2 Samuel 4
4
Ish-bosheth is killed
1 When Ish-bosheth#tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish-bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSama and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.” the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened,#tn Heb “his hands went slack.” and all Israel was afraid. 2 Now Saul’s son#tc The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the MT’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship. 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, 3 for the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as resident foreigners until the present time.)#tn Heb “until this day.”
4 Now 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.#tn Heb “and was lame.” Mephibosheth was his name.
5 Now 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. 6 They#tc For the MT’s וְהֵנָּה (vÿhennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Targum. entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him#tn Heb “and they struck him down.” in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.
7 They had entered#tn After the concluding disjunctive clause at the end of v. 6, the author now begins a more detailed account of the murder and its aftermath. the house while Ish-bosheth#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ish-bosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity. was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him#tn Heb “they struck him down and killed him.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys. and then cut off his head.#tn Heb “and they removed his head.” The Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate lack these words. Taking his head,#tc The Lucianic Greek recension lacks the words “his head.” they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night. 8 They 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#tn Heb “from.” Saul and his descendants!”
9 David 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, 10 when someone told me that Saul was dead – even though he thought he was bringing good news#tn Heb “and he was like a bearer of good news in his eyes.” – I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him! 11 Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept#tn Heb “on his bed.” in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove#tn See HALOT 146 s.v. II בער. Some derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to burn; to consume.” you from the earth?”
12 So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them#tn The antecedent of the pronoun “them” (which is not present in the Hebrew text, but implied) is not entirely clear. Presumably it is the corpses that were hung and not merely the detached hands and feet; cf. NIV “hung the (their NRSV, NLT) bodies”; the alternative is represented by TEV “cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up.” near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth#tc 4QSama mistakenly reads “Mephibosheth” here. and buried it in the tomb of Abner#tc The LXX adds “the son of Ner” by conformity with common phraseology elsewhere. in Hebron.#tc Some mss of the LXX lack the phrase “in Hebron.”
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1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
2 Samuel 4
4
1And when Sauls sonne heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, then his handes were feeble, and all Israel was afraide, 2And Sauls sonne had two men that were captaines of bandes: the one called Baanah, and the other called Rechab, the sonnes of Rimmon a Beerothite of the children of Beniamin. (for Beeroth was reckened to Beniamin, 3Because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and soiourned there, vnto this day). 4And Ionathan Sauls sonne had a sonne that was lame on his feete: he was fiue yere olde when the tydings came of Saul and Ionathan out of Israel: then his nourse tooke him, and fledde away. And as she made haste to flee, the childe fell, and beganne to halte, and his name was Mephibosheth. 5And the sonnes of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah went and came in the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth (who slept on a bed at noone) 6And beholde, Rechab and Baanah his brother came into the middes of the house as they would haue wheate, and they smote him vnder the fift ryb, and fled. 7For when they came into the house, he slept on his bed in his bed chamber, and they smote him, and slewe him, and beheaded him, and tooke his head, and gate them away through the plaine all the night. 8And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth vnto Dauid to Hebron, and saide to the King, Beholde the head of Ish-bosheth Sauls sonne thine enemie, who sought after thy life: and the Lord hath auenged my lorde the King this day of Saul, and of his seede. 9Then Dauid answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sonnes of Rimmon the Beerothite, and saide vnto them, As the Lord liueth, who hath deliuered my soule out of al aduersity, 10When one tolde me, and sayde that Saul was dead, (thinking to haue brought good tydings) I tooke him and slewe him in Ziklag, who thought that I woulde haue giuen him a rewarde for his tidings: 11How much more, when wicked men haue slaine a righteous person in his owne house, and vpon his bed? shall I not now therfore require his blood at your hand, and take you from the earth? 12Then Dauid commanded his yong men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feete, and hanged them vp ouer the poole in Hebron: but they tooke the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.
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