1 Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed. 2 Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin, 3 because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have lived there as foreigners to this day. 4 And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. 5 Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap. 6 They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away. 7 They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed, and having stabbed and killed him, they beheaded him, took his head, and traveled all night by way of the Arabah. 8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.” 9 But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news! 11 How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!” 12 So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
2 Samuel · Majority Standard Bible
2 Samuel 4 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Baanah
A leader of raiding parties under Ish-bosheth who, with his brother Rechab, stabbed Ish-bosheth in his bed and brought his head to David, and whom David had killed.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 4:2; 2 Samuel 4:5; 2 Samuel 4:6
David
The shepherd who became Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16 - 1 Kings 2; 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6
Ish-bosheth
Saul's son who briefly reigned over the northern tribes in rivalry with David.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 2:8-10; 2 Samuel 4
Mephibosheth
Jonathan's son, lamed as a child, whom David honored at his own table for his father's sake.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 9
Rechab
A leader of raiding parties under Ish-bosheth who, with his brother Baanah, stabbed Ish-bosheth in his bed and brought his head to David, and whom David had killed.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 4:2; 2 Samuel 4:5; 2 Samuel 4:6
Rimmon
A Beerothite of the tribe of Benjamin, named as the father of Baanah and Rechab, who murdered Ish-bosheth.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 4:2; 2 Samuel 4:9
Cross references (12)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezra 4:4; Isaiah 13:7; Jeremiah 6:24; 2 Samuel 17:2; Isaiah 35:3
- 2 Joshua 18:25; Joshua 9:17; 2 Samuel 3:22; 2 Kings 5:2; 2 Kings 6:23
- 3 Nehemiah 11:33; 1 Samuel 31:7
- 4 2 Samuel 9:3; 2 Samuel 9:6; 1 Chronicles 9:40; 1 Samuel 29:11; 1 Chronicles 8:34
- 5 Proverbs 24:33–34; 1 Thessalonians 5:3–7; 2 Samuel 11:2; 2 Samuel 2:8; 1 Kings 16:9
- 6 2 Samuel 2:23; 2 Samuel 20:10; 2 Samuel 3:27
- 7 Mark 6:28–29; 1 Samuel 31:9; 2 Samuel 2:29; 1 Samuel 17:54; 2 Kings 10:6–7
- 8 1 Samuel 25:29; 2 Samuel 22:48; 1 Samuel 20:1; 1 Samuel 24:4; 1 Samuel 19:15
- 9 1 Kings 1:29; Genesis 48:16; Psalm 107:2; Psalm 34:6–7; Psalm 103:4
- 10 2 Samuel 1:2–16
- 11 Psalm 9:12; Proverbs 2:22; Genesis 9:5–6; Numbers 35:31–34; Habakkuk 1:4
- 12 2 Samuel 3:32; 2 Samuel 1:15; Psalm 55:23; 2 Samuel 21:9; Deuteronomy 21:22–23
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences