2 Samuel 4
4
1 When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. 2Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is considered a part of Benjamin; 3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until today).
4 Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came about Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
5 The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth as he took his rest at noon. 6They came there into the middle of the house as though they would have fetched wheat, and they struck him in the body; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7Now when they came into the house as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him, killed him, beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night. 8They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! The LORD has avenged my lord the king today of Saul and of his offspring.#4:8 or, seed”
9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 10when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he brought good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?” 12David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.
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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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