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2 Samuel 4

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Collapse of Saul's Dynasty 1–4

1
And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. ​
2
And Saul's son had two men that were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin: ​
3
And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.) ​
4
And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. ​

The Assassination of Ishbosheth 5–8

5
And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
6
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. ​
7
For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them away through the plain all night.
8
And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed. ​

David Executes the Murderers 9–12

9
And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, ​
10
When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings: ​
11
How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? ​
12
And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Samuel 4

Verse 1

his hands were feeble — Raphah, to slacken, the word for hands that drop when courage goes (Isa 13:7; Jer 6:24; 50:43). ‘Troubled’ is bahal, to be dismayed. 2 Sam 3:1 had said the house of Saul ‘waxed weaker and weaker’, and here the weakness shows in ‘Saul’s son’ himself, Ishbosheth, who is named in v.5.

Verse 2

captains of bands — Sar gedud, commanders of raiding companies, the gedud of 1 Sam 30:8. Baanah and Rechab are sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, one of the four Gibeonite cities (Josh 9:17), and the parenthesis explains that ‘Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin’ (Josh 18:25), so they are of Saul’s own tribe.

Verse 3

the Beerothites fled to Gittaim — The verse gives no reason for the flight. The Beerothites ‘were sojourners there’ (gur, to live as resident aliens) ‘until this day’. Gittaim appears among the towns of Benjamin in Neh 11:33. 2 Sam 21:1–2 records that Saul had ‘sought to slay’ the Gibeonites, though the text does not connect it with this.

Verse 4

lame of his feet — The verse says how: Jonathan’s son was five years old when the news came from Jezreel, and he fell as his nurse fled. ‘Lame’ is nakeh, struck, of the feet. He is called Meribbaal in 1 Chr 8:34. David later seeks him out ‘that I may shew the kindness of God unto him’ (2 Sam 9:3), as he had bound himself to Jonathan (1 Sam 20:14–15).

Verse 6

as though they would have fetched wheat — They come into ‘the midst of the house’ on the pretext of taking wheat (chittah), when Ishbosheth lay ‘on a bed at noon’ (v.5). They ‘smote him under the fifth rib’, the stroke that killed Asahel (2 Sam 2:23) and Abner (2 Sam 3:27), and later Amasa (2 Sam 20:10). Then ‘Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped’.

Verse 8

the LORD hath avenged my lord the king — The brothers use David’s own words. ‘Avenged’ is neqamah, from the root of ‘the LORD avenge me of thee’ (naqam, 1 Sam 24:12), and ‘sought thy life’ (baqash nephesh) is the phrase Abigail used (1 Sam 25:29). They bring the head as proof, and they give the LORD’s name to their act.

Verse 9

who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity — Padah, to ransom, rescue by payment. David swears by the LORD as the one who has delivered him, and uses the same oath, ‘As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress’, at Solomon’s anointing (1 Kgs 1:29). The oath is the ground of the sentence that follows in vv.10–11.

Verse 10

a reward for his tidings — David points back to the Amalekite who reported Saul’s death at Ziklag and was put to death on his own words: ‘Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee’ (2 Sam 1:16). ‘Tidings’ is besorah, a word that can mean the reward for good news as well as the news. He ‘thought’ he brought good tidings.

Verse 11

a righteous person in his own house upon his bed — Ishbosheth is called tsaddiq, righteous, and his killers ‘wicked men’ (rasha’). ‘Require’ is baqash, to seek, the verb of ‘sought thy life’ in v.8, so the claim is turned back on those who made it. The law behind the sentence is Gen 9:6, ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed’.

Verse 12

cut off their hands and their feet — The bodies are hung ‘over the pool in Hebron’, where the town would see them. The head they brought is buried ‘in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron’, where David had wept (2 Sam 3:32). The same city holds both burials and the hanging, and the same command was given over the Amalekite: ‘Go near, and fall upon him’ (2 Sam 1:15).