Bible Strands
Jeremiah 41:9
Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the location immediately following Ishmael son of Nethaniah’s order to execute Gedaliah and his officials. The account follows the sparing of ten men who concealed agricultural stores in the field.
The words — בּוֹר (bor) translates literally as “cistern,” and פִּגְרֵי (pigrei) means “corpses.” These terms anchor the verse to the physical act of depositing the executed men into a preexisting water reservoir.
The thread — The use of subterranean spaces for concealment during military pursuit appears in Judges 6:2, 1 Samuel 13:6, and 2 Samuel 17:9. These passages similarly record individuals or groups seeking refuge in caves or thickets to avoid enemy forces.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to recognize that a royal infrastructure project built for national defense is repurposed as a mass grave. It grounds the political assassination in tangible geography rather than abstract violence.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Judges 6:2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- 2 Samuel 17:9 Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’
- 1 Kings 15:17 Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
- Joshua 10:16 Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
- 1 Samuel 14:11 So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”
- 1 Samuel 14:22 When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined the battle in close pursuit.
- 1 Samuel 24:3 Soon Saul came to the sheepfolds along the road, where there was a cave, and he went in to relieve himself. And David and his men were hiding in the recesses of the cave.
- Hebrews 11:38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.