* 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.
6-8
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