2 Samuel 4:7

7 When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

2 Samuel 4:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 4:7

For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his
bedchamber
This is repeated to give a more particular account of the murder; though Abarbinel thinks they went in twice; when they went in first they smote him under the fifth rib, and made their escape; but fearing they had not left him dead, they returned, and did as follows:

and they smote him, and slew him;
so that it was out of all doubt with them that he was dead:

and beheaded him;
to make sure work of it:

and took his head;
along with them, perhaps in one of the sacks they had to fetch wheat in, and so passed undiscovered, to carry to David, to curry favour with him:

and gat them away through the plain all night;
through the plain of Jordan; all the way from Mahanaim to Hebron being for the most part a plain country till they came to Hebron, which was mountainous; the way from Mahanaim to Hebron was a space of sixty eight miles, according to Bunting ^F26.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Travels, p. 145, 148.

2 Samuel 4:7 In-Context

5 When the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, set out, they came at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth while {he [was] taking a noontime rest}.

6 They came as far as the middle of the house [as if] takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped.

7 When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

8 They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, "Here [is] the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring."

9 Then David answered Recab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and he said to them, "{As Yahweh lives}, who redeemed my soul from all trouble,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "in the room of his lying"
• [b] Literally "they took away his head"