HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 646
2 S A MU EL 4
over everything your heart desires.” So David
sent Abner safely on his way.
Joab Murders Abner
22 But just after David had sent Abner away in
safety, Joab and some of David’s troops returned
from a raid, bringing much plunder with them.
23 When Joab arrived, he was told that Abner had
just been there visiting the king and had been
sent away in safety.
24 Joab rushed to the king and demanded,
“What have you done? What do you mean by
letting Abner get away? 25 You know perfectly
well that he came to spy on you and find out
everything you’re doing!”
26 Joab then left David and sent messengers
to catch up with Abner, asking him to return.
They found him at the well of Sirah and brought
him back, though David knew nothing about
it. 27 When Abner arrived back at Hebron, Joab
took him aside at the gateway as if to speak with
him privately. But then he stabbed Abner in the
stomach and killed him in revenge for killing
his brother Asahel.
28 When David heard about it, he declared,
“I vow by the Lord that I and my kingdom are
forever innocent of this crime against Abner
son of Ner. 29 Joab and his family are the guilty
ones. May the family of Joab be cursed in every
generation with a man who has open sores or
leprosy* or who walks on crutches* or dies by
the sword or begs for food!”
30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed
Abner because Abner had killed their brother
Asahel at the battle of Gibeon.
David Mourns Abner’s Death
31 Then David said to Joab and all those who
were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on
burlap. Mourn for Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the procession to the grave.
32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king
and all the people wept at his graveside. 33 Then
the king sang this funeral song for Abner:
34
“Should Abner have died as fools die?
Your hands were not bound;
your feet were not chained.
No, you were murdered—
the victim of a wicked plot.”
All the people wept again for Abner. 35 David
had refused to eat anything on the day of the
funeral, and now everyone begged him to eat.
But David had made a vow, saying, “May God
strike me and even kill me if I eat anything before sundown.”
36 This pleased the people very much. In fact,
everything the king did pleased them! 37 So
everyone in Judah and all Israel understood that
David was not responsible for Abner’s murder.
38 Then King David said to his officials, “Don’t
you realize that a great commander has fallen
page 276
today in Israel? 39 And even though I am the
anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah—Joab
and Abishai—are too strong for me to control.
So may the Lord repay these evil men for their
evil deeds.”
The Murder of Ishbosheth
When Ishbosheth,* Saul’s son, heard about
Abner’s death at Hebron, he lost all courage, and all Israel became paralyzed with fear.
2 Now there were two brothers, Baanah and Recab, who were captains of Ishbosheth’s raiding
parties. They were sons of Rimmon, a member
of the tribe of Benjamin who lived in Beeroth.
The town of Beeroth is now part of Benjamin’s
territory 3 because the original people of Beeroth
fled to Gittaim, where they still live as foreigners.
4 (Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth,* who was crippled as a child. He
was five years old when the report came from
Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in
battle. When the child’s nurse heard the news,
she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried
away, she dropped him, and he became crippled.)
5 One day Recab and Baanah, the sons of
Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ishbosheth’s
house around noon as he was taking his midday rest. 6 The doorkeeper, who had been sifting
wheat, became drowsy and fell asleep. So Recab and Baanah slipped past her.* 7 They went
into the house and found Ishbosheth sleeping
on his bed. They struck and killed him and cut
off his head. Then, taking his head with them,
they fled across the Jordan Valley* through the
night. 8 When they arrived at Hebron, they presented Ishbosheth’s head to David. “Look!” they
exclaimed to the king. “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried
to kill you. Today the Lord has given my lord
the king revenge on Saul and his entire family!”
9 But David said to Recab and Baanah, “The
Lord, who saves me from all my enemies, is my
witness. 10 Someone once told me, ‘Saul is dead,’
thinking he was bringing me good news. But I
seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That’s the
reward I gave him for his news! 11 How much
more should I reward evil men who have killed
an innocent man in his own house and on his
own bed? Shouldn’t I hold you responsible for
his blood and rid the earth of you?”
12 So David ordered his young men to kill
them, and they did. They cut off their hands and
feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in
Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth’s head and
buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
4
3:29a Or or a contagious skin disease. The Hebrew word used
here can describe various skin diseases. 3:29b Or who is
effeminate; Hebrew reads who handles a spindle. 4:1 Ishbosheth
is another name for Esh-baal. 4:4 Mephibosheth is another
name for Merib-baal. 4:6 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads
So they went into the house pretending to fetch wheat, but they
stabbed him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah escaped.
4:7 Hebrew the Arabah.