The big picture
Ish-bosheth, Israel's rival king, loses heart when Abner, his army chief, dies. His followers are frightened too. Two of his own captains, Baanah and Rechab, see a chance to act. They murder him and bring his head to David, king of the tribe of Judah, expecting approval. David instead calls the killing wicked and orders their deaths. A brief account of Mephibosheth, grandson of the former king Saul, also records harm caused by the royal family's flight from danger.
In this chapter
- Saul’s Household Faces Fear and Loss 2 Samuel 4:1-4
Abner's death leaves Ish-bosheth weak with fear and troubles the people of Israel.
- Two Captains Murder Their King 2 Samuel 4:5-8
Rechab and Baanah arrive while Ish-bosheth rests in his house at midday.
- The Killers Receive a Death Sentence 2 Samuel 4:9-12
David recalls how he killed the man who claimed to have slain Saul.
Central truth
The men who murder Ish-bosheth claim to help David, but he rejects their claim and punishes them for killing an innocent man.
Scripture beside the summary
2 Samuel · King James Version · 122 Samuel 4:1-4
Saul’s Household Faces Fear and Loss
Abner's death leaves Ish-bosheth weak with fear and troubles the people of Israel. Two of his captains are brothers, Baanah and Rechab, from Benjamin. Another branch of Saul's house also bears the effects of earlier disaster. Jonathan's son Mephibosheth was five when news came that Saul and Jonathan had died. His nurse fled with him in haste. He fell and was left unable to walk normally. The account names both armed officers and a child whose injury came during the family's frightened flight.
In everyday life
A school welfare worker checks a playground ramp with a child injured during his family's escape from danger. She notes where his chair catches and arranges repairs before he returns to class. His needs continue long after the adults stop discussing the crisis. Mephibosheth belongs to a royal family whose protectors have died in war.
Notice
2 Samuel 4:4 Mephibosheth's injury happens during hurried flight after news of two deaths. His lasting disability is linked to the fear surrounding the royal household.
2 Samuel 4:1-4
King James Version1And when Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
2And 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:
3And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)
4And 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.
2 Samuel 4:5-8
Two Captains Murder Their King
Rechab and Baanah arrive while Ish-bosheth rests in his house at midday. They enter as though collecting wheat, then strike him in his bedroom. They kill him, cut off his head, and carry it away through the night. At Hebron they present it to David. They say God has avenged him on Saul and Saul's descendants. That is their claim about their deed. They have killed the man they served and now seek favour from the ruler who gains from his death.
In everyday life
A warehouse supervisor brings a rival firm's stolen files to her employer. She says the theft settles an old wrong against the company. Her account presents a betrayal as loyal service. The employer has to judge the act rather than accept the claimed benefit. These captains bring a murdered man's head and claim God's vengeance.
Notice
2 Samuel 4:8 The killers describe their act as God's revenge for David. Their speech gives their defence of the murder, not David's acceptance of that defence.
2 Samuel 4:5-8
King James Version5And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
6And 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.
7For 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.
8And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth 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.
2 Samuel 4:9-12
The Killers Receive a Death Sentence
David recalls how he killed the man who claimed to have slain Saul. That messenger expected a reward, but David did not give one. These men have done worse by killing an innocent man asleep in his own house. David orders them killed. Their hands and feet are cut off, and their bodies displayed by Hebron's pool. Ish-bosheth's head is buried in Abner's tomb. David rejects profit from the murder and uses a harsh public sentence to mark his rejection.
In everyday life
An embroiderer refuses a rival's stolen design offered by her assistant at the sewing table. She returns the pattern and reports the theft, even though it would help her win a contract. A gain for her shop does not earn approval. David's response includes execution, mutilation and public display, far more severe than dismissal.
Notice
2 Samuel 4:11 David calls Ish-bosheth innocent in the setting of his murder at home. Political rivalry does not make the sleeping king's killing acceptable to him.
2 Samuel 4:9-12
King James Version9And 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,
10When 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:
11How 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?
12And 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 Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
2 Samuel 4:1 begins with “And when Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.”
Where the chapter turns
2 Samuel 4:3 forms a natural hinge: “And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)”
The final note
2 Samuel 4:12 leaves the reader with “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…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Baanah, bosheth, head, Hebron, house, Rechab help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thy
- your
- hath
- has
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
