Chapter summary

In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and ten men came to Mizpah and killed Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the king of Babylon, along with the Jews and Chaldean soldiers present with him. Two days later, Ishmael murdered eighty visitors from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, throwing their bodies into a large cistern, except for ten men who spared their lives by offering hidden treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey. Ishmael then took the remaining people of Mizpah captive and headed toward the Ammonites. Upon hearing of these events, Johanan son of Kareah and his army commanders pursued Ishmael and overtook him near the pool in Gibeon. The captives rejoiced and turned back to Johanan, while Ishmael and eight of his men escaped to the Ammonites. Finally, Johanan and his commanders took the recovered people to Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to flee to Egypt out of fear of the Chaldeans following Gedaliah's assassination.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.