Chapter Four
Ish-bosheth Murdered
4:1 When Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.
The Hebrew text only states, “When Saul’s son heard,” it does not name Ish-bosheth specifically, but interestingly the Septuagint and the DSS name Mephibosheth here. Saul did have a son by that name whose mother was Saul’s concubine Rizpah, however, he would not likely be eligible for the throne and was later executed (see 2 Samuel 21:8). There was another Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan still alive, that would have been eligible to continue Saul’s dynasty (who is also known as Merib-baal, see 1 Chronicles 8:34; 9:40), which interestingly will be introduced in this chapter. While there is little doubt that the “Saul’s son” being referenced here in this verse is Ish-bosheth, the placement of Mephibosheth in the LXX and DSS were likely copyist errors.
4:2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; 3 the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).
Two brothers, the sons of Rimmon, a man from Beeroth, that were named Baanah and Rechab, are reported as being captains of raiding bands. Armies were often funded by the plundering of foreign settlements. The city of Beeroth was first a Gibeonite settlement, a people group who were not attacked by the Israelites due a covenant made between them and Joshua, but were later joined by the Benjamites (see Joshua 9:16-18), as the city was in the territory of Benjamin. Later, many of the Beerothites fled to Gittaim (meaning “double winepress,” but the location is unknown, some place it near Gath, which, being in Philistine occupied territory, is unlikely, although there were multiple cities named Gath) due to an invasion of the Philistines (see 1 Samuel 31:7). This sequence of events is interrupted by a brief introduction of Jonathan’s son named Mephibosheth.
4:4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
As mentioned above, Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, we are given information about his early childhood here which will later be referenced in 2 Samuel chapter nine, but it has very little relevance to this chapter, except for the fact that there was still alive a legitimate heir to the throne. When Mephibosheth was five years old and the news of Saul and Jonathan’s death along with the news of the Philistine invasion came from Jezreel (see 1 Samuel 31:1-6), his nurse fled with him, but due to her haste, she accidentally fell and apparently dropped Mephibosheth which permanently disabled him from being able to walk. That is all we are told about him, now back to Rechab and Baanah.
4:5 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 Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. 6 And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night,
These two men being captains of several men would have had access to facilities to obtain wheat grain to feed their men. Although the route to where the grain was stored would not likely require them to enter the king’s personal quarters. The fact that there were no guards around Ish-bosheth would be a failure of his. While inside the king’s house they find him sleeping and stab him in the stomach and behead him and then escaped with the head of the king apparently unnoticed, by way of the Arabah (the Jordan River valley) that night.
The Septuagint offers a slightly different perspective, “and behold, the porter of the house was cleaning wheat, and he slumbered and slept, and Rekcha and Baana, the brothers, escaped notice and entered into the house,” (2 Samuel 4:6-7a, NETS) Here we read that there was a ‘porter’ (Greek thyrōros, door keeper) on duty but while cleaning wheat he fell asleep. Some English Bibles include the Septuagint’s version (GNB, NEB, NLT), for example, the NLT reads, “The doorkeeper, who had been sifting wheat, became drowsy and fell asleep. So Recab and Baanah slipped past her.” (2 Samuel 4:6, NLT)
4:8 and 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. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”
Rechab and Baanah brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron (an approximately sixty mile trek) and told him “Look!...Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you…” (NLT) The two assassins undoubtedly thought that they deserved a reward, praise, or perhaps some form of honor. They further claim that YHWH has granted vengeance to David against Saul and his family through this assassination. But their so-called meritorious actions remind David of another person that thought they were God’s tool to render justice, and eliminate one of David’s enemies, the Amalekite that claimed to have killed Saul (see 2 Samuel 1:4-10).
4:9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10 when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.
David replies with a firm statement, that God is his protector, that YHWH has always redeemed his life out of every adversity, essentially saying he doesn’t need someone to rid him of his enemies, that’s God’s job. Then he tells them about the person who told him that Saul was dead, and that he thought he was bringing David good news, he was wrong. He told them that he seized the man and killed him in Ziklag, and that was his reward for bringing that news.
4:11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
After telling the two brothers that he had once killed a man for simply bringing him the news of Saul’s death (although that man also confessed that he killed Saul, but David doesn’t mention that here), he now tells them that “How much more…” will he now address two wicked men who killed a righteous man in his own home in his own bed? There is no reference to how David knew that they killed Ish-bosheth in bed, but asks them now, “Should he not now avenge Ish-bosheth’s blood who was killed by them, by removing them from the earth?” David then commanded his men to kill the two brothers, and to cut off their hands and feet and hang them next to the cistern at Hebron, which they did.[1] The head of Ish-bosheth was then buried in the tomb of Abner at Hebron. The public exposure of the assassin’s mutilated remains would have served as a strong statement of David’s repugnance and loathing of their actions.
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[1] The hanging without arms and feet are believed by some to be an ancient custom for those that were found guilty of treason, others believe that the arms were removed because they were used to kill Ish-bosheth and the legs cut off because they carried his head to Hebron, but all of these are speculation. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 did allow a person to be hung in a tree for crimes like this, but only for one day before the body was to be buried.