2 Samuel 4:10

10 for I held him that told to me, and said, Saul is dead, which man guessed himself to tell prosperities, and I killed him in Ziklag, to whom (he thought) it behooved me (to) give meed for (his) message; (for I took hold of him who told me, and said, Saul is dead, which man thought that he told good news, and I killed him in Ziklag, yea, he who thought it behooved me to give him a reward for his message;)

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 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David, in Hebron, and they said to the king, Lo! the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, that sought thy life; and the Lord hath given today to our lord the king vengeance of Saul, and of his seed (yea, today the Lord hath avenged our lord the king upon Saul, and upon his descendants, or his family).

9 And David answered to Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, and said to them, The Lord liveth, that hath delivered my life from all anguish (As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my life from all anguish);

10 for I held him that told to me, and said, Saul is dead, which man guessed himself to tell prosperities, and I killed him in Ziklag, to whom (he thought) it behooved me (to) give meed for (his) message; (for I took hold of him who told me, and said, Saul is dead, which man thought that he told good news, and I killed him in Ziklag, yea, he who thought it behooved me to give him a reward for his message;)

11 how much more now, when wicked men have slain a guiltless man in his house upon his bed, shall I not seek his blood of your hand, and shall not I do away you from the earth? (how much more now, when you wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house on his own bed, will I not avenge his blood upon you, and shall I not do you away from the face of the earth?)

12 Therefore David commanded to his servants, and they killed them; and they cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them over the cistern in Hebron (and hung them up near the pool in Hebron). Forsooth they took the head of Ishbosheth, and they buried it in the sepulchre of Abner, in Hebron.