“Likewise,
All the Judeans,
Who were in Moab,
Or among the Ammonites,
Or in Edom,
As well as in other lands,
Heard that
The king of Babylon
Had left a remnant
In Judah.
They heard
That he had appointed
Gedaliah,
The son of Ahikam,
The son of Shaphan,
As governor over them.
Then all the Judeans returned
From all the places
To which they had been scattered.
They came
To the land of Judah,
To Gedaliah,
At Mizpah.
They gathered wine
They gathered summer fruits
In great abundance.”
Jeremiah presents a mini-post exilic time. This was particularly true of those Judeans who had migrated to the southeastern neighboring countries on the other side of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, living among the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. They heard the news that the war with Babylon was over. They then decided to return, when they heard that Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, was the new governor appointed by the king of Babylon. Thus they returned to Judah, more precisely to the Benjamin area that had not been destroyed. Mizpah became the new capital city of this remnant left In Judah. They were going to have wine and summer fruits in abundance. This seems like a happy time with a lot of returning Judeans from the devastated Judah area and the area east of the Jordan River in Moab, Edom, and Ammon.