* Johanan.
   Johanan and his companions seem to have acted honestly in this
   affair.  They had received intelligence of designs formed
   against Gedaliah's life, and consequently against the whole
   new settlement.  Ishmael, being a branch of David's family,
   was probably displeased that another was preferred above him;
   and the king of the Ammonites, out of hatred to the Jews,
   employed him to slay Gedaliah.  But Gedaliah, conscious of his
   own integrity and benevolence, took the portrait of others
   from his own mind; and therefore believed evil of no man,
   because he felt none towards any in his own breast.  He may be
   reproached for being too credulous and confiding; but this
   only serves to shew the greatness of his soul; for a little
   mind is always suspicious, and ready to believe the worst of
   every person and thing.

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