John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 41:4-5

"And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah." — Jeremiah 41:4-5 (ASV)

The Prophet shows here that after Ishmael had polluted his hands, he did not cease his barbarity. And thus wicked men become hardened; for even if they dread at first to murder innocent men, once they begin the work, they rush on to the commission of numberless murders. This is what the Prophet now tells us happened; for after Gedaliah was killed, he says that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, who brought incense and offering to present them in the Temple, and that these were led by treachery to Mizpah, there killed and cast into a pit, as we will see later.

It is not known why Ishmael was induced to commit this cruel and barbarous act, for there was no war declared, nor could he have pretended any excuse for thus slaying unhappy men who suspected no such thing. They were of the seed of Abraham, they were worshippers of God, and they had committed no offense and plotted nothing against him.

Why then he was seized with such rage is uncertain, except that wicked men, as we have said, never set any bounds to their crimes; for God gives them the spirit of giddiness, so that they are carried away by blind madness. It is, indeed, probable that they were killed because Ishmael thought that they came to Gedaliah so that they might live under his protection, and that he could not have gained anything by the murder of one man unless he obtained authority over the whole land.

It was then suspicion alone, and indeed a slight one, which led him to such cruelty. And the atrocity of the deed was enhanced by what the Prophet says: that they came to offer to God incense and offering, מנחה, meneche; and he also says that they had their beards shaven, and their garments torn. Such an appearance should have roused pity even in the most inveterate enemies, for we know that there is an innate feeling which leads us to pity wretchedness and tears, and every mournful appearance.

The fury then of Ishmael, even if he had before determined to do some grievous thing to these men, should have been allayed by their very sight, so as not to be even angry with them. According then to every view of the case, we see that he must have been devoid of all sense of fairness and that he was more cruel than any wild beast.

But it may be asked: How did these men come for the purpose mentioned, since the report respecting the destruction of the Temple must have spread everywhere? For they are not said to have come from Persia or from countries beyond the sea, but from places not far away.

Those who answer that the report of the Temple being destroyed had not reached them only seek to evade the issue, for the answer is not credible and is merely an evasion. The Temple was burned in the fifth month; could that calamity be unknown in Judea? Furthermore, we know that Shiloh was not far from Jerusalem, nor was Samaria very distant.

Since, then, the distance of these places cannot account for their ignorance, it does not seem probable to me that these men came because they thought the Temple was still standing; nor did they bring victims, but only incense and oblation.

Therefore, I think that they came, not to offer the ordinary sacrifice, but only that they might testify to their piety in that place where they had previously offered their sacrifices. This conjecture has nothing inconsistent in it; nor is there any doubt that before they left their homes, they had put on their humble and torn garments. These were signs, as we have seen elsewhere, of sorrow and mourning among Eastern peoples.

But here another question is raised, for the Prophet says that they were torn or cut; and this has been deemed as referring to the skin or body, but this was forbidden by the Law. Some answer that they forgot the Law in their extreme grief, so that they unintentionally tore or lacerated their bodies.

But the prohibition of the Law seems to me to have had something special in it, namely, that God designed by it to distinguish His people from pagans. And we may gather from sacred history that some artifice was practiced by idolaters when they cut their bodies; for it is said that the priests of Baal cut their bodies according to their usual manner or practice.

God then, wishing to keep His people from every corruption, forbade them to imitate the rites of the pagans. Furthermore, there is no doubt that God designed to correct excess in grief and mourning. I therefore do not think that anything contrary to the Law was done by these men when they came to the ruins of the Temple with torn garments and lacerated skin, for there was in them nothing feigned; for so lamentable a calamity elicited such grief that they spared neither themselves nor their garments.

Jeremiah says, in the first of these verses, that the death of Gedaliah was concealed, so that no one knew it; yet such a deed could hardly have been kept secret, for many of the Jews were killed together with Gedaliah, and also the guarding soldiers whom Nebuchadnezzar had given to Gedaliah. But the Prophet means that it was hidden because the report had not yet spread. He then speaks comparatively when he says that it was known to no one. We have already stated the purpose for which the eighty men came from Samaria and other places; it was not that they might offer sacrifices, as when the Temple was standing, but only lament the destruction of the Temple and of the city; and that as they had brought from home the greatest sorrow, they might, on their return, humble themselves, after having seen so grievous a punishment inflicted on the people for their sins.

Prayer:

Grant, omnipotent God, that since our life is exposed to innumerable dangers, and You set before our eyes what happened to the best and choicest of Your servants — O grant, that we may flee to You, and resign ourselves wholly to Your will, that we may know that You are the guardian of our life, so that not a hair of our head can fall without Your hidden permission, and that we may also learn to ask of You the spirit of wisdom and discretion, so that You Yourself may guide our steps, as it is not in us to defend our life from those many intrigues by which we are on every side surrounded, the whole world being opposed to us, so that we may proceed in the course of our pilgrimage under Your care and protection, until we shall be removed into that blessed rest, which is laid up for us in heaven by Christ our Lord. — Amen.