16. Thou speakest falsely. Perhaps Gedaliah did not trust Johanan, of late a “captain” in Zedekiah’s army. In any event the upright Gedaliah would not stoop to follow Johanan’s advice of preventive murder, even though Ishmael was threatening his very life.
1. It came to pass. There is no direct statement as to when the events of 41 took place, but in view of the continuous nature of the narrative, it seems reasonable to conclude that they followed immediately the events of 40.
In the seventh month. Approximately two or three months after Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians ( 39:1, 2), if the narrative proceeds uninterruptedly, as it apparently does (see PK 460).
Did eat bread together. Ishmael and his ten fellow conspirators paid a visit to Gedaliah, ostensibly on a mission of courteous recognition of Gedaliah’s high office, but in reality intent on murdering Gedaliah and all his adherents.