Reader Chapter

2 Shamu'al 4

2 Shamu'al chapter 4 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.

Browse 2 Shamu'al chapter index
4:1

The Assassination of Ish-bosheth and the Justice of Dawid

And when Shaul's son heard that Abner was dead in Chabrun, his hands were feeble, and all the Yashar'alites were troubled.
4:2

The Captains of Binyamiyn

And Shaul's son had two men that were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Binyamiyn: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Binyamiyn:
4:3
And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)
4:4

The Lame Heir of Yonathan

And Yonathan, Shaul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Shaul and Yonathan out of Yizreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
4:5

The Murder at Noon

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
4:6
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
4:7
For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and got them away through the plain all night.
4:8

The Trophies of Treason

And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto Dawid to Chabrun, and said to the king, "Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Shaul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 hath avenged my adun the king this day of Shaul, and of his seed."
4:9

The Righteous Verdict of the King

And Dawid answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, "As 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,"
4:10
"When one told me, saying, Behold, Shaul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:"
4:11
"How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?"
4:12

The Execution of the Assassins

And Dawid commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Chabrun. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Chabrun.