Now when all the captains of the forces which [were] in the fields, [even] they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Ver. 7. Now when all the captains of the forces that were in the fields.] The dispersed Jews, with their captains and centurions, such as had lain lurking during the siege, or had fled when Zedekias did, and escaped.
Heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah.] Whom they knew to be a pious and prudent man; and would be a father unto them instead of a king. Nebuchadnezzar might have set a Babylonian governor, who would have ruled them with rigour. But God, in mercy to his poor people, moved him to make choice of this man, famous for his mildness and integrity; to whom therefore they resort, but not all for the same good end, as the sequel showed; for Ishmael was a very Judas.