^4:1When Ish-bosheth¹ the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened,² and all Israel was afraid. ^4:2Now Saul’s son³ 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, ^4:3for the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as resident foreigners until the present time.)⁴

^4:4Now 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.⁵ Mephibosheth was his name.

^4:5Now 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. ^4:6They⁶ entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him⁷ in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.

^4:7They had entered⁸ the house while Ish-bosheth⁹ was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him¹⁰ and then cut off his head.¹¹ Taking his head,¹² they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night. ^4:8They 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 against¹³ Saul and his descendants!”

^4:9David 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, ^4:10when someone told me that Saul was dead—even though he thought he was bringing good news¹⁴—I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him! ^4:11Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept¹⁵ in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove¹⁶ you from the earth?”

^4:12So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them¹⁷ near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth¹⁸ and buried it in the tomb of Abner¹⁹ in Hebron.²⁰

David Is Anointed King Over Israel

^5:1All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood!¹^5:2In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel.² The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’ ”

^5:3When all the leaders³ of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them⁴ in Hebron before the Lord. They designated⁵ David as king over Israel. ^5:4David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years. ^5:5In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem⁶ he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David Occupies Jerusalem

^5:6Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem⁷ against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites⁸ said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’ ”

^5:7But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David). ^5:8David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies⁹ by going through the water tunnel.”¹⁰ For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.”¹¹

^5:9So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards. ^5:10David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God¹² who commands armies¹³ was with him.¹⁴

^5:11King Hiram of Tyre¹⁵ sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace¹⁶ for David. ^5:12David 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. ^5:13David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David. ^5:14These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ^5:15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ^5:16Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

Conflict with the Philistines

^5:17When the Philistines heard that David had been designated¹⁷ king over Israel, they all¹⁸ went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress. ^5:18Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ^5:19So 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 indeed¹⁹ hand the Philistines over to you.”

^5:20So 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.²⁰^5:21The Philistines²¹ abandoned their idols²² there, and David and his men picked them up.

^5:22The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ^5:23So David asked the Lord what he should do.²³ This time²⁴ the Lord²⁵ said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.²⁶^5:24When 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 army²⁷ of the Philistines.” ^5:25David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.²⁸

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Footnotes

1 The 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. 4QSama and the mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”
2 Heb “his hands went slack.”
3 The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the ’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship.
4 Heb “until this day.”
5 Heb “and was lame.”
6 For the ’s וְהֵנָּה (véhennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (véhinneh, “and behold”). See the , , and .
7 Heb “and they struck him down.”
8 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.
9 Heb “he”; the referent (Ish-bosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 Heb “they struck him down and killed him.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
11 Heb “and they removed his head.” The and lack these words.
12 The Lucianic Greek recension lacks the words “his head.”
13 Heb “from.”
14 Heb “and he was like a bearer of good news in his eyes.”
15 Heb “on his bed.”
16 See II בער. Some derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to burn; to consume.”
17 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. “hung the (their , ) bodies”; the alternative is represented by “cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up.”
18 4QSama mistakenly reads “Mephibosheth” here.
19 The adds “the son of Ner” by conformity with common phraseology elsewhere.
20 Some of the lack the phrase “in Hebron.”
1 Heb “look we are your bone and your flesh.”
2 Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”
3 Heb “elders.”
4 Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”
5 Heb “anointed.”
6 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
7 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
8 The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the and some of the the verb is plural rather than singular.
9 There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect 3cp שָׂנְאוּ (sané’u, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (sénu’e, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSama has the Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (sané’ah, “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.
10 The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (), . 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 seems not to understand the reference here, translating “by the water shaft” as “with a small knife.”
11 Heb “the house.” takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).
12 4QSama and the lack the word “God,” probably due to harmonization with the more common biblical phrase “the Lord of hosts.”
13 Traditionally, “the Lord God of hosts” (, ); , “the Lord God Almighty”; “the Lord (+ God ) All-Powerful.”
14 The translation assumes that the disjunctive clause is circumstantial-causal, giving the reason for David’s success.
15 For location see ; ; ; ; .
16 Heb “a house.”
17 Heb “anointed.”
18 Heb “all the Philistines.”
19 The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.
20 The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”
21 Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 For “idols” the and have “gods.”
23 The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.
24 The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.
25 Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. , , , , ); cf. , , “mulberry trees”; “mastic trees”; , “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.
27 Heb “camp” (so ).
28 Heb “from Gibeon until you enter Gezer.”