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2 Samuel 4
Lexham English Bible

Ish-Bosheth is Assassinated

4 When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed[a] and all of Israel was horrified. 2 Two of the men, commanders of the raiding bands, were for the son of Saul. The name of one was Baanah, and the name of the other was Recab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the descendants[b] of Benjamin; also, Beeroth was regarded as belonging to Benjamin. 3 The Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and they are resident aliens there until this day. 4 (Now Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who was crippled in the feet. He was five years old when the message of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse had picked him up and fled. It happened that as she was hurrying away to flee, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.) 5 When the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, set out, they came at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth while he was taking a noontime rest.[c] 6 They came as far as the middle of the house as if takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 When they had come into the house, he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber,[d] and they attacked him and killed him. Then they beheaded him,[e] and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night. 8 They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring.” 9 Then David answered Recab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and he said to them, “As Yahweh lives,[f] who redeemed my soul from all trouble, 10 when the one who told me, “Look, Saul is dead,” thought that he was bringing good news,[g] I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was as my giving the news back to him. 11 How much more[h] when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?” 12 Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung them at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 4:1 Literally “his hands hung limp”
  2. 2 Samuel 4:2 Or “sons”
  3. 2 Samuel 4:5 Literally “he was lying with the bed at noon”
  4. 2 Samuel 4:7 Literally “in the room of his lying”
  5. 2 Samuel 4:7 Literally “they took away his head”
  6. 2 Samuel 4:9 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
  7. 2 Samuel 4:10 Literally “and he was as one bringing good news in his eyes”
  8. 2 Samuel 4:11 Literally “Also”
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2 Samuel 4
International Standard Version

The Murder of Ish-bosheth

4 When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage[a] failed and all of Israel was disturbed. 2 Now Saul’s son had two officers in charge of some raiding parties. One was named Baanah and the other was named Rechab. They were sons of Rimmon, a descendant of Benjamin from Beeroth, which was considered to belong to the tribe of[b] Benjamin. 3 (The residents of Beeroth had evacuated to Gittaim and live there as resident aliens to this day.)

4 Meanwhile, Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. When he was five years old, news had arrived about Saul and Jonathan from Jezreel, and his nurse picked him up to flee, but in her hurry to leave, he happened to fall and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.[c]

5 Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, left and arrived during the hottest part of the day at the home of Ish-bosheth while he was taking a noon day nap. 6 They entered the house as though they intended to obtain some grain and stabbed him in the abdomen. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. 7 While they were in the house, they struck him, killed him, and cut off his head while he was lying on his bed in his bedroom. They took his head, and traveled all night along the Arabah road.

David Punishes the Killers of Ish-bosheth

8 They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and told the king, “Look! Here’s the head of your enemy Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, who sought your life. Today the Lord has given your majesty the king vengeance on Saul and his descendants.”[d]

9 David responded to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite: “As the Lord lives, who has saved my life in every adversity, 10 when the man who told me ‘Look! Saul is dead!’ thought he was bringing me good news, I arrested him and had him killed at Ziklag as the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much worse will it be, then, when evil men kill an innocent man on his own bed in his own house! Shouldn’t I avenge his blood—which you are responsible for shedding[e]—by removing you from the earth?” 12 So David commanded his personal guards,[f] and they killed Rechab and Baanah,[g] cut off their hands and feet, and hung up their bodies beside the pool at Hebron. They took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 4:1 Lit. hands
  2. 2 Samuel 4:2 The Heb. lacks the tribe of
  3. 2 Samuel 4:4 Cf. 1Chr 8:34; 9:40, where his name is recorded as Merib-baal
  4. 2 Samuel 4:8 Lit. seed
  5. 2 Samuel 4:11 Lit. blood from your hand
  6. 2 Samuel 4:12 Lit. his young men
  7. 2 Samuel 4:12 Lit. killed them
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