Who was Ishmael son of Nethaniah?

Son of Nethaniah, of the 'seed royal,' but of what family is not known. His craft and ferocity show that he was unworthy of a throne. He treacherously slew Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the cities of Judah, and all the Jews that were with him in Mizpah. He followed up this crime by the cruel and treacherous murder of eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, who were bringing gifts to the temple, only ten being spared. He then carried away captive all that were left in Mizpah, and departed to go over to the Ammonites; but Johanan the son of Kareah, and those with him, rescued the captives. Ishmael escaped and is heard of no more. 2 Kings 25:23-25; Jer. 40:8-16; Jer. 41:1-18.

It is not that Johanan was much better than Ishmael; as we shall see in the subsequent course of events, he had no real faith in God's word and hardened himself in pride and rebellion of heart. And it is possible that Gedaliah knew there was little to choose between them; and so rejected the good warning no less than the bad offer to get rid of Ishmael made by Johanan "Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered to thee should be scattered and the remnant in Judah perish? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." (Ver. 15, 16.) But in that evil day it was not wise nor well to despise the report that came even from a suspicious quarter. And Gedaliah, had he waited on God, would have been less quick either to impute falsehood to the one or to have acquitted the other. May we learn, though in another way suited to the christian calling, to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves!

The history of the degradation of the Jews in or near the land is still pursued. "Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war." (Ver. 1-3.) It is not an unmeaning description that the Holy Spirit adds to the name and kin of Ishmael, "of the seed royal." Ordinarily and rightly this would have been a guarantee of help to a governor, and a stay and shelter to the people. But God was forgotten, His judgments as well as His will slighted, and human corruption takes its course where it was least becoming. Truly the ruin of Israel was complete, when the seed royal sank into the basest form of cunning, treachery, and murder, and this of the best of their own people, yea, of God's people in the goodly land, now a moral as well as material desert.

Nor was it only jealousy of the good man who fell unsuspectingly at his own board, where he had hospitably received these emissaries of Belial; nor was it simple rebellion against the conquering king of Babylon, which then broke out against the native governor and the foreign soldiers at Mizpah; the royal desperado had tasted blood and would pursue his desperate career, careless whom or why he slew. "And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, that there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass, as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him." (Ver. 4-7.)

For this poor remnant there was a respite of several months. They gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance (Jer. 40:12). The worship of the Lord even seems to have been held in honour again, now at a time when the temple had been completely destroyed and ruined. At least there was a "house of Jehovah" to which those who mourned over Israel's condition could go up. The captains of the forces that remained gathered around Gedaliah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah of the royal seed at their head. This latter, however, came with evil purposes, sent by Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, and pushed, no doubt, by his own ambition. Gedaliah warned by Johanan, one of the captains, of the treachery being planned, refused to believe it and to have part in the murder of Ishmael (Jer. 40:13-16). Ishmael smote him in a cowardly manner, thus for the last time rebelling against the king of Babylon's authority. He massacred the governor's followers and the Chaldean warriors who were found there. On the second day he killed the men who, perhaps ignorant and not free from heathen practices but with broken hearts, had come to seek the Lord; and led captive all the remainder of the people who were at Mizpah along with the king's daughters to the Ammonites (Jer. 41:4-10). Johanan and the captains of the forces followed him, found him near the waters of Gibeon, defeated him, and recovered the captives from him, while he succeeded in escaping with eight men and going to Baalis.

Verses 40:7-41:3. The history of this section is as follows: Gedaliah had been made governor by the victorious king. When the captains heard it they came to him at Mizpah and Gedaliah exhorted them to loyalty to the Chaldeans. Then Gedaliah is warned that Baalis, the King of Ammon, has sent Ishmael to assassinate him, but Gedaliah refuses to believe the report. Then Johanan declares himself ready to kill Ishmael, so that the dreadful results of the murder of the governor Gedaliah might be averted. Gedaliah thinks it is all slander and forbids it. In the seventh month Ishmael, with ten men, who are being entertained by Gedaliah, murders him and all the Jews and Chaldeans, who are present. It is a horrible story.

Verses 41:4-18. The next day Ishmael met eighty men who came from the north; he invited them to come to Gedaliah, who was dead in his house. When they came to the place he slew them, except ten men, who offered to reveal to him hidden treasures of food. Then he carried off all the rest of the people who were left in Mizpah, to go to the land of Ammon. When Johanan and the captains heard of what Ishmael had done, they pursued him unto Gibeon, but Ishmael with eight men escaped to the Ammonites. Johanan took those whom they had rescued out of the clutches of the monster Ishmael, and, fearing the Chaldeans, purposed to go to Egypt.

It adds to the horrors of the picture too, that Ishmael was as avaricious as he was violent and deceitful. "But ten men were found among them that said to Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren." (Ver. 8.)

Who can doubt that God was pleased to take away Gedaliah, and those who sorrowed over the desolations of Israel, from evil to come? It was mercy to themselves; it was an additional chastening on the guilty people, high or low, that those who did and felt most becomingly should be swept away, and that by their brethren's hands. What a stigma, that a trench made for self-defence should become the promiscuous burying-place of the best of the remnant thus shamefully put to death! Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain." (Ver. 9.)

In furtherance, apparently, of the designs concocted with the king of the Ammonites, Ishmael proceeds next to carry away those whom he did not slay. "Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites." (Ver. 10.) Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty in the moment of their greatest success. "But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. Now it came to pass, that when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah." (Ver. 11-14.)

It is true that Ishmael was not slain. Possibly to return bootless, and disappointed of the prey, to the king who had sent him as a destroyer of his own people and a plunderer for the Ammonites, may have been for the moment a more bitter cup to the conspirators.

Alas! he who delivered the captives and put to flight their enemy was no true friend of Israel, because he paid little heed to the word of Jehovah. "But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon: and they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt, because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land." (Ver. 15-18.) Fear is an evidence of unbelief as certainly if not so grossly as bold or treacherous rebellion. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt. What was the issue of this disobedience, flowing from distrust, we have yet to learn. How blessed for the believer that he is entitled to trample on fears, and to confide without anxiety to the word of the Lord!

Son of Elishama and father of Ishmael who slew Gedaliah. 2 Kings 25:23, 25, Jer. 40:8, 14, 15; Jer. 41:1-18.

The administration of the conquered country was then entrusted by Nebuchadnezzar to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam (2 Kings 22:12; Jer. 26:24). Gedaliah dwelt on Mizpah. He held his office only two months and was murdered by Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (Jer. 40:8-16 and 41:1-9).

In the seventh month, just two months after Jerusalem had been burned (vv.8-9), Ishmael came with ten men (reminding us of the ten commandments) and killed Gedaliah and those who were with him, at Mizpah (v.25). This murder took place immediately after Ishmael had deceitfully eaten with Gedaliah (Jer.41:1-2). In fact, on the second day after this happened, there were 80 men who came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria with desire to meet with Gedaliah. Ishmael met them, weeping, and guided them into the city, where Ishmael and his men killed them except for ten men who bribed Ishmael to let them live (Jer.41:4-7).

Gedaliah seems to have been a sincere unsuspecting man. Jeremiah dwelt with him among the remnant (v. 6), and all looked well for a short space. Gedaliah encouraged their hearts, and they gathered of the fruit of the land in abundance. Wine and oil and summer fruits were plentiful (vv. 7-12). The presence of Ishmael, however, meant the overthrow of Gedaliah. Johanan warned the latter of this, but he treated it as a false suspicion (vv. 13-16). It was nevertheless true, and Ishmael slew Gedaliah and those who were with him, and fled with the rest, after having added to his guilt by killing a company of worshippers who were on their way to the house of the Lord. Johanan, hearing what Ishmael had done, pursued him, and recovered the glad and grateful remnant.

They did not, however, quietly and confidently settle under the power and protectorate of Babylon, which God had established, but they moved toward Egypt, though remaining still in the land. Fear filled their hearts and not quiet confidence in God and in His will (Jer. 41:1-18). The conflicts which they had seen increased this with them. There was no waiting upon God. They had no sense of the present mind of God for them even though His prophet was there. Where there is much restlessness, though a measure of deliverance is experienced, as in the case of this remnant, yet, unless time is taken to learn and act upon the present mind of God, worse calamity will follow than was known before. These things are recorded for our learning. The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God’s people and it is the same today. How important, therefore that our eyes and hearts should be directed to the one unfailing Leader—to the Lord Himself! The conflicts and failures would be turned to good purpose then, if we allowed them (as we did with our sins when we first discovered our need) to drive us to Him, for He not only meets our need, but does for us far beyond that which we ask or even think. May the Lord be exalted before us more and more, and thus may we cleave to Him though leaders and others fail, as they have done ever since the days of the apostles. (See Acts 20:29-32.)