Bible Strands
Jeremiah 40:7
When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports that military commanders and their troops stationed in the open country learn of a royal appointment. This event occurs immediately after Jeremiah settles with Gedaliah at Mizpah and precedes the commanders' subsequent journey to him.
The words — The narrative emphasizes וַ/יִּשְמְעוּ (va/yishme'u) = and they heard, and בַּ/שָּׂדֶה (ba/sadeh) = in the open country. These terms anchor the scene to a specific geographical and communicative moment rather than a formal court or exile setting.
The thread — The report of the Babylonian king's administrative decision connects to Jeremiah 39:10, which records Nebuzaradan leaving the poor in Judah, and 2 Kings 25:22, which notes Nebuchadnezzar's formal appointment of Gedaliah over the remaining population.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to track how political restructuring in the land triggers immediate movement among remaining military leaders. It establishes the factual baseline for the subsequent gathering at Mizpah without offering theological commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now when all the captains of the forces which 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 unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
- 2 Kings 25:4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- 2 Kings 25:22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah.
- Jeremiah 39:4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they went out along the route to the Arabah.
- Ezekiel 33:24 “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
- Ezekiel 45:16 All the people of the land must participate in this contribution for the prince in Israel.