CHAPTER XXXIX

GEDALIAH (B.C. 586) 465

Sad parting from the exiles--The wail at Ramah--Gedaliah's appointment as satrap perhaps due to Jeremiah--Desolation of Jerusalem--The seat of government removed to Mizpah--A respite and a gleam of hope--Guerilla bands--Johanan warns Gedaliah against Ishmael--Unsuspecting generosity of the governor--He receives Ishmael and his confederates with hospitality--He is brutally murdered--Massacre of the pilgrims from Shiloh--The horrible well--Johanan pursues Ishmael--His escape--Proposal to migrate to Egypt--Jeremiah consulted--His advice refused--Prophecy of Jeremiah at the khan of Chimham--Kindness shown by Evil-Merodach to Jehoiachin.

EPILOGUE 477

The interest of the preceding history and the great moral lessons which it involves--The central conceptions of Hebrew prophecy--The end of the whole matter.

APPENDIX I

THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA, AND SOME OF THEIR INSCRIPTIONS 487

APPENDIX II

INSCRIPTION IN THE TUNNEL OF THE POOL OF SILOAM 493

APPENDIX III

WAS THERE A GOLDEN CALF AT DAN? 494

APPENDIX IV

DATES OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH, AS GIVEN BY KITTEL AND OTHER MODERN CRITICS 495

THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS

"Theories of inspiration which impaginate the Everlasting Spirit, and make each verse a cluster of objectless and mechanical miracles, are not seriously believed by any one: the Bible itself abides in its endless power and unexhausted truth. All that is not of asbestos is being burned away by the restless fires of thought and criticism. That which remains is enough, and it is indestructible."--BISHOP OF DERRY.