Jeremiah 40:13-16·~1 min

The Plot against Gedaliah

Johanan and the commanders warn Gedaliah privately that Ishmael has been sent by Baalis to assassinate him, though Gedaliah does not believe them. Johanan even offers to kill Ishmael quietly in order to preserve the remnant, but Gedaliah forbids it, insisting that the accusation is false.

M¹³eanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and said to him, “Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Section summaryJohanan and the other commanders come to Gedaliah with intelligence that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill him. Gedaliah refuses to believe the report and rejects Johanan's warning, leaving the chapter poised on the edge of violence born not from foreign siege but from denied internal treachery.

Role in the chapterThis closing section turns the chapter's tentative hope into ominous suspense and prepares the next collapse of Judah's remnant leadership.