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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 41:8 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 41:8	Strong Concordance	But ten [06235] men [0582] were found [04672] among them that said [0559] unto Ishmael [03458], Slay [04191] us not: for we have [03426] treasures [04301] in the field [07704], of wheat [02406], and of barley [08184], and of oil [08081], and of honey [01706]. So he forbare [02308], and slew [04191] them not among [08432] their brethren [0251].
	King James	But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
treasures--It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared. slew . . . not-- (Pro 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

treasures--It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared.

slew . . . not-- (Pro 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Treasures - Hidden stores; which would be of great value to Ishmael in his retreat back to Baalis.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Only ten men out of the eighty saved their lives, and this by saying to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field - wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey." מטמנים are excavations in the form of cisterns, or subterranean storehouses in the open country, for keeping grain; the openings or entrances to these are so concealed that the eye of a stranger could not perceive them. Such places are still universally employed in Palestine at the present day (Robinson's Palestine, i. pp. 324-5), and are also to be found in other southern countries, both in ancient and modern times; see proofs of this in Rosenmller's Scholia ad hunc locum. It is remarked, in Jer 41:9, of the pit into which Ishmael threw the corpses, that it was the same that King Asa had made, i.e., had caused to be made, against, i.e., for protection against, Baasha the king of Israel. In the historical books there is no mention made of this pit in the account of the war between Asa and Baasha, Kg1 15:16-22 and Ch2 16:1-6; it is only stated in Kg1 15:22 and Ch2 16:6 that, after Baasha, who had fortified Ramah, had been compelled to return to his own land because of the invasion of Benhadad the Syrian king, whom Asa had called to his aid, the king of Judah ordered all his people to carry away from Ramah the stones and timber which Baasha had employed in building, and therewith fortify Geba and Mizpah. The expression מפּני בעשׁא certainly implies that the pit had been formed as a protection against Baasha, and belonged to the fortifications raised at that time. However, הבּור cannot mean the burial-place belonging to the city (Grotius), but only a cistern (cf. Kg2 10:14); and one such as could contain a considerable store of water was as necessary as a wall and a moat for the fortification of a city, so that it might be able to endure a long siege (Graf). Hitzig, on the other hand, takes בּור to mean a long and broad ditch which cut off the approach to the city from Ephraim, or which, forming a part of the fortifications, made a break in the road to Jerusalem, though it was bridged over in times of peace, thus forming a kind of tunnel. This idea is certainly incorrect; for, according to Jer 41:7, the "ditch" was inside the city (בּתוך). The expression בּיד גּדליהוּ is obscure, and cannot be explained with any of certainty. בּיד cannot mean "through the fault of" Gedaliah (Raschi), or "because of" Gedaliah - for his sake (Kimchi, Umbreit), or "coram" Gedaliah (Venema), but must rather be rendered "by means of, through the medium of," or "at the side of, together with." Ngelsbach has decided for the rendering "by means of," giving as his reason the fact that Ishmael had made use of the name of Gedaliah in order to decoy these men into destruction. He had called to them, "Come to Gedaliah" (Jer 41:6); and simply on the authority of this name, they had followed him. But the employment of the name as a means of decoy can hardly be expressed by בּיד. We therefore prefer the meaning "at the hand = at the side of" (following the Syriac, L. de Dieu, Rosenmller, Ewald), although this signification cannot be established from the passages cited by Rosenm. (Sa1 14:34; Sa1 16:2; Ezr 7:23), nor can the meaning "together with" (Ewald) be shown to belong to it. On the other hand, a passage which is quite decisive for the rendering "by the hand of, beside," is Job 15:23 : "there stands ready at his hand (בּידו, i.e., close to him) a day of darkness." If we take this meaning for the passage now before us, then בּיד גּדליהוּ cannot be connected with אשׁר , in accordance with the Masoretic accents, but with השׁליך שׁם, "where Ishmael cast the bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah;" so that it is not stated till here and now, and only in a casual manner, what had become of Gedaliah's corpse. Nothing that admits of being proved can be brought against this view. (Note: Because the lxx have, for בּיד גּדליהוּ הוּא, φρέαρ μέγα τοῦτό ἐστιν, J. D. Michaelis, Dahler, Movers, Hitzig, and Graf would change the text, and either take ryb lwdg 'wh (Dahler, Movers) or בּיר הגּדול הוּא (= בּור) as the original reading, inasmuch as one codex of De Rossi's also has בור. But apart from the improbability of בּור גּדול or הגּדול being incorrectly changed into בּיד גּדליהוּ, we find that הוּא stands provokingly in the way; for it would be superfluous, or introduce an improper emphasis into the sentence. The lxx have but been attempting to guess at a translation of a text they did not understand. What Hitzig further supposes has no foundation, viz., that this "ditch" is identical with that mentioned Sa1 19:22, in שׂכוּ, and with τὸ φρέαρ τὸ μέγα of 1 Macc. 7:19; for the ditch at Sechu was near Ramah, which was about four miles from Mizpah, and the large fountain 1 Macc. 7:19 was ἐν Βηζέθ, an unknown place in the vicinity of Jerusalem.) The הוּא which follows is a predicate: "the ditch wherein...was that which Asa the king had formed." The motive for this second series of assassinations by Ishmael is difficult to discover. The supposition that he was afraid of being betrayed, and for this reason killed these strangers, not wishing to be troubled with them, is improbable, for the simple reason that these strangers did not want to go to Mizpah, but to Jerusalem. For the supposition of Thenius (on Kg2 25:23) and of Schmieder, that the people had intended going to Mizpah to a house of God that was there, is very properly rejected by Hitzig, because no mention is made in history of a place of worship at Mizpah; and, according to the express statement of Jer 41:6., Ishmael had enticed them into this city only by inviting them to come and see Gedaliah. Had Ishmael wished merely to conceal the murder of Gedaliah from these strangers, he ought to have done anything but let them into Mizpah. As little can we regard this deed (with Graf) as an act of revenge on these Israelites by Ishmael for the murder of his relations and equals in rank by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:10), because these men, who had now for a long time been living together with heathens, were Assyrian and Chaldean subjects. For we cannot comprehend how he could look on these Israelites as friends of the Chaldeans, and vent his anger against the Chaldean rule by murdering them; the mournful procession which they formed, and the offerings they were carrying to present, proclaimed them faithful adherents of Judah. Ngelsbach, accordingly, is of opinion that Ishmael had simply intended robbery. As it is evident that he, a rough and wild man, had assassinated the noble Gedaliah from personal jealousy, and in order to further the political interest of his Ammonite patron, he must have been seeking to put himself in the position of his victim, or to flee. "When we find, moreover, that he soon murdered a peaceable caravan of pilgrims, and preserved the lives only of a few who offered to show him hidden treasures; when, finally, we perceive that the whole turba imbellis of Mizpah were seized and carried off into slavery, Ishmael proves himself a mere robber." But, though the fact that Ishmael spared the lives of the ten men who offered to show him hidden treasures seems to support this view, yet the supposition that nothing more than robbery was intended does not suffice to explain the double murder. The two series of assassinations plainly stand in the closest connection, and must have been executed from one and the same motive. It was at the instigation of the Ammonite king that Ishmael murdered Gedaliah; moreover, as we learn from the report brought to Gedaliah by Johanan (Jer 40:15), the crime was committed in the expectation that the whole of Judah would then be dispersed, and the remnant of them perish. This murder was thus the work of the Ammonite king, who selected the royally-descended Ishmael as his instrument simply because he could conveniently, for the execution of his plans, employ the personal envy of one man against another who had been preferred by the king of Babylon. There can be no doubt that the same motive which urged him to destroy the remnant of Judah, i.e., to frustrate the attempt to gather and restore Judah, was also at work in the massacre of the pilgrims who were coming to the temple. If Ishmael, the leader of a robber-gang, had entered into the design of the Ammonite king, then everything that might serve for the preservation and consolidation of Judah must have been a source of pain to him; and this hatred of his towards Judah, which derived its strength and support from his religious views, incited him to murder the Jewish pilgrims to the temple, although the prospect of obtaining treasures might well cooperate with this in such a way as to make him spare the ten men who pretended they had hidden stores. With this, too, we can easily connect the hypocritical dealing on the part of Ishmael, in going forth, with tears, to meet these pious pilgrims, so that he might deceive them by making such a show of grief over the calamity that had befallen Judah; fore the wicked often assume an appearance of sanctity for the more effectual accomplishment of their evil deeds. The lxx evidently did not know what to make of this passage as it stands; hence, in Jer 41:6, they have quite dropped the words "from Mizpah," and have rendered הלך הלך by αὐτοὶ ἐπορεύοντο καὶ ἔκλαιον. Hitzig and Graf accept this as indicating the original text, since Ishmael had no ostensible ground for weeping. But the reasons which are supposed to justify this conjecture are, as Ngelsbach well remarks, of such a nature that one can scarcely believe they are seriously held.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Only ten men out of the eighty saved their lives, and this by saying to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field - wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey." מטמנים are excavations in the form of cisterns, or subterranean storehouses in the open country, for keeping grain; the openings or entrances to these are so concealed that the eye of a stranger could not perceive them. Such places are still universally employed in Palestine at the present day (Robinson's Palestine, i. pp. 324-5), and are also to be found in other southern countries, both in ancient and modern times; see proofs of this in Rosenmller's Scholia ad hunc locum. It is remarked, in Jer 41:9, of the pit into which Ishmael threw the corpses, that it was the same that King Asa had made, i.e., had caused to be made, against, i.e., for protection against, Baasha the king of Israel. In the historical books there is no mention made of this pit in the account of the war between Asa and Baasha, Kg1 15:16-22 and Ch2 16:1-6; it is only stated in Kg1 15:22 and Ch2 16:6 that, after Baasha, who had fortified Ramah, had been compelled to return to his own land because of the invasion of Benhadad the Syrian king, whom Asa had called to his aid, the king of Judah ordered all his people to carry away from Ramah the stones and timber which Baasha had employed in building, and therewith fortify Geba and Mizpah. The expression מפּני בעשׁא certainly implies that the pit had been formed as a protection against Baasha, and belonged to the fortifications raised at that time. However, הבּור cannot mean the burial-place belonging to the city (Grotius), but only a cistern (cf. Kg2 10:14); and one such as could contain a considerable store of water was as necessary as a wall and a moat for the fortification of a city, so that it might be able to endure a long siege (Graf). Hitzig, on the other hand, takes בּור to mean a long and broad ditch which cut off the approach to the city from Ephraim, or which, forming a part of the fortifications, made a break in the road to Jerusalem, though it was bridged over in times of peace, thus forming a kind of tunnel. This idea is certainly incorrect; for, according to Jer 41:7, the "ditch" was inside the city (בּתוך). The expression בּיד גּדליהוּ is obscure, and cannot be explained with any of certainty. בּיד cannot mean "through the fault of" Gedaliah (Raschi), or "because of" Gedaliah - for his sake (Kimchi, Umbreit), or "coram" Gedaliah (Venema), but must rather be rendered "by means of, through the medium of," or "at the side of, together with." Ngelsbach has decided for the rendering "by means of," giving as his reason the fact that Ishmael had made use of the name of Gedaliah in order to decoy these men into destruction. He had called to them, "Come to Gedaliah" (Jer 41:6); and simply on the authority of this name, they had followed him. But the employment of the name as a means of decoy can hardly be expressed by בּיד. We therefore prefer the meaning "at the hand = at the side of" (following the Syriac, L. de Dieu, Rosenmller, Ewald), although this signification cannot be established from the passages cited by Rosenm. (Sa1 14:34; Sa1 16:2; Ezr 7:23), nor can the meaning "together with" (Ewald) be shown to belong to it. On the other hand, a passage which is quite decisive for the rendering "by the hand of, beside," is Job 15:23 : "there stands ready at his hand (בּידו, i.e., close to him) a day of darkness." If we take this meaning for the passage now before us, then בּיד גּדליהוּ cannot be connected with אשׁר , in accordance with the Masoretic accents, but with השׁליך שׁם, "where Ishmael cast the bodies of the men whom he had slain, by the side of Gedaliah;" so that it is not stated till here and now, and only in a casual manner, what had become of Gedaliah's corpse. Nothing that admits of being proved can be brought against this view.

(Note: Because the lxx have, for בּיד גּדליהוּ הוּא, φρέαρ μέγα τοῦτό ἐστιν, J. D. Michaelis, Dahler, Movers, Hitzig, and Graf would change the text, and either take ryb lwdg 'wh (Dahler, Movers) or בּיר הגּדול הוּא (= בּור) as the original reading, inasmuch as one codex of De Rossi's also has בור. But apart from the improbability of בּור גּדול or הגּדול being incorrectly changed into בּיד גּדליהוּ, we find that הוּא stands provokingly in the way; for it would be superfluous, or introduce an improper emphasis into the sentence. The lxx have but been attempting to guess at a translation of a text they did not understand. What Hitzig further supposes has no foundation, viz., that this "ditch" is identical with that mentioned Sa1 19:22, in שׂכוּ, and with τὸ φρέαρ τὸ μέγα of 1 Macc. 7:19; for the ditch at Sechu was near Ramah, which was about four miles from Mizpah, and the large fountain 1 Macc. 7:19 was ἐν Βηζέθ, an unknown place in the vicinity of Jerusalem.)

The הוּא which follows is a predicate: "the ditch wherein...was that which Asa the king had formed."

The motive for this second series of assassinations by Ishmael is difficult to discover. The supposition that he was afraid of being betrayed, and for this reason killed these strangers, not wishing to be troubled with them, is improbable, for the simple reason that these strangers did not want to go to Mizpah, but to Jerusalem. For the supposition of Thenius (on Kg2 25:23) and of Schmieder, that the people had intended going to Mizpah to a house of God that was there, is very properly rejected by Hitzig, because no mention is made in history of a place of worship at Mizpah; and, according to the express statement of Jer 41:6., Ishmael had enticed them into this city only by inviting them to come and see Gedaliah. Had Ishmael wished merely to conceal the murder of Gedaliah from these strangers, he ought to have done anything but let them into Mizpah. As little can we regard this deed (with Graf) as an act of revenge on these Israelites by Ishmael for the murder of his relations and equals in rank by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:10), because these men, who had now for a long time been living together with heathens, were Assyrian and Chaldean subjects. For we cannot comprehend how he could look on these Israelites as friends of the Chaldeans, and vent his anger against the Chaldean rule by murdering them; the mournful procession which they formed, and the offerings they were carrying to present, proclaimed them faithful adherents of Judah. Ngelsbach, accordingly, is of opinion that Ishmael had simply intended robbery. As it is evident that he, a rough and wild man, had assassinated the noble Gedaliah from personal jealousy, and in order to further the political interest of his Ammonite patron, he must have been seeking to put himself in the position of his victim, or to flee. "When we find, moreover, that he soon murdered a peaceable caravan of pilgrims, and preserved the lives only of a few who offered to show him hidden treasures; when, finally, we perceive that the whole turba imbellis of Mizpah were seized and carried off into slavery, Ishmael proves himself a mere robber." But, though the fact that Ishmael spared the lives of the ten men who offered to show him hidden treasures seems to support this view, yet the supposition that nothing more than robbery was intended does not suffice to explain the double murder. The two series of assassinations plainly stand in the closest connection, and must have been executed from one and the same motive. It was at the instigation of the Ammonite king that Ishmael murdered Gedaliah; moreover, as we learn from the report brought to Gedaliah by Johanan (Jer 40:15), the crime was committed in the expectation that the whole of Judah would then be dispersed, and the remnant of them perish. This murder was thus the work of the Ammonite king, who selected the royally-descended Ishmael as his instrument simply because he could conveniently, for the execution of his plans, employ the personal envy of one man against another who had been preferred by the king of Babylon. There can be no doubt that the same motive which urged him to destroy the remnant of Judah, i.e., to frustrate the attempt to gather and restore Judah, was also at work in the massacre of the pilgrims who were coming to the temple. If Ishmael, the leader of a robber-gang, had entered into the design of the Ammonite king, then everything that might serve for the preservation and consolidation of Judah must have been a source of pain to him; and this hatred of his towards Judah, which derived its strength and support from his religious views, incited him to murder the Jewish pilgrims to the temple, although the prospect of obtaining treasures might well cooperate with this in such a way as to make him spare the ten men who pretended they had hidden stores. With this, too, we can easily connect the hypocritical dealing on the part of Ishmael, in going forth, with tears, to meet these pious pilgrims, so that he might deceive them by making such a show of grief over the calamity that had befallen Judah; fore the wicked often assume an appearance of sanctity for the more effectual accomplishment of their evil deeds. The lxx evidently did not know what to make of this passage as it stands; hence, in Jer 41:6, they have quite dropped the words "from Mizpah," and have rendered הלך הלך by αὐτοὶ ἐπορεύοντο καὶ ἔκλαιον. Hitzig and Graf accept this as indicating the original text, since Ishmael had no ostensible ground for weeping. But the reasons which are supposed to justify this conjecture are, as Ngelsbach well remarks, of such a nature that one can scarcely believe they are seriously held.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
He forebare - His covetousness prevailed over his cruelty.

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⁸ The ransom [03724] of a man's [0376] life [05315] are his riches [06239]: but the poor [07326] heareth [08085] not rebuke [01606].

⁶ And Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418] went forth [03318] from Mizpah [04709] to meet [07125] them, weeping [01058] all along [01980] as he went [01980]: and it came to pass, as he met [06298] them, he said [0559] unto them, Come [0935] to Gedaliah [01436] the son [01121] of Ahikam [0296].

¹⁵ Then Johanan [03110] the son [01121] of Kareah [07143] spake [0559] to Gedaliah [01436] in Mizpah [04709] secretly [05643], saying [0559], Let me go [03212], I pray thee, and I will slay [05221] Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418], and no man [0376] shall know [03045] it: wherefore should he slay [05221] [05315] thee, that all the Jews [03064] which are gathered [06908] unto thee should be scattered [06327], and the remnant [07611] in Judah [03063] perish [06]?

¹⁰ And the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] slew [07819] the sons [01121] of Zedekiah [06667] before his eyes [05869]: he slew [07819] also all the princes [08269] of Judah [03063] in Riblah [07247].

²³ And when all the captains [08269] of the armies [02428], they and their men [0582], heard [08085] that the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] had made Gedaliah [01436] governor [06485], there came [0935] to Gedaliah [01436] to Mizpah [04709], even Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418], and Johanan [03110] the son [01121] of Careah [07143], and Seraiah [08304] the son [01121] of Tanhumeth [08576] the Netophathite [05200], and Jaazaniah [02970] the son [01121] of a Maachathite [04602], they and their men [0582].

²² Then went [03212] he also to Ramah [07414], and came [0935] to a great [01419] well [0953] that is in Sechu [07906]: and he asked [07592] and said [0559], Where [0375] are Samuel [08050] and David [01732]? And one said [0559], Behold, they be at Naioth [05121] in Ramah [07414].

²³ He wandereth abroad [05074] for bread [03899], saying, Where is it? he knoweth [03045] that the day [03117] of darkness [02822] is ready [03559] at his hand [03027].

²³ Whatsoever [03606] is commanded by [02941] [04481] the God [0426] of heaven [08065], let it be diligently [0149] done [05648] for the house [01005] of the God [0426] of heaven [08065]: for [01768] why [04101] should there be [01934] wrath [07109] against [05922] the realm [04437] of the king [04430] and his sons [01123]?

² And Samuel [08050] said [0559], How can I go [03212]? if Saul [07586] hear [08085] it, he will kill [02026] me. And the LORD [03068] said [0559], Take [03947] an heifer [01241] [05697] with thee [03027], and say [0559], I am come [0935] to sacrifice [02076] to the LORD [03068].

³⁴ And Saul [07586] said [0559], Disperse [06327] yourselves among the people [05971], and say [0559] unto them, Bring me hither [05066] every man [0376] his ox [07794], and every man [0376] his sheep [07716], and slay [07819] them here, and eat [0398]; and sin [02398] not against the LORD [03068] in eating [0398] with the blood [01818]. And all the people [05971] brought [05066] every man [0376] his ox [07794] with him [03027] that night [03915], and slew [07819] them there.

⁷ And it was so, when they came [0935] into the midst [08432] of the city [05892], that Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418] slew [07819] them, and cast them into the midst [08432] of the pit [0953], he, and the men [0582] that were with him.

¹⁴ And he said [0559], Take [08610] them alive [02416]. And they took [08610] them alive [02416], and slew [07819] them at the pit [0953] of the shearing house [01044], even two [08147] and forty [0705] men [0376]; neither left [07604] he any [0376] of them.

⁶ Then Asa [0609] the king [04428] took [03947] all Judah [03063]; and they carried away [05375] the stones [068] of Ramah [07414], and the timber [06086] thereof, wherewith Baasha [01201] was building [01129]; and he built [01129] therewith Geba [01387] and Mizpah [04709].

²² Then king [04428] Asa [0609] made a proclamation [08085] throughout all Judah [03063]; none was exempted [05355]: and they took [05375] away the stones [068] of Ramah [07414], and the timber [06086] thereof, wherewith Baasha [01201] had builded [01129]; and king [04428] Asa [0609] built [01129] with them Geba [01387] of Benjamin [01144], and Mizpah [04709].

¹ In the six [08337] and thirtieth [07970] year [08141] of the reign [04438] of Asa [0609] Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478] came up [05927] against Judah [03063], and built [01129] Ramah [07414], to the intent that [01115] he might let [05414] none go out [03318] or come in [0935] to Asa [0609] king [04428] of Judah [03063].
² Then Asa [0609] brought out [03318] silver [03701] and gold [02091] out of the treasures [0214] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] and of the king's [04428] house [01004], and sent [07971] to Benhadad [01130] king [04428] of Syria [0758], that dwelt [03427] at Damascus [01834], saying [0559],
³ There is a league [01285] between me and thee, as there was between my father [01] and thy father [01]: behold, I have sent [07971] thee silver [03701] and gold [02091]; go [03212], break [06565] thy league [01285] with Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478], that he may depart [05927] from me.
⁴ And Benhadad [01130] hearkened [08085] unto king [04428] Asa [0609], and sent [07971] the captains [08269] of his armies [02428] against the cities [05892] of Israel [03478]; and they smote [05221] Ijon [05859], and Dan [01835], and Abelmaim [066], and all the store [04543] cities [05892] of Naphtali [05321].
⁵ And it came to pass, when Baasha [01201] heard [08085] it, that he left off [02308] building [01129] of Ramah [07414], and let his work [04399] cease [07673].
⁶ Then Asa [0609] the king [04428] took [03947] all Judah [03063]; and they carried away [05375] the stones [068] of Ramah [07414], and the timber [06086] thereof, wherewith Baasha [01201] was building [01129]; and he built [01129] therewith Geba [01387] and Mizpah [04709].

¹⁶ And there was war [04421] between Asa [0609] and Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478] all their days [03117].
¹⁷ And Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478] went up [05927] against Judah [03063], and built [01129] Ramah [07414], that he might not suffer [05414] any to go out [03318] or come in [0935] to Asa [0609] king [04428] of Judah [03063].
¹⁸ Then Asa [0609] took [03947] all the silver [03701] and the gold [02091] that were left [03498] in the treasures [0214] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], and the treasures [0214] of the king's [04428] house [01004], and delivered [05414] them into the hand [03027] of his servants [05650]: and king [04428] Asa [0609] sent [07971] them to Benhadad [01130], the son [01121] of Tabrimon [02886], the son [01121] of Hezion [02383], king [04428] of Syria [0758], that dwelt [03427] at Damascus [01834], saying [0559],
¹⁹ There is a league [01285] between me and thee, and between my father [01] and thy father [01]: behold, I have sent [07971] unto thee a present [07810] of silver [03701] and gold [02091]; come [03212] and break [06565] thy league [01285] with Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478], that he may depart [05927] from me.
²⁰ So Benhadad [01130] hearkened [08085] unto king [04428] Asa [0609], and sent [07971] the captains [08269] of the hosts [02428] which he had against the cities [05892] of Israel [03478], and smote [05221] Ijon [05859], and Dan [01835], and Abelbethmaachah [062], and all Cinneroth [03672], with all the land [0776] of Naphtali [05321].
²¹ And it came to pass, when Baasha [01201] heard [08085] thereof, that he left off [02308] building [01129] of Ramah [07414], and dwelt [03427] in Tirzah [08656].
²² Then king [04428] Asa [0609] made a proclamation [08085] throughout all Judah [03063]; none was exempted [05355]: and they took [05375] away the stones [068] of Ramah [07414], and the timber [06086] thereof, wherewith Baasha [01201] had builded [01129]; and king [04428] Asa [0609] built [01129] with them Geba [01387] of Benjamin [01144], and Mizpah [04709].

⁹ Now the pit [0953] wherein Ishmael [03458] had cast [07993] all the dead bodies [06297] of the men [0582], whom he had slain [05221] because [03027] of Gedaliah [01436], was it which Asa [0609] the king [04428] had made [06213] for fear [06440] of Baasha [01201] king [04428] of Israel [03478]: and Ishmael [03458] the son [01121] of Nethaniah [05418] filled [04390] it with them that were slain [02491].