2 Samuel 4

2Sa 4:1, 2.

BAANAH AND

RECHAB

SLAY

ISH-BOSHETH, AND

BRING

HIS

HEAD TO

HEBRON.

4. Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet--This is

mentioned as a reason why, according to Oriental notions, he was

considered unfit for exercising the duties of sovereignty.

5, 6. Rechab and Baanah went and came about the heat of the day to the

house of Ish-bosheth, &c.--It is still a custom in the East to allow

their soldiers a certain quantity of corn, together with some pay; and

these two captains very naturally went to the palace the day before to

fetch wheat, in order to distribute it to the soldiers, that it might

be sent to the mill at the accustomed hour in the morning.

7. when they came into the house, he lay on his bed--Rechab and Baanah

came in the heat of the day, when they knew that Ish-bosheth, their

master, would be resting on his divan; and as it was necessary, for the

reason just given, to have the corn the day before it was needed, their

coming at that time, though it might be a little earlier than usual,

created no suspicion, and attracted no notice [HARMER].

gat them away through the plain--that is, the valley of the Jordan,

through which their way lay from Mahanaim to Hebron.

8. They brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David . . . and said,

Behold the head of Ish-bosheth--Such bloody trophies of rebels and

conspirators have always been acceptable to princes in the East, and

the carriers have been liberally rewarded. Ish-bosheth being a usurper,

the two assassins thought they were doing a meritorious service to

David by removing the only existing obstacle to the union of the two

kingdoms.

2Sa 4:10-12.

DAVID

CAUSES

THEM TO

BE

PUT TO

DEATH.

12. slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet--as the

instruments in perpetrating their crime. The exposure of the mutilated

remains was intended as not only a punishment of their crime, but also

the attestation of David's abhorrence.