2 Samuel 4:10

10 quoniam eum qui adnuntiaverat mihi et dixerat mortuus est Saul qui putabat se prospera nuntiare tenui et occidi in Siceleg cui oportebat me dare mercedem pro nuntio

2 Samuel 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 4:10

When one told me, saying, behold, Saul is dead
No more is related, not that he killed him, or assisted in killing him, only that he was dead; by which it appears, as Abarbinel thinks, that the Amalekite did not slay Saul, and that David did not put him to death on that account, but for what follows:

thinking to have brought good tidings;
which would have been very acceptable to David, that he would have rejoiced and exulted at it as he did; but he was mistaken; instead of that,

I took hold of him, and slew him at Ziklag;
that is, ordered one of his young men to lay hold on him, and slay him, as he did, ( 2 Samuel 1:15 ) ;

who [thought] that I would have given him a reward for his tidings;
a handsome present, as the Targum here, a gift, or raised him to some post of honour and profit.

2 Samuel 4:10 In-Context

8 et adtulerunt caput Hisboseth ad David in Hebron dixeruntque ad regem ecce caput Hisboseth filii Saul inimici tui qui quaerebat animam tuam et dedit Dominus domino meo regi ultiones hodie de Saul et de semine eius

9 respondens autem David Rechab et Baana fratri eius filiis Remmon Berothei dixit ad eos vivit Dominus qui eruit animam meam de omni angustia

10 quoniam eum qui adnuntiaverat mihi et dixerat mortuus est Saul qui putabat se prospera nuntiare tenui et occidi in Siceleg cui oportebat me dare mercedem pro nuntio

11 quanto magis nunc cum homines impii interfecerint virum innoxium in domo sua super lectulum suum non quaeram sanguinem eius de manu vestra et auferam vos de terra

12 praecepit itaque David pueris et interfecerunt eos praecidentesque manus et pedes eorum suspenderunt eos super piscinam in Hebron caput autem Hisboseth tulerunt et sepelierunt in sepulchro Abner in Hebron