“Then Johanan
The son of Kareah,
Spoke secretly
To Gedaliah
At Mizpah.
‘Please let me go!
Let me kill Ishmael,
The son of Nethaniah!
No one else will know.
Why should he
Take your life?
Then all the Judeans
Who are gathered
Around you
Would be scattered.
The remnant of Judah
Would perish.’
But Gedaliah,
The son of Ahikam,
Said to Johanan,
The son of Kareah.
‘Do not do such a thing!
You are telling a lie
About Ishmael.’”
Johanan toke Governor Gedaliah aside and spoke to him secretly. He wanted permission to kill Ishmael before he was able to kill the new governor. He said that no would have to know about it. Why should Governor Gedaliah die? If he died, then all the Judeans gathered at Mizpah would scatter. The small remnant of Judeans there would all die. However, Governor Gedaliah responded to Johanan in no uncertain terms. Johanan was not to kill Ishmael, because this story about the plot to kill him was a lie. Thus Governor Gedaliah dismissed the warning against his life.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 