2 Samuel 4-5

New English Translation

Ish Bosheth is killed

4 When Ish Bosheth^[a] the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened,^[b] and all Israel was afraid. ²Now Saul’s son^[c] 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, ³for the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as resident foreigners until the present time.)^[d]

⁴Now 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.^[e] Mephibosheth was his name.

⁵Now 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. ⁶They^[f] entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat^[g] and mortally wounded him^[h] in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.

⁷They had entered^[i] the house while Ish Bosheth^[j] was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him^[k] and then cut off his head.^[l] Taking his head,^[m] they traveled on the way of the rift valley^[n] all that night. ⁸They 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^[o] Saul and his descendants!”

⁹David 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, ¹⁰when someone told me that Saul was dead—even though he thought he was bringing good news^[p]—I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him! ¹¹Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept^[q] in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove^[r] you from the earth?”

¹²So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them^[s] near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish Bosheth^[t] and buried it in the tomb of Abner^[u] in Hebron.^[v]

David Is Anointed King Over Israel

5 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood!^[w] ²In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel.^[x] The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

³When all the leaders^[y] of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them^[z] in Hebron before the Lord. They designated^[aa] David as king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David Occupies Jerusalem

⁶Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites^[ab] said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

⁷But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁸David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies^[ac] by going through the water tunnel.”^[ad] For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.”^[ae]

⁹So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards. ¹⁰David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God^[af] of Heaven’s Armies^[ag] was with him.^[ah]

¹¹King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace^[ai] for David. ¹²David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. ¹³David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

Conflict with the Philistines

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been designated^[aj] king over Israel, they all^[ak] went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress. ¹⁸Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed^[al] hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.^[am] ²¹The Philistines^[an] abandoned their idols^[ao] there, and David and his men picked them up.

²²The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ²³So David asked the Lord what he should do.^[ap] This time^[aq] the Lord^[ar] said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.^[as] ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army^[at] of the Philistines.” ²⁵David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.^[au]

Footnotes

2 Samuel 4:1 tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish Bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSam^a and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”
2 Samuel 4:1 tn Heb “his hands went slack.”
2 Samuel 4:2 tc The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the MT’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship.
2 Samuel 4:3 tn Heb “until this day.”
2 Samuel 4:4 tn Heb “and was lame.”
2 Samuel 4:6 tc For the MT’s וְהֵנָּה (v^ehennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (v^ehinneh, “and behold”). See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Targum.
2 Samuel 4:6 tc The LXX (followed by NLT) reads, “behold the house doorkeeper was cleaning wheat and became drowsy and fell asleep and the brothers Rekcha and Baana avoided notice.” Josephus refers to the LXX with a slight expansion on the tradition in Ant. 7:48. The last sentence appears to follow the Hebrew MT, although understanding the final verb נִמְלָטוּ (nimlatu; Niphal of מָלַט, malat) “to escape” as “escaping notice” is without parallel. The beginning of the verse in the LXX shares at least the words “midst of house” and “wheat” with the Hebrew MT. What sort of textual corruption through common scribal copying errors could lead to the different texts is unclear.tn Heb “taking wheat.” The reference to getting wheat is obscure and traditionally inferred to mean that they came under the pretense of obtaining wheat (KJV, ESV, NASB, NIV, Holman). However the plausibility of this scenario is not culturally certain.
2 Samuel 4:6 tn Heb “and they struck him down.”
2 Samuel 4:7 tn After the concluding disjunctive clause at the end of v. 6, the author now begins a more detailed account of the murder and its aftermath.
2 Samuel 4:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ish Bosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Samuel 4:7 tn Heb “they struck him down and killed him.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
2 Samuel 4:7 tn Heb “and they removed his head.” The Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate lack these words.
2 Samuel 4:7 tc The Lucianic Greek recension lacks the words “his head.”
2 Samuel 4:7 sn The rift valley is a large geographic feature extending form Galilee to the gulf of Aqaba. The portion in view here runs along the west of the Dead Sea.
2 Samuel 4:8 tn Heb “from.”
2 Samuel 4:10 tn Heb “and he was like a bearer of good news in his eyes.”
2 Samuel 4:11 tn Heb “on his bed.”
2 Samuel 4:11 tn See HALOT 146 s.v. II בער. Some derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to burn; to consume.”
2 Samuel 4:12 tn The antecedent of the pronoun “them” (which is not present in the Hebrew text, but implied) is not entirely clear. Presumably it is the corpses that were hung and not merely the detached hands and feet; cf. NIV “hung the (their NRSV, NLT) bodies”; the alternative is represented by TEV “cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up.”
2 Samuel 4:12 tc 4QSam^a mistakenly reads “Mephibosheth” here.
2 Samuel 4:12 tc The LXX adds “the son of Ner” by conformity with common phraseology elsewhere.
2 Samuel 4:12 tc Some mss of the LXX lack the phrase “in Hebron.”
2 Samuel 5:1 tn Heb “look we are your bone and your flesh.”
2 Samuel 5:2 tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”
2 Samuel 5:3 tn Heb “elders.”
2 Samuel 5:3 tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”
2 Samuel 5:3 tn Heb “anointed.”
2 Samuel 5:6 tn The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the Syriac Peshitta and some mss of the Targum the verb is plural rather than singular.
2 Samuel 5:8 tc There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect third common plural שָׂנְאוּ (san^eʾu, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (s^enuʾe, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSam^a has the Qal perfect third person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (san^eʾah, “hated”), the subject of which would be “the soul of David.” The difference is minor and the translation adopted above works for either the Kethib or the Qere.
2 Samuel 5:8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 139-40. sn If a water tunnel is in view here, it is probably the so-called Warren’s Shaft that extends up from Hezekiah’s tunnel. It would have provided a means for surprise attack against the occupants of the City of David. The LXX seems not to understand the reference here, translating “by the water shaft” as “with a small knife.”
2 Samuel 5:8 tn Heb “the house.” TEV takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).
2 Samuel 5:10 tc 4QSam^a and the LXX lack the word “God,” probably due to harmonization with the more common biblical phrase “the Lord of hosts.”
2 Samuel 5:10 tn Traditionally, “the Lord God of hosts” (KJV, NASB); NIV, NLT “the Lord God Almighty”; CEV “the Lord (+ God NCV) All-Powerful.”
2 Samuel 5:10 tn The translation assumes that the disjunctive clause is circumstantial-causal, giving the reason for David’s success.
2 Samuel 5:11 tn Heb “a house.”
2 Samuel 5:17 tn Heb “anointed.”
2 Samuel 5:17 tn Heb “all the Philistines.”
2 Samuel 5:19 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.
2 Samuel 5:20 tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”
2 Samuel 5:21 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Samuel 5:21 tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”
2 Samuel 5:23 tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.
2 Samuel 5:23 tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.
2 Samuel 5:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Samuel 5:23 tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.
2 Samuel 5:24 tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).
2 Samuel 5:25 tn Heb “from Gibeon until you enter Gezer.”