Gedaliah

Gedaliah (died c. 585 B.C.E. or later) was the Jewish governor of Judah under Babylonia rule after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 586 and the execution of Zedekiah, Judah's last king. The member of a prestigious family, he was the son of Ahikam, who saved the life of the prophet Jeremiah from a mob (Jer. 26:24) and the grandson of the scribe Shaphan, who served in the time of King Josiah.

Gedaliah was a member of the minority faction of the Kingdom of Judah, along with figures like Jeremiah, that favored cooperation with Babylon rather than rebellion. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed him to be governor as Babylon's vassal (2 Kings 25:22; Jer. 40:5; 52:16).

Consider in Jewish tradition to be a wise and modest man, Gedaliah followed Jeremiah's advice and zealously urged the remnant citizens of Judah—thouse who had not been taken into Babylonian exile—to cooperated with the Babylonians by cultivated the fields and vineyards, and paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, thus layin the foundation of security. Many joined Gedaliah in the new capital of Mizpah, but others considered him a puppet of the Babylonian pagans. As a result, he was slain in a plot led by Ishmael, son of Nathaniel, who had royal blood and favored rebellion against Babylon with the help of the Ammonites.

Background

Gedaliah lived turning a tumultuous and confusing time in Judah's history, which the kingdom's rulers received conflicting advice from both prophets and priests regarding what policy they should adopt toward the power of Babylon. His grandfather Shaphan had been an important scribe and royal secretary during the reign of King Josiah and read the famous "Book of the Law," which many today believe was the Book of Deuterony, to the king after it was found (some say written) in the Temple of Jerusalem (2 Kings 22). During the reign of King Jehoiakim, Gedaliah's father Ahikam had intervened to save the prophet Jeremiah from death after he had outraged Jerusalem's priests and even some of his fellow prophets by predicting the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the devastation of the city (Jer. 26:24). The royal official Micaiah son of Gemariah was his cousin (Jer. 26:11) who helped Jeremiah's scribe Baruch bring Jeremiah's written words to the king.

The main political issue in Gedaliah's time revolved around what to do in relation to the major powers of Egypt and Babylon. King Josiah had been slain in battle against Egypt under Pharaoh Neccho II, and his sons had been forced to become vassals of Egypt. This ended, however, when Babylon defeated Egypt and made Judah its vassal instead. Gedaliah's family were supporters of the policy of Jeremiah, which saw Babylon as God's agent to punish Judah for her sins and urged cooperation with the Babylonians. This policy, however, was highly unpopular as it seemed unpatriotic; and Jeremiah's prophecies also offended many in the ruling classes whom Jeremiah criticized for their corrupt practices.

Zedekiah became king after his immediate predecessors unsuccessfully rebelled against Babylon, resulting in the first phase of the Babylonian exile of the Jews. Jeremiah urged Zedekiah to not resist the Babylonians, but he eventually listened to the words of other prophets and advisers and refused to pay further tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. This provoked a new siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army, resulting in his Zedekiah's death and that of his sons in 586. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its sacred Temple and brought a new wave of exiles to Babylon, leaving only the lower classes and a few trustworthy leaders like Gedaliah in charge.

Gedaliah as governor

Nebuchadnezzar appointed him governor of Palestine after the conquest of the land. One of the Babylonians' first acts was to order Gedaliah to release Jeremiah from prison (Jer. 39:5), where he had been placed by King Zedekiah for speaking out against Judah's rebellion.

Gedaliah made Mizpah his new capital. There, the scattered remnants of the nation soon gathered round him. Not only the poor peasants and laborers, but also the generals and military men, as well officials from Jerusalem, came back from their hiding places among the surrounding tribes and settled in the towns of Palestine. Among Gedaliah's subjects was Jeremiah, who had been taken in chains with the exiles as far as Ramah (in today's Jordan) but was released and sent back to Gedaliah by the Babylonian commander Nebuzaradan (Jer. 40:5). Gedaliah exhorted the people to remain loyal to the Babylonian rulers and to lay down their arms. He encouraged them to raise crops and livestock and rebuild of their razed cities. He also permitted them to gather the crops on lands whose owners had been taken into exile:

"Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians," he said. "Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over." (Jer. 40:9-10)

Many Jews from Moab, Ammon, Edom and other areas of the diaspora, hearing that the land was being resettled, now saw an opportunity and returned to the land. However, among these and the former citizens of Judah who had escaped exile were many who still believed that they must not give in to the Babylonians, whom they saw as an evil foreign power and totally pagan. Seeing Gedaliah as a Babylonian puppet, some favored an alliance with the Ammonites, who, though a traditional enemy of Israel and Judah, were of Semitic stock and were currently willing to join in resistance against Nebuchadnezzar. Leading this faction was a certain Ishmael son of Nathaniah, who was "of the royal seed," supported the idea of allying with King Baalis of Ammon to overthrow the Babylonians. Being of the Davidic lineage himself, it is likely that he also had pretensions of reestablishing the Kingdom of Judah and the Davidic dynasty. Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah, however, provided the major obstacle to his plan.

Information of Ishmael's conspiracy reached Gedaliah through Johanan son of Kareah, a former military commander of Judah. ""Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it," Johanan advised. "Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?" Gedaliah rejected this intelligence, however, probably believing that Johanan intended merely to eliminate Ishmael as a rival. Gedaliah thus forbade Johanan to move against Ishmael and his supporters. Instead, he hosted Ishmael and ten companions at a major banquet in Mizpah. In the midst of the festivities Ishmael slew the unsuspecting Gedaliah, and also succeeded in killing the entire Babylonian garrison stationed in the capital together with their Jewish collaborators, casting their bodies into a cistern (Jer. 40).

Assassination

Among the refugees who had joined Gedaliah in Mizpah was Yishmael, the son of Nataniah, a descendant of the royal house of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Baalis the king of Ammon, who had been following with apprehension the regrowth of Judah under its new governor Gedaliah, encouraged and sent Yishmael to assassinate him. In the seventh month (Tishrei) Yishmael came to Gedaliah in the town of Mitzpa, and was received cordially. Gedaliah had been warned of his guest's murderous intent, but refused to believe his informants, having the belief that their report was mere slander. Yishmael murdered Gedaliah, together with most of the Jews who had joined him and many Babylonians whom Nebuchadnezzar had left with Gedaliah (Jer. 41:2, 3). The remaining Jews feared the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar (seeing as his chosen ruler, Gedaliah, had been killed by a Jew) and fled to Egypt. This happened about three months after the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, in 586 B.C.E. The Rabbis condemn the overconfidence of Gedaliah, holding him responsible for the death of his followers (Niddah 61a; comp. Jer. xli. 9). Ishmael captured many of the inhabitants of Mizpah, as well as "the daughters of the king" entrusted to Gedaliah's care by the Babylonian general, and fled to Ammon. Johanan and his followers, however, on receiving the sad tidings, immediately pursued the murderers, overtaking them at the lake of Gibeon. The captives were rescued, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped to the land of Ammon. The plan of Baalis thus succeeded, for the Jewish refugees, fearing lest the Babylonian king should hold them responsible for the murder, never returned to their native land. In spite of the exhortations of Jeremiah they fled to Egypt, joined by the remnant of the Jews that had survived, together with Jeremiah and Baruch (Jer. xliii. 6). The rule of Gedaliah lasted, according to tradition, only two months, although Grätz argues that it continued more than four years.

Fast of Gedaliah.

The Biblical records place the death of Gedaliah in the seventh month (Tishri) without specifying the day. The traditional view is that it occurred on the third day of Tishri, which was therefore subsequently established as a fast-day in commemoration of the sad event (Zech, vii. 5, viii. 19; R. H. 18b). Later authorities accepted the view that the assassination occurred on New-Year's Day, and the fast was postponed to the week-day following it—the third of the month (Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 549, 1; Ṭure Zahab ad loc.). It is not, however, regarded as a postponed fast-day. If it falls on the Sabbath, the fast must be observed on the following day. The ritual of the day is the same as that of any other fast-day, with the addition of thoseprayers which are peculiar to the penitential days

Fast of Gedaliah

To lament the assassination of Gedaliah, which had left Judah devoid of any Jews and Jewish rule and made the destruction of the first Temple complete, the Jewish Sages established the third day of Tishrei, as the Fast of Gedaliah. Although Gedaliah's assassination apparently occurred on the first day of Tishrei, the fast is observed on the third day so as not to coincide with Rosh Hashanah.