2 Samuel 4

CHAPTER 4

Ish-Bosheth Murdered (1:1–12)

1–3 When word of Abner’s death reached Ish-Bosheth, he lost courage; he knew how dependent he was on Abner. Furthermore, all Israel (the northern tribes) became alarmed (verse 1), because there was now no strong leader in the north; the possibility of chaos and anarchy was great. Indeed, two of Ish-Bosheth’s men, Baanah and Recab, decided to take advantage of the situation and murder their king, hoping thereby to gain favor with David (verse 2). With Ish-Bosheth dead, David would then be free to become king of Israel.

4 The writer here inserts a comment about Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and one of the few surviving descendants of Saul (see 2 Samuel 9:1–13). Mephibosheth is mentioned here to show that there was no one able to take Ish-Bosheth’s place. Mephibosheth was only five when Saul died and therefore about twelve when Ish-Bosheth died; furthermore, he was lame in both feet.¹¹

5–8 In these verses the writer describes the murder of Ish-Bosheth. The two murderers cut off Ish-Bosheth’s head so that they would have some proof to show David that they had done the deed. The murder took place in Mahanaim, Ish-Bosheth’s capital east of the Jordan (2 Samuel 2:8); so the murderers had to cross back by way of the Arabah (the Jordan River valley) in order to meet David in Hebron (verse 7). They justified their murder by telling David that the LORD had avenged him against Saul and his offspring (verse 8), because Saul had for so long sought to kill David.

9–12 Just as David had put to death the Amalekite for saying he had killed Saul (2 Samuel 1:1–16), so he put to death these two murderers. Like the Amalekite, the murderers had made a great blunder in thinking they would get a reward from David. A “reward” they got, but not as they expected! David told them, “I will demand his (Ish-Bosheth’s) blood from your hand” (verse 11)—a way of saying, “I sentence you to death.” The murderers were then executed and their hands and feet were cut off—the hands that carried out the murder and the feet that carried the news to David. Their bodies were hung up in public so that all would know that David had not sanctioned Ish-Bosheth’s murder but instead had severely punished his murderers.

The murder of Ish-Bosheth, however, did open the way for David to become king over all Israel, as we shall see in the next chapter.