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Context No. 859 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 4:1-12: in context

1When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. 2Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is considered a part of Benjamin; 3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until today). 4Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came about Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. 5The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth as he took his rest at noon. 6They came there into the middle of the house as though they would have fetched wheat, and they struck him in the body; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7Now when they came into the house as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him, killed him, beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night. 8They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! The LORD has avenged my lord the king today of Saul and of his offspring.” 9David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 10when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he brought good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?” 12David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.

With Abner dead, Saul's son Ish-bosheth, David's last rival for the throne, loses his nerve, and two of his own officers see an opportunity. Rechab and Baanah slip into his house at noon, murder him as he rests on his bed, cut off his head, and carry it through the night to David at Hebron. They expect to be rewarded. Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, your enemy who sought your life, they announce; the LORD has avenged my lord the king today on Saul and his offspring. In their minds they have done David a great favor, removing the last obstacle between him and the crown, and surely he will pay them well for it.

They have badly misjudged their man. David is horrified. He reminds them of what he did to the messenger who once brought him news of Saul's death expecting a reward; he had that man executed. How much more, David says, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house, on his own bed, shall I not require his blood from your hand? And he has the two assassins put to death. David will not take his throne this way. He refuses to accept the advantage handed to him by someone else's murder, even an advantage that clears his path to a crown God has already promised him. He would rather wait for the kingdom than seize it on the back of a crime committed on his behalf, and he punishes those who assumed he would be glad of it. His rise would not be built on assassination, however convenient.

David refused the throne handed to him by murder, and punished the men who thought they were doing him a favor. Am I willing to reject an advantage gained for me by someone else's wrong, even when it would clear my path to something I want?

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