In the habitation of Chimham— The parcel of ground, in the general opinion of interpreters, which David had settled upon Chimham, the son of Barzillai. The passage may be rendered, And they went and dwelt in Geruth Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, in order to proceed to go into Egypt, out of the reach of the Chaldeans, &c.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, A scene of more complicated villany and unprovoked barbarity can hardly be found than is here recorded.
1. Gedaliah is assassinated. Unsuspicious of Ishmael, and the princes with him, who came with a pretence of paying a visit of friendship, he kindly and generously entertained them; when, at a signal given, Ishmael, and the rest of the conspirators, suddenly rose on Gedaliah and slew him; nor sheathed their swords till they had, in cold blood, massacred all the men, both Jews and Chaldeans, who were in Mizpah. And to this they seem to have been instigated by their revenge, because Gedaliah and the Jews had fallen to the Chaldeans; or by their envy, because Ishmael, of the seed royal, and the princes, could not bear to see Gedaliah preferred before them. Such horrid work do the satanical tempers of fallen sinners make, when left without restraint.
2. Not content with all the blood that they had shed, their wanton cruelty seeks new objects. Fourscore men from Schechem, Samaria, and Shiloh, wholly ignorant of what had passed, were on their way to the temple at Jerusalem, with deepest signs of expressive woe to lament its desolations; and present, if but on the ruined altar, their oblations; so dear to them was the very dust thereof. These, with hypocritical tears, Ishmael went forth to meet, that he might decoy them to Mizpah, under pretence of an invitation from Gedaliah, as if he was yet alive; and they, unsuspicious of his design, went with him into the midst of the city, where they were instantly slain, and their bodies cast into one pit with those who fell with Gedaliah. This pit was dug by Asa, when he fortified Mizpah against Baasha, 1 Kings 15:22. Ten men only escaped, by pleading the treasures that they had concealed in the field; and, covetousness prevailing over cruelty, they permitted them to live to discover them. While we read of such scenes of horror, how great reason have we to bless God for his restraining grace upon the hearts and hands of wicked men: but for this the world would be an aceldama, a field of blood.
3. The bloody work being done, Ishmael attempts to secure the plunder and the prisoners, the king's daughters, and others, by a retreat to Baalis, king of the Ammonites, who seems to have instigated him to perpetrate this horrid deed.
2nd, A deed so atrocious could not be long concealed; and no sooner does the report of it reach Johanan, than, fired with indignation, he collected all the forces that he could muster, pursued the fugitives, and overtook them at the pool of Gibeon; which road, though not the direct one, they might have taken to prevent a pursuit, or get the treasures of the men whose lives they had spared: thus oftentimes we see men's covetousness their destruction. No sooner had Johanan and his troops appeared, than those with Ishmael immediately deserted him, and with difficulty he himself, with eight of the assassins, escaped to the land of Ammon; perhaps now unwelcome guests, when stripped of that plunder which the king of Ammon hoped to share. Johanan with his forces, and those whom he had recovered, either through his own fiery spirit, or the just judgment of God upon the people, which would give them no rest till they were utterly consumed, resolved hereupon to depart into Egypt; either hoping that under the Egyptian government they should enjoy greater safety, or, as was pretended, fearing the Chaldeans would punish them for the death of Gedaliah; though, in fact, they might rather have expected commendation from them, as his avengers. The resolution however being taken, they left Mizpah, and pitched in the habitation of Chimham (so called, probably, as being given by David to that son of Barzillai) near Bethlehem, in the way that led to Egypt, ready to fly thither if any danger threatened them. Note; Men's unbelieving fears often plunge them into the very miseries that they dread.