Judah had been captured, Jerusalem ruined, and Gedaliah son of Ahikam had been appointed as governor over the land. Gedaliah wanted peace for the people and constantly negotiated for their welfare peacefully submitting to Babylon. However, as he was traveling among the towns of Judah, he was murdered by one of his friends, Ishmael. This led to more and more chaos as Johanan killed Ishmael in revenge and the remnant of Judah was faced with a choice, flee to Egypt or stay and submit to Babylon.