2 Samuel 4:8

8 They brought Ishbosheth's head to David at Hebron. "Here is the head of Ishbosheth," they told the king, "the son of Saul your enemy, who wanted you dead. Today the LORD has avenged our master the king on Saul and his descendants."

2 Samuel 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 4:8

And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron,
&c.] Supposing it would have been a very acceptable present to him:

and said to the king, behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul
thine enemy, which sought thy life;
all which, his relation to Saul, his enmity to David, and his designs upon his life, are artfully put together to raise the indignation of David against him, and make their present of his head to him the more agreeable:

and the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and of his
seed;
for all the evils and injuries they had done him; this being the last of the sons of Saul by a lawful wife, the two remaining were by a concubine; and these men impiously ascribe to the Lord what they with wicked hands had done.

2 Samuel 4:8 In-Context

6 They went straight into his house, as if getting wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.

7 They had entered the house while Ishbosheth was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed him and killed him, they cut off his head, took it, and traveled all night through the wilderness.

8 They brought Ishbosheth's head to David at Hebron. "Here is the head of Ishbosheth," they told the king, "the son of Saul your enemy, who wanted you dead. Today the LORD has avenged our master the king on Saul and his descendants."

9 David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has rescued me from all kinds of trouble," he told them,

10 "when someone told me Saul was dead back in Ziklag, thinking he was bringing good news, I grabbed him and killed him. That was the reward I gave him for his news!

Footnotes

• [a]. Or my master