ירמיהו, פרק מ״א, פסוק ח׳

In the midst of a brutal massacre of travelers coming from Shechem, a small group of ten men desperately tries to negotiate for their survival [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Pleading for their lives, these men offer hidden stores of grain, as it was common practice to conceal crops in secret field caches [מצודת ציון]. They promise to reveal the exact locations of these supplies so Ishmael can claim them [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

A tragic misunderstanding fuels this desperate bribe. The travelers mistakenly believe that Gedaliah ordered their execution as a punishment for journeying to the House of God. Consequently, they offer their hidden wealth assuming the bribe is actually meant for Gedaliah, hoping he will show mercy and spare them [מלבי״ם].

Commentators explore different motives behind Ishmael's decision to accept their offer and halt the execution. The most straightforward explanation is that Ishmael simply wanted to seize their valuable crops [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This choice reveals a deeply twisted moral compass, showing that he valued wheat and barley more than the lives of his fellow Israelites, having mercilessly slaughtered the rest of the group who had nothing to offer [חומת אנך].

Alternatively, his decision may have been driven by cold political calculation. By leaving these specific men alive, Ishmael hoped they would spread the false rumor that the massacre was carried out under Gedaliah's orders. This psychological manipulation was designed either to strike fear into the hearts of the survivors—making them believe Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah to murder innocent mourners—or to manipulate the public into justifying Ishmael's own assassination of Gedaliah, framing the slain leader as a ruthless mass murderer [מלבי״ם].

Ultimately, Ishmael pauses the slaughter and spares these ten men from the immediate fate of their companions, though it remains uncertain whether he truly allowed them to live in the long run [ביאור שטיינזלץ].