his beleagured people (Jeremiah 40:9).

Ishmael is described as approaching Gedaliah with ten men, and striking him down while a feast is in progress (2 Kings 25:25) – a gross offence against prevailing customs of hospitality at the time. Judeans and Chaldeans with him (whether the latter are officials or soldiers is unclear – the II Kings and Jeremiah accounts differ on this point) are also slaughtered. Jeremiah suggests Ishmael’s offence is further compounded by his slaughter of another group of men, pilgrims who arrive shortly afterwards from towns in the centre of the former kingdom of Israel, and are apparently in mourning (Jeremiah 41:7), possibly for the destruction of the Temple. All but ten of them are slaughtered and thrown into a cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

, the ten being spared because they have access to otherwise scarce food supplies (Jeremiah 41:8). After this fresh slaughter, Ishmael and his band make their way towards Ammon

Ammon

Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...

, with hostages from Mizpah. But before they get there, they are engaged in battle by Johanan son of Kareah at Gibeon

Gibeon

Gibeon was a Canaanite city north of Jerusalem that was conquered by Joshua. and describes the Gibeonites as not being Israelites, but as Amorites.The remains of Gibeon are located on the south edge of the Palestinian village of Jib....

, a place which in the time of Jeremiah already resonated with previous acts of treachery for the Israelites. Ishmael’s band releases the hostages, but he himself escapes with eight of his men (Jeremiah 41:15). At this point he disappears from the biblical narrative.

Dating

Commentators are uncertain when the assassination took place, but it can be argued as happening within a year or two of Gedaliah’s appointment. The sparing of the ten hostages because they offer access to a secret food store suggests that the rural economy has still not recovered following the Babylonian invasion, which would tend to confirm an early date. However, Robert Carroll draws attention to the feasting at Mizpah, arguing that this suggests that a degree of productivity remained – confirmation, perhaps, that Babylon’s objective in invading Judah was removal of the king rather than devastation of the land. For other reasons (see below), he suggests a date for the assassination some five or six years after Gedaliah’s appointment.

Aftermath of the assassination

The effect of Gedaliah’s assassination is to reduce the people to a state of fear – probably out of concern at the revenge that Nebuchadnezzar would wreak for the attack (Jeremiah 41:17), though any such revenge is not clearly described in the biblical accounts. Robert Carroll has suggested that the third deportation of Judahites recorded in Jeremiah 52:6-30, probably occurring in 583/2 BC, should be tied in to the assassination.

It is possible that Jeremiah himself was part of the group taken captive by Ishmael, as they are camped near Bethlehem following the rescue. However, Robert Carroll’s study of Jeremiah sees the accounts in 40:7 – 41:18 and chapters 42 - 43 as distinct from each other, and argues that the Deuteronomist editor of Jeremiah has woven two independent strands together to highlight the chaos that ensues when the community is without access to a prophet, or, as in chapters 42 - 3, ignores his advice.

The assassination may or may not have been the reason for the later commemorative fast referred to in Zechariah 7:5 and Zechariah 8:19 – the so-called Fast of Gedalia

Fast of Gedalia

The Fast of Gedalia , also spelled Gedaliah, is a Jewish fast day from dawn until dusk to lament the assassination of the righteous governor of Judah of that name, which ended Jewish rule following the destruction of the First Temple.-Origins:...

.

Possible motives

Some commentators have suggested that Ishmael acts out of a sense of having been slighted when passed over for the governorship himself, despite being eligible by virtue of his royal familial connections. This is one possible interpretation of the statement that Ishmael slew Gedaliah ‘because Nebuchadnezzar had appointed him governor’ (Jeremiah 41:2). He may also have found Gedaliah’s confident statement that ‘all will be well’ under Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 40:9) tantamount to treason, especially given Babylon’s earlier treatment of the royal household (Jeremiah 39:6). Robert Carroll describes the assassination as ‘armed revolt against Babylonian authority and the execution of a collaborationist’, noting also, however, that the tale hints at a residual factionalism that had bedevilled Judah in the period before the Babylonian invasion.

However, wider political machinations also seem to have played a part. Jeremiah (though not II Kings) makes clear that Ishmael has been sent by the otherwise unknown king Baalis of the neighbouring kingdom of Ammon to kill Gedaliah. Baalis may have seen an opportunity to grab power for himself in the power vacuum. The writer of Jeremiah clearly crafts the account to portray this as a significant motive for Ishmael’s attack, though Carroll argues that it is not Ishamel’s own reason for acting.