Now while he was not yet gone back Hebrew, ועודנו לא ישׁוב, while he would not yet return, he said, &c. The prophet seems to have been in doubt at first what course to take. The Chaldee reads the clause, If thou wilt not abide [here] go back to Gedaliah. understanding the verb ישׁוב as if it were derived from ישׁב, to abide, words of a like sound having often a promiscuous signification. This Gedaliah was a person of considerable interest and authority. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward It was by the particular order of Nebuchadnezzar that the prophet was used in this kind manner. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah to Mizpah A town in the confines of Judah and Benjamin, where Gedaliah fixed his residence, being a place of note in the times of the judges, and afterward rebuilt by King Asa. See the margin.
Related Commentaries of Jeremiah 40:5
Jeremiah 40:5-6
5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.