- 2 Samuel
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4
1 When Ishbosheth,* Both here and in verse 2, Ishbosheth is simply referred to as “son of Saul.” His name is not given. son of Saul, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very discouraged,† “He was very discouraged”: literally, “his hands hung limply.” and everyone in Israel was shocked.
2 Ishbosheth had two commanders of his raiding bands, brothers by the name of Baanah and Rechab. They were the sons of Rimmon of the tribe of Benjamin from the town of Beeroth. Beeroth is considered part of the territory of Benjamin, 3 because the people who had lived in Beeroth before ran away to Gittaim and lived there as foreigners right up to the present.
4 Jonathan, son of Saul, had a son lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about the deaths of Saul and Jonathan had come from Jezreel. His nurse had picked him up and ran away, but as she rushed to get away, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.‡ Mephibosheth. His name is given as “Meribaal” in 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 1 Chronicles 9:40. The name here reflects the writer's reluctance to use the name of a pagan god in the name of one of the kings of Israel. See footnote to 2:8.
5 Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ishbosheth's house, arriving in the heat of the day as the king was taking his midday rest. 6 The woman doorkeeper had been cleaning wheat, but she had grown tired and fallen asleep, so Rechab and Baanah were able to slip inside.§ There are a number of issues with this verse. Here this translation follows the Septuagint. The Hebrew text says, “They went inside the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the belly. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped out.” Sadly this verse is not extant in any of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 7 They had gone into the house while Ishbosheth was asleep on his bed in his bedroom. After stabbing and killing him, they cut off his head which they took with them, and they traveled all night by the Jordan Valley road.
8 They took the head of Ishbosheth to David in Hebron. They told the king, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, son of Saul, your enemy who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has taken revenge on Saul and his family for my lord the king.”
9 But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, “As the Lord lives, who has saved me from all my troubles, 10 when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead’ and he thought he was bringing me good news, I grabbed him and had him put him to death at Ziklag. That was what he got for bringing me his news! 11 Even more so then, when evil men kill a good man in his own house, and in his own bed, shouldn't I demand you pay for his life with your own lives, and exterminate you!”
12 David gave the order to his men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They chopped off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's grave in Hebron.

- 2 Samuel
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*4:1 Both here and in verse 2, Ishbosheth is simply referred to as “son of Saul.” His name is not given.

†4:1 “He was very discouraged”: literally, “his hands hung limply.”

‡4:4 Mephibosheth. His name is given as “Meribaal” in 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 1 Chronicles 9:40. The name here reflects the writer's reluctance to use the name of a pagan god in the name of one of the kings of Israel. See footnote to 2:8.

§4:6 There are a number of issues with this verse. Here this translation follows the Septuagint. The Hebrew text says, “They went inside the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the belly. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped out.” Sadly this verse is not extant in any of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher