2 Samuel 4
New American Standard Bible
Ish-bosheth Murdered
4 Now when [a]Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that (A)Abner had died in Hebron, [b](B)his courage failed, and all Israel was horrified. 2 And Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of troops: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for (C)Beeroth is also considered (D)part of Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to (E)Gittaim and have lived there as strangers until this day).
4 Now (F)Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was disabled in both feet. He was five years old when the (G)news of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse picked him up and fled. But it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and could no longer walk. And his name was [c](H)Mephibosheth.
5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of (I)Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while he was taking his midday rest. 6 [d]And they came to the interior of the house as if [e]to get wheat, and (J)they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. 7 Now when they had come into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him, and they beheaded him. And they took his head and [f](K)traveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth (L)the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; so the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his [g]descendants.”
9 But David replied to Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, (M)who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 (N)when the one who informed me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ also [h]viewed himself as the bearer of good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now (O)require his blood from your hands and eliminate you both from the earth?” 12 Then (P)David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet, and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth (Q)and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 4:1 As in some mss; MT he
- 2 Samuel 4:1 Lit his hands dropped
- 2 Samuel 4:4 In 1 Chr 8:34 and 9:40, Merib-baal
- 2 Samuel 4:6 Lit And here they
- 2 Samuel 4:6 Lit takers of wheat
- 2 Samuel 4:7 Lit went
- 2 Samuel 4:8 Lit seed
- 2 Samuel 4:10 Lit was as a bearer of good news in his own eyes
2 Samuel 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ishbaal Assassinated
4 When Saul’s son Ishbaal[a] heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.(A) 2 Saul’s son had two captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other was Rechab. They were sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth, for Beeroth is considered to belong to Benjamin.(B) 3 (Now the people of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim and are there as resident aliens to this day.)(C)
4 Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, and in her haste to flee it happened that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.(D)
5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ishbaal[b] while he was taking his noonday rest.(E) 6 They came inside the house as though to take wheat,[c] and they struck him in the stomach; then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.(F) 7 Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night long. 8 They brought the head of Ishbaal[d] to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbaal[e] son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life; the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”(G)
9 David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,(H) 10 when the one who told me, ‘See, Saul is dead,’ thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag—this was the reward I gave him for his news.(I) 11 How much more, then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”(J) 12 So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron. But the head of Ishbaal[f] they took and buried in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.(K)
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.