Ish-bosheth is killed
4:1 When Ish-bosheth the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, and all Israel was afraid.
Ish-bosheth had no army to protect himself from his enemies.
4:2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were in charge of raiding units; one was named Baanah and the other Recab. They were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, who was a Benjaminite. (Beeroth is regarded as belonging to Benjamin,
Baanah and Recab were fellow Benjaminites. They were from the same tribe as Saul and Ish-bosheth.
4:3 for the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as resident foreigners until the present time.)
Beeroth and Gittaim were villages that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. Mephibosheth was his name.
Mephibosheth was crippled, meaning that he was disqualified from becoming a king. He would have been only 12 years old at the time of Ish-bosheth’s death
4:5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite – Recab and Baanah – went at the hottest part of the day to the home of Ish-bosheth, as he was enjoying his midday rest.
Recab and Baanah were two assassins who wanted to take advantage of Ish-bosheth’s weakness.
4:6 They entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.
It was standard operating procedure for the military officers to receive wheat rations from the king so that they could supply their soldiers. The two assassins used this procedure of wheat gathering to assassinate a king from their own tribe.
4:7 They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him and then cut off his head. Taking his head, they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night.
Why was the king unguarded? These two assassins must have bribed the guards. This political intrigue was beginning to look like a conspiracy.
4:8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against Saul and his descendants!”
Like the Amalekite who claimed to kill King Saul, these two assassins expected a reward for killing David’s rival. Most secular kings would have praised, rejoiced, and rewarded these assassins. Secular kings would make these assassins into national heroes.
4:9 David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,
David was not impressed with the disloyalty that these men showed to King Ish-bosheth. These assassins killed a king from their own tribe.
4:10 when someone told me that Saul was dead – even though he thought he was bringing good news – I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him!
The Amalekite killed Saul and expected a large monetary reward. Instead, he was executed.
4:11 Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth?”
David considered King Ish-bosheth as an innocent man. He was the prince of Saul, who was a former king. By human standards, King Ish-bosheth had the right to be king. By heavenly standards, King Ish-shobeth should have removed himself from his monarchy position and allowed God’s anointed king to rule the nation. King Ish-bosheth’s disobedience to God cost him his life by assassination. He committed the sin unto death.
4:12 So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.
King David executed these disloyal assassins and placed them on public display.