Jer 41:7-9 | JFB | STEP | 7. and cast them into ... pit-- He had not killed them in the pit (compare ); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version. the pit-- the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city ( ; ). The trench or fosse round the city [Grotius]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.

‏ Jeremiah 41:7-9

7. and cast them into ... pit--He had not killed them in the pit (compare Jr 41:9); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version.

the pit--the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city (Jr 41:9; 1Ki 15:22). The trench or fosse round the city [Grotius]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.

8. treasures--It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared.

slew ... not--(Pr 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.

9. because of Gedaliah--rather, "near Gedaliah," namely, those intercepted by Ishmael on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem and killed at Mizpah, where Gedaliah had lived. So 2Ch 17:15, "next"; Ne 3:2, Margin, literally, as here, "at his hand." "In the reign of Gedaliah" [Calvin]. However, English Version gives a good sense: Ishmael's reason for killing them was because of his supposing them to be connected with Gedaliah.