Together with a number of other such captains, Ishmael emerges from the surrounding open country (Jeremiah 40:7) and makes his way to Mizpah, a city in Benjamin, after Gedaliah is appointed governor.
Although the forces were likely to have been those dispersed by the Babylonian army after the fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:5), it is possible that these ‘captains’ had become local warlords or heads of semi-autonomous militia during the intervening period.
When his warning is ignored, he urges Gedaliah, in ‘private talks’ (Jeremiah 40:15-16), to let him kill Ishmael - a request the governor refuses, believing the rumours to be a lie.
Ishmael is described as approaching Gedaliah with ten men, and striking him down while a New Year feast is in progress (2 Kings 25:25) – a gross offence against prevailing customs of hospitality at the time.
It is suspected that they spared the 10 hostages because they offer access to a secret food store suggests that the rural economy has still not recovered following the Babylonian invasion, which would tend to confirm an early date.
However, Robert Carroll draws attention to the feasting at Mizpah, arguing that this suggests that a degree of productivity remained – confirmation, perhaps, that Babylon's objective in invading Judah was removal of the king rather than devastation of the land.
The writer of Jeremiah clearly crafts the account to portray this as a significant motive for Ishmael's attack, though Carroll argues that it is not Ishamel's own reason for acting.