^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

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Footnotes

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.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!”

So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his own bed! So now, should I not require his blood from you and purge you from the earth?”

So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

NLTNew Living Translation

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?”

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.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?” Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung them at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

KJV 1900King James Version

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 Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

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