Verse 23
(23) The captains of the armies.—Rather, the army captains; or, the captains of the forces. They and their men had fled with the king, and dispersed themselves over the country (Jeremiah 40:7). Now they came out of hiding.
Their men.—The Hebrew text has the men, but all the versions, and Jeremiah 40:7, read rightly, their men.
Mizpah.—See 1 Kings 15:22. It was well suited to be the governor’s residence, as it lay high, and was a naturally strong position. Moreover, it was the seat of an ancient sanctuary (Judges 20:1), which might serve in some sort as a substitute for the destroyed Temple of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 41:5).
Ishmael.—Grandson of Elishama the royal secretary (2 Kings 25:25; Jeremiah 36:12; Jeremiah 36:20), and of royal blood (Jeremiah 41:1).
Johanan the son of Careah.—Jeremiah 40:8, “and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Careah.”
The Netophathite.—The words, “and the sons of Ophai,” have fallen out before this epithet (Jeremiah 40:8), and probably the names of these sons of Ophai in both passages. Netophah is mentioned in Ezra 2:22; Nehemiah 7:26. It may be Beit Nettif south-west of Jerusalem.
The son of a (the) Maachathite.—His father was an alien, and belonged to the Syrian state of Maachah (2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:8).
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