12. slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet—as the instruments in perpetrating their crime. The exposure of the mutilated remains was intended as not only a punishment of their crime, but also the attestation of David's abhorrence. read more
2. David’s punishment of Ish-bosheth’s murderers ch. 4"Saul the king is dead, Jonathan the heir apparent is dead, Abinadab and Malki-Shua (two of Jonathan’s brothers) are dead (1 Samuel 31:2), Abner the commander of the army is dead-and no other viable claimants or pretenders continue to block David’s accession to the throne except Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth and Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. Chapter 4 removes them from the scene, one explicitly and the other implicitly." [Note: Youngblood, p. 843.]... read more
The Murder of Ish-bosheth2, 3. Beeroth was near Gibeon. The object of this note is to explain how the Beerothites came to be Benjamites. Properly they should have been Canaanites, for Beeroth was included in the treaty with Gibeon (Joshua 9:17, Joshua 9:27). But owing to the persecution of Saul (2 Samuel 21:1) the Canaanites of Beeroth fled to Gittaim, and the town passed into the possession of Benjamin. Gittaim] in Benjamin.4. Mephibosheth] His name is given in 1 Chronicles 8:34 as... read more
(12) Over the pool in Hebron.—The mutilation of the bodies of the criminals was itself a disgrace, and the hanging them up near the pool, to which all the people resorted, made this as public as possible and a terrible warning against the commission of such crimes by others. On the other hand, the head of Ish-bosheth was honourably buried in the sepulchre of his chief friend and supporter, Abner. read more
9CHAPTER V.ASSASSINATION OF ABNER AND ISHBOSHETH.2 Samuel 3:22-39; 2 Samuel 4:1-12IT is quite possible that, in treating with Abner, David showed too complacent a temper, that he treated too lightly his appearance in arms against him at the pool of Gibeon, and that he neglected to demand an apology for the death of Asahel. Certainly it would have been wise had some measures been taken to soothe the ruffled temper of Joab and reconcile him to the new arrangement This, however, was not done.... read more
5. The Death of Ish-bosheth CHAPTER 4 1. Ish-bosheth in despair (2 Samuel 4:1-3 ) 2. Mephibosheth, the lame son (2 Samuel 4:4 ) 3. The end of Ish-bosheth (2 Samuel 4:5-8 ) 4. The punishment of the murderers (2 Samuel 4:9-12 ) Abner’s death meant the speedy end of Ish-bosheth’s pretentious reign. Baanah and Rechab were his captains and became his murderers. While Ish-bosheth was resting in the heat of the day they sneaked in and murdered the sleeping son of Saul, then brought the head... read more
Abner's death left Ish-bosheth helpless, and all Israel in a state of troubled perplexity (v.1). Two men, however, who were captains of bands in Ish-bosheth's army, saw an attractive opportunity at this time. They could plainly see that David would gain the ascendancy, and they thought they could gain David's favor by killing Ish-bosheth. But they acted on the false assumption that David was as wicked as they were. They were brothers, and of the tribe of Benjamin. In verse 4 a note is... read more
DAVID MADE KING LAMENTING THE DEAD (2 Samuel 1:0 ) Surely the harshness and gentleness of David are strangely blended in this chapter. That one should so lament an enemy and slay the man who professed to murder him surpasses ordinary thought; but David was built on a large mould. Of course the Amalekite lied to David, for the inspired record of the death of Saul in the preceding book must be regarded as correct. Observe the motive governing David: “Wast thou not afraid.., to destroy the... read more
2 Samuel 4:0 1. And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled [by the loss of a great man]. 2. 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: 3. And the Beerothites [Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites] fled to Gittaim [neither... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 2 Samuel 4:12
ISHBOSHETH'S MURDERERS EXECUTED"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 Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron."It was not merely in obedience to the Divine will that David executed these murderers, it was also politically necessary as well. "To have left them unpunished would have left the impression with the people that David had been involved in a... read more