Forced to Go to Egypt: The remnant in Judah is now faced with a hard decision. Should they stay in Judah and perhaps face an angry Nebuchadnezzar or should they flee to Egypt?

41:16–18 By virtue of the murder of Gedaliah and his own defeat of Ishmael, Johanan found himself as the de facto leader of the remnant of Judah. His first reaction was to take them all away from Judah and go to Egypt in order to find safe haven. The remnant is described as the soldiers, women, children and court officials. Johanan reasonably expected that Nebuchadnezzar would mobilize his army to punish those who had overrun his garrison and decimated his provincial government by killing Gedaliah. On the way, the Judeans stopped at a site named Geruth Kimham, noted only here in the Bible, where it says it was near th…