Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Samuel
Chapter 4: Who Hath Redeemed My Soul Out of All Adversity
With Abner dead, the rival kingdom loses heart. Two captains murder the helpless Ishbosheth in his bed and carry his head to David, expecting a reward. But David, who will not build his throne on innocent blood, executes the assassins, confessing his trust in the God 'who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Samuel chapter 4. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 4 records the sordid murder of Ishbosheth and David's just refusal to profit from it. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Killing of Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 4:1-7)
The rival king loses heart at Abner's death, and two of his own captains murder him as he rests at noon.
They Smote Him as He Lay on His Bed
"And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. And Saul'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 Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin: And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.) And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, 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. And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. 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. 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 gat them away through the plain all night."
Word Study
"his hands were feeble," Hebrew rafu yadav (רָפוּ יָדָיו), literally "his hands dropped, went slack." When Ishbosheth heard Abner was dead, "his hands were feeble", the Hebrew pictures hands falling limp, a common idiom for loss of courage and strength. His whole cause had leaned on Abner, not on God, and when that human prop was gone, he collapsed. A kingdom built on a man falls with the man. Into this account the narrator drops a seemingly unrelated note: Jonathan had a surviving son, lame in both feet, named Mephibosheth. It is placed here deliberately, for as the house of Saul is being cut down by violence, the writer quietly reminds us that one helpless heir remains, the very one to whom David will later show astonishing covenant kindness (chapter 9). Amid the bloodshed of ambitious men, God is preserving an object of grace. The lame son who could do nothing for himself will one day eat at the king's table, a picture of grace waiting in the wings while men grasp and kill.
Explanation
The death of Abner knocks the last strength out of Ishbosheth; his hands go limp and all Israel is troubled. The narrator pauses to introduce Rechab and Baanah, two of Ishbosheth's own raiding captains, and, in an aside, the lame Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, the last real heir of Saul's line. Then the crime: the two captains slip into the house at noon, as if on ordinary business, find the king resting on his bed, and murder him, striking him "under the fifth rib" (the same phrase used of Abner and Asahel), beheading him, and fleeing all night with the head. It is a cowardly assassination of a weak and defenseless man, done not out of loyalty to David, whom they do not truly serve, but out of calculation, they mean to trade the head for a reward. The house of Saul, once so proud, ends in murder and treachery.
Gospel Focus
Two truths shine out of this dark scene. First, a life or a cause built on a mere man will fail when that man fails; Ishbosheth's hands went limp because his hope had been in Abner, not in God. Build your soul on the Rock that cannot fail, "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). Second, and more tender, is the quiet placing of Mephibosheth in the midst of the carnage. While ruthless men scheme and kill for thrones, God is keeping alive a lame and helpless heir who will become the very picture of grace. So it is in the noisy strivings of the world: God is quietly preserving those He means to bless, the weak, the fallen, the ones who can do nothing for themselves, to seat them one day at the King's table. The murderers grasp; the lame boy waits; and it is the lame boy who will be honored. "God hath chosen the weak things of the world" (1 Corinthians 1:27).
David Executes the Assassins (2 Samuel 4:8-12)
The murderers present the head expecting reward, but David, trusting the God who redeems, requires their blood instead.
The LORD, Who Hath Redeemed My Soul
"And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed. And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul 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: 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? And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron."
Word Study
"redeemed," Hebrew padah (פָּדָה), "to ransom, redeem, deliver by paying a price." David swears by "the LORD, who hath redeemed (padah) my soul out of all adversity." Padah is a redemption word, to buy back, to deliver at cost, and David's whole testimony is that his throne and his life are the gift of a redeeming God, not the achievement of assassins. He needs no murderer's help; the LORD who ransomed him from every distress will establish him. Because his confidence rests wholly on this redeeming God, David can refuse to profit from wickedness. The murderers had blasphemously claimed "the LORD hath avenged my lord the king," dressing their crime as God's work, but David sees it for the murder of "a righteous person in his own house upon his bed." He recalls how he executed the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul (chapter 1), and applies the same justice, "how much more" for this cold assassination. The God who redeems the soul is also the God who requires innocent blood at the hand of the shedder.
Explanation
Rechab and Baanah present the severed head to David, expecting to be rewarded, and even cloak their deed in pious language, claiming the LORD had avenged David on Saul's house through them. David is not deceived and not tempted. He answers with an oath grounded in his faith: the LORD has redeemed his soul out of all adversity, he owes his deliverance to God, not to murderers. He reminds them how he had executed the man who merely claimed to have finished off Saul; how much more will he punish men who have butchered an innocent, helpless king in his own bed. He orders their execution, and their bodies are displayed as a public repudiation of the crime, while Ishbosheth's head is honorably buried in Abner's tomb. Once again David keeps his hands and his throne clean of innocent blood, and lets all Israel see that his kingdom is not built on treachery.
Gospel Focus
David's confession, "the LORD, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity," is the ground of his whole conduct. Because he knows himself a redeemed man, delivered again and again by God's own hand, he will not stoop to gain his kingdom by murder, nor reward those who shed innocent blood in his name. Assurance of God's redemption sets a man free from the grasping, scheming, self-serving ways of the world; the redeemed can afford to be righteous. And David's words point beyond himself to the fuller redemption of the gospel: we are "not redeemed with corruptible things... but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). Great David's greater Son bought His people out of all adversity, out of sin and death itself, at the cost of His own blood. The soul that truly knows it has been redeemed by Christ is freed, like David, from building on treachery and freed for a clean and grateful obedience. Do you know the God "who hath redeemed my soul"? Then live as the ransomed do.
Chapter 4 in Review
2 Samuel 4 records the squalid end of Saul's rival house. When Abner dies, Ishbosheth's courage collapses, for his cause had leaned on a man, not on God. Two of his own captains, Rechab and Baanah, murder the defenseless king in his bed and carry his head to David, expecting a reward and even claiming God had avenged David through them. But David, trusting "the LORD, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity," refuses to profit from the crime; he condemns the murder of "a righteous person in his own house" and executes the assassins. In the midst of the account the narrator quietly introduces the lame Mephibosheth, the last heir of Saul, whom David will one day seat at his table in grace.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter teaches that a life built on a mere man fails when the man fails; build instead on the unfailing Rock, Jesus Christ. It shows David freed by the knowledge of his own redemption to keep his hands clean and refuse the grasping ways of the world, pointing us to the greater redemption purchased by the precious blood of Christ. And it lets the lame Mephibosheth wait, preserved amid the bloodshed, a hint that while men scheme for thrones, God is quietly keeping the weak and helpless for the day of grace.
- Ishbosheth's hands went feeble at Abner's death; a cause built on a man falls when the man falls.
- Amid the carnage the lame Mephibosheth is preserved, grace waiting for the helpless heir.
- David would not reward murder; the redeemed can afford to be righteous and keep clean hands.
- "The LORD, who hath redeemed my soul" points to the fuller redemption in the precious blood of Christ.
Questions for Reflection
- Is your hope resting on some man or advantage that could fail, or on the Rock that cannot?
- Does the knowledge that you are redeemed free you from grasping and scheming, as it did David?
- Where in your life is God quietly preserving something weak and helpless for a coming day of grace?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The collapse of Saul's house; Mephibosheth preserved; the sure foundation: 2 Samuel 4:1-7; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 1 Corinthians 1:27.
- David refuses to reward murder; the redeeming God; redemption in Christ: 2 Samuel 4:8-12; 2 Samuel 1:14-16; 1 Peter 1:18-19.