Jeremiah 41:3 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Ishmael also slew all the Jews.... — We wonder at first that ten men were able to effect so much. It does not follow, however, that the massacre went beyond the Jews and Chaldæan officers who were sharing Gedaliah’s hospitality, and they may easily have been surprised, like Gedaliah, unarmed, and in the act of feasting. Possibly, too, the ten princes may each have brought their retinue of attendants. Greek history presents two analogous massacres — that of the Persian generals by Alexander, the son of Amyntas (Herod, v. 19, 20); and that of Archias and Leontiades, the tyrants of Thebes, by Pelopidas and his associates. The massacre in this case was so complete that none escaped to tell the tale (Jeremiah 41:4). The italics in the last clause of the verse indicate that the conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew, and that the words, “the men of war,” are in apposition with the previous clause, and limit their extent.