And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
Ishmael ... slew ... and cast them into the ... pit. He had not killed them in the pit (cf. Jeremiah 41:9): these words are therefore rightly supplied in the English version. The pit - the pit or cistern made by Ass to guard against a want of water, when Baasha was about to besiege the city (Jeremiah 41:9; 1 Kings 15:22). Or the trench or lease round the city (Grotius). Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion they were coming to live under Gedaliah.