Baalis

Divided Kingdom Ammon · H1185
Old Testament

Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, sent Ishmael to assassinate Gedaliah the governor.

Baalis was the king of the Ammonites who, according to Jeremiah 40:14, conspired to assassinate Gedaliah, the governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar over the remnant population left in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem. He sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah as his agent to carry out the plot. When Gedaliah was warned by Johanan, he refused to believe the report, and Ishmael subsequently murdered him—an act that shattered the fragile post-conquest community in Judah and drove many survivors to flee to Egypt.