2 Samuel — Chapter 4

Loading ESV text...

1Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed.

2Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin,

3because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as foreigners to this day.

4And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

5Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap.

6They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

7They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed, and having stabbed and killed him, they beheaded him, took his head, and traveled all night by way of the Arabah.

8They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

9But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,

10when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!

11How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

12So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

1And 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.

5And 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.

9And 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.

1And when [Ish-bosheth], Saul`s son, heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.

2And [Ish-bosheth], 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 the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is reckoned to Benjamin:

3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been sojourners there until this day).

4Now 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.

5And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he took his rest at noon.

6And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him in the body: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

7Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah 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, who sought thy life; and Jehovah hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

9And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As Jehovah 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, which was the reward I gave him for his tidings.

11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed, shall I not 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 beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

1When Ish Bosheth the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, and all Israel was afraid.

2Now Saul’s son had two men who were in charge of raiding units; one was named Baanah and the other Recab. They were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, who was a Benjaminite. (Beeroth is regarded as belonging to Benjamin,

3for the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as resident foreigners until the present time.)

4Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. Mephibosheth was his name.

5Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite—Recab and Baanah—went at the hottest part of the day to the home of Ish Bosheth, as he was enjoying his midday rest.

6They entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.

7They had entered the house while Ish Bosheth was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him and then cut off his head. Taking his head, they traveled on the way of the rift valley all that night.

8They brought the head of Ish Bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against Saul and his descendants!”

9David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,

10when someone told me that Saul was dead—even though he thought he was bringing good news—I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him!

11Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth?”

12So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish Bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

1When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.

2Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is considered a part of Benjamin:

3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until today).

4Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came about Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

5The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, as he took his rest at noon.

6They came there into the middle of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they struck him in the body: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

7Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him, killed him, beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night.

8They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! Yahweh has avenged my lord the king today of Saul, and of his offspring.”

9David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

10when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he brought good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?”

12David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

With Abner dead, Ish-bosheth loses heart and all Israel is troubled (v. 1). Two of his own raiding captains, Baanah and Rechab, sneak into his house at midday, kill him as he rests, and carry his head to David at Hebron expecting a reward (vv. 5-8). David reminds them how he had executed the Amalekite for merely claiming to kill Saul, then orders them executed as well, their hands and feet cut off and bodies hung by the pool at Hebron, while Ish-bosheth's head is buried in Abner's tomb (vv. 9-12). The chapter also recalls how Jonathan's son Mephibosheth was crippled as a child when his nurse fled with him after news of Saul and Jonathan's deaths (v. 4).

Authorship & Background

Author: Unknown, traditionally attributed to Nathan and Gad (1 Chronicles 29:29). Originally one book with 1 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. The book covers David's entire reign — from his lament over Saul's death to the purchase of the threshing floor for the future Temple (approximately 1010-970 BC).
Historical Context: Chapter 4 records the final collapse of Saul's house. With Abner dead (ch.3), Ish-bosheth has lost his only source of strength. Two of his own captains — Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite — murder him in his bed during his noonday rest and bring his head to David at Hebron, expecting reward. They invoke God's name: "The LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed" (v.8). But David, consistent with his treatment of the Amalekite in chapter 1, refuses to reward those who murder for political advantage. He executes them, mutilates their bodies as a public warning, and gives Ish-bosheth's head an honorable burial in Abner's tomb. The chapter also introduces Mephibosheth (v.4) — Jonathan's crippled son — who will become important in chapter 9. David's consistent principle is clear: he will not gain the throne through the murder of his rivals. God will give him the kingdom in God's way and God's time. Those who try to "help" God by eliminating David's enemies find that David considers them criminals, not allies.
Classification: Historical Narrative
Key Themes: Hands growing feeble the moment the one man propping up a puppet kingdom is gone, two captains sneaking in during the heat of the day pretending to fetch wheat before murdering a king in his own bed, God's name invoked to frame an assassination as justice rather than crime, David tracing the same precedent from the Amalekite of chapter one to condemn men who thought murder would earn them a reward, and an innocent man called righteous not for his character but for having done nothing to deserve his death
Ish-bosheth's Collapse (vv.1-4): When Ish-bosheth hears of Abner's death, "his hands were feeble" (KJV) / "his courage failed" (ESV) — Hebrew literally "his hands dropped." Without Abner, Ish-bosheth has no military power, no political support, and no personal strength. All Israel is "troubled" / "dismayed." The narrator then introduces two captains of raiding bands — Rechab and Baanah — Benjamites from Beeroth. A parenthetical note explains that the Beerothites fled to Gittaim (their current status as sojourners). Verse 4 introduces Mephibosheth — Jonathan's son, crippled at age five when his nurse dropped him while fleeing after the news of Gilboa. This detail seems parenthetical but is strategically placed: with Ish-bosheth about to die, Mephibosheth is the last surviving heir of Saul's house — and he is helpless. The house of Saul has no one left who can challenge David.
The Murder (vv.5-8): Rechab and Baanah come to Ish-bosheth's house during the heat of the day — siesta time. They enter "as though they would have fetched wheat" (KJV) — pretending to be on routine business. They find Ish-bosheth sleeping on his bed and stab him in the abdomen, behead him, and flee through the Arabah (Jordan Valley) all night to reach David at Hebron. Their speech to David is calculated: they call Saul David's "enemy, which sought thy life" and claim "the LORD hath avenged my lord the king." They frame murder as divine justice and expect David to see it the same way. They have completely misread David's character.
David's Justice (vv.9-12): David's response echoes chapter 1. He swears by "the LORD... who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity" — God is his deliverer, not human assassins. He cites the precedent of the Amalekite: that man thought he brought good news of Saul's death and was executed for it. "How much more," David argues, "when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed?" David calls Ish-bosheth "righteous" — not in an absolute moral sense, but in the sense that he was innocent of any crime deserving death. He was murdered in his sleep by his own men. David commands their execution, and their hands and feet are cut off (the instruments of their crime — hands that killed, feet that carried them to the deed) and displayed publicly at the pool of Hebron. Ish-bosheth's head is buried honorably in Abner's tomb — David treats even his dead rival with dignity.

Map & Geography

  • Mahanaim to Hebron: The murderers of Ish-bosheth travel from Transjordan to David's capital — a journey of about 50 miles
  • Beeroth: Hometown of the assassins Rechab and Baanah — a Gibeonite city in Benjamin's territory
  • The pool at Hebron: Where David hangs the murderers' hands and feet as a public display of justice

Places on this map

  • HebronHebron, West BankThe highest town in the Judean hills at about 3,000 feet, 19 miles south of Jerusalem. Abraham bought a burial cave here, and David reigned from it for seven years before moving north, so it carries both the patriarchal and the royal claim to the land. Wikipedia
  • Transjordanwestern JordanEverything east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea: the plateau taken before the river was crossed and settled by Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, who then spent centuries anxious about being counted out. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik emphasizes that Rechab and Baanah completely misread David's character. They assumed David would reward them for eliminating his rival, but David consistently refused to benefit from the murder of God's anointed or their descendants. Guzik also notes the introduction of Mephibosheth as a narrative setup for chapter 9's beautiful display of covenant loyalty.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Doing The Right Thing The Right Way — 2 Samuel 4:8
David Guzik

2 Samuel 2:8-4:12 | How to Inherit a Kingdom | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

2 Samuel 4 - How to Love an Enemy
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of 2 Samuel -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Remembered While Overlooked (v.4) — Mephibosheth is introduced here as crippled, orphaned, and seemingly irrelevant to the story about to unfold, but he isn't forgotten by the narrative or by God. Who in your life seems politically or socially insignificant but deserves your attention anyway?
  • Wrapping Evil in God's Name (v.8) — Rechab and Baanah call their murder of Ish-bosheth an act of the Lord's vengeance, expecting David to agree. Have you ever dressed up a self-serving choice as "what God wanted" to make it easier to live with?
  • The Same Man in Every Room (vv.9-11) — David's response to these assassins matches, almost word for word, his response to the Amalekite back in chapter 1 — he refuses to profit from anyone's murder of his rivals. Is your character consistent enough that people already know how you'll respond before you do?
  • Justice That Still Honors the Person (v.12) — David punishes the murderers but buries Ish-bosheth's head with dignity, refusing to let the guilty and the victim be treated the same. Where do you need to hold someone accountable without losing sight of their humanity?