Bible Strands
Jeremiah 41:15
But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went to the Ammonites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records a historical moment after Ishmael assassinated Gedaliah, when Johanan and his commanders attempt to recover the captives Ishmael had taken at Mizpah.
The words — The Hebrew verb נִמְלַט (nim.Lat) literally means "he escaped" or "he fled," describing Ishmael and eight men slipping past Johanan’s forces.
The thread — This flight parallels the evasion of judgment noted in Job 21:30 and Proverbs 28:17, while standing in contrast to the total destruction described in 1 Samuel 30:17.
Why it lands — The text states plainly that a murderer and his companions physically evaded capture and sought refuge with the Ammonites, requiring the reader to recognize that temporal escape does not nullify the consequences of treason.
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
But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
Cross-references
- Job 21:30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
- Proverbs 28:17 A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
- 1 Samuel 30:17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.
- 1 Kings 20:20 and each one struck down his opponent. So the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with the cavalry.
- 2 Kings 25:25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Jeremiah 41:2 Then 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 to govern the land.
- Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”