2 Samuel · chapter 4 of 24
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2 Samuel 4 tells how Saul's son Ish-bosheth loses heart after Abner's death and is murdered in his bed by two Benjamite captains, Baanah and Rechab. They bring his head to David hoping for a reward, but David has them executed for killing an innocent man. The chapter also introduces Mephibosheth, Jonathan's lame son.
With Abner dead, Saul's house is left without its pillar. 2 Samuel 4 shows the end of the rival dynasty and repeats a pattern of the book: men who think they serve David by violence, and a David who refuses to gain the throne that way. It is the last step before all Israel comes to him in 2 Samuel 5.
When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, hears that Abner died at Hebron, his courage fails, and all Israel is alarmed. Two men in his army, Baanah and Rechab, sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, of the tribe of Benjamin, lead raiding bands. The text adds that Jonathan had a son, Mephibosheth, lame in his feet: he was five years old when the news came of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and his nurse, fleeing, dropped him.
Baanah and Rechab go to Ish-bosheth's house in the heat of midday while he is taking his rest. They enter as if to fetch wheat, stab him in the belly and escape. It is a treacherous killing of a man asleep in his bed. They cut off his head and travel all night through the Jordan valley to Hebron.
They present the head to David and say that the Lord has avenged the king against Saul and his offspring. David answers with an oath by the Lord who has redeemed his life from every trouble. He recalls that the man who brought him news of Saul's death, thinking he was bringing good news, he had put to death at Ziklag. How much more now, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house and on his bed. He orders his young men to kill them, they cut off their hands and feet and hang them by the pool at Hebron. Ish-bosheth's head is buried in Abner's tomb.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The text explains that Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, became lame in his feet because his nurse dropped him as she fled when news came of Saul's death. This detail prepares 2 Samuel 9, where David will show kindness to this young man.
Baanah and Rechab present Ish-bosheth's head to David and claim that the Lord has avenged him on Saul. They use the language of faith to justify a murder, a common temptation for those who want to win favor with the powerful.
David swears by the Lord, who redeemed him from every trouble, and recalls what he did to the messenger who thought he brought good news. He reaffirms that he does not reward violence that seems to serve him, and that his trust is that God has delivered him.
David argues that if he punished the messenger who killed Saul, he must punish all the more those who killed a righteous man in his bed. For him, the worth of innocent life does not depend on who benefits.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His courage failed, and all Israel was alarmed. — 2 Samuel 4:1
Answer: Two leaders of raiding bands under Ish-bosheth, sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, of the tribe of Benjamin. — 2 Samuel 4:2
Answer: His nurse dropped him as she fled, and he became lame in his feet. — 2 Samuel 4:4
Answer: At midday, while he was taking his rest in his house. — 2 Samuel 4:5-7
Answer: He had them killed, their hands and feet were cut off and they were hung by the pool at Hebron. — 2 Samuel 4:12
Answer: In Abner's tomb, at Hebron. — 2 Samuel 4:12
Baanah and Rechab thought they were serving David and would win a reward, but their violence did not please the king. At times we think our ends justify any means, or that the success of a Christian project excuses doubtful methods. David reminds us that God does not need our shortcuts to keep his promises.
This chapter also invites us to value the life and dignity of every person, even someone who seems to be in the way. In a small group you can talk about how we care for the vulnerable and how we avoid profiting from another's fall. God is the one who redeems, and he does not need us to secure his work with deceit.
2 Samuel 4 snuffs out the last hope of Saul's house and leaves David without rivals, though with clean hands of that blood. In 2 Samuel 5, the tribes of Israel go to Hebron to acknowledge him as king, and David takes Jerusalem to make it his capital.
Because they killed an innocent man in his own house, asleep, without trial. David did not want to reach the throne through murder, and he wanted all Israel to see that he had not ordered it. He applied the same rule he used with the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul.
Because he is the only surviving descendant of Jonathan, and his disability leaves him unable to claim the throne. The detail prepares 2 Samuel 9, where David keeps his covenant with Jonathan by showing kindness to him.