Commentary - 2 Samuel 4:5-8

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but bloody narrative, we see the final sputtering out of the house of Saul, not with a bang, but with a treacherous whimper. Two opportunistic captains, Rechab and Baanah, decide to accelerate God's revealed will by their own wicked means. Seeing that the tide has turned irrevocably toward David, they murder their master, Ish-bosheth, in a cowardly act of political assassination. They do this, not out of loyalty to David or zeal for God, but out of a craven desire for self-advancement. They wrap their bloody deed in the language of piety, presenting Ish-bosheth's head to David as a gift from Yahweh, a token of "vengeance."

This episode serves as a stark contrast between the way God establishes His kingdom and the way the sons of men try to build theirs. God had promised the kingdom to David, but David consistently refused to grasp it through violence, intrigue, or assassination. He was content to wait for God's timing. Rechab and Baanah represent the opposite spirit: a pragmatic, godless impatience that believes the end justifies the means. David's subsequent reaction to their deed will demonstrate that the throne of God's anointed cannot be established on a foundation of treachery and innocent blood. This is a crucial lesson on political theology: God's purposes are not advanced by the wicked schemes of men.

Outline

Context In 2 Samuel

This chapter follows directly on the heels of the murder of Abner by Joab in chapter 3. The house of Saul is crumbling. Abner, the real power behind Ish-bosheth's throne, is dead. When Ish-bosheth heard of Abner's death, his "hands became feeble, and all Israel was dismayed" (2 Sam 4:1). The kingdom of Saul has lost its backbone. The narrative also strategically inserts a note about Mephibosheth, Jonathan's lame son (2 Sam 4:4), emphasizing that there is no viable heir left to challenge David. The stage is set for the unification of the kingdom under David. This assassination, then, is the final, pathetic act in the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. It is the last gasp of a dynasty that God has rejected, and it paves the way for all the tribes of Israel to finally come to David at Hebron and anoint him king over all Israel (2 Sam 5:1-3).

Key Issues

The Pragmatist's Bloody Piety

Rechab and Baanah are the patron saints of religious pragmatists. They knew what God was doing; it was plain to all that David's star was rising and Saul's house was finished. So they decided to "help God out." Their thinking is common enough: if this is where history is going, why not get on the right side of it and, in the process, secure a nice position for ourselves in the new administration? This is the logic of all who believe that a godly outcome can be achieved through ungodly methods. They commit a heinous crime, a treacherous murder of their master in his own bed, and then they have the audacity to present it to David as a work of God. "Yahweh has given my lord the king vengeance this day," they say.

This is the kind of blasphemous piety that coats wickedness in a veneer of god-talk. They attribute their own sordid ambition and bloody treachery to the righteous vengeance of the Lord. But David, a man after God's own heart, will have none of it. He understands something that these men do not: God's ends are achieved by God's means. The kingdom of Christ is not built with the bricks of murder and deceit. David's response will show that he fears God more than he desires the throne, and that he trusts God's promise enough to wait for God's timing.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went forth and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest.

The scene is set with an air of lazy vulnerability. It is the "heat of the day," a time for siesta, when guards are down and a man is at his most defenseless. Rechab and Baanah, whose names will live in infamy, are introduced. They are Beerothites, which is significant. Beeroth was one of the Gibeonite cities that had made a covenant with Israel in the days of Joshua (Josh 9:17). We learn later that Saul, in his misplaced zeal, had tried to annihilate the Gibeonites (2 Sam 21:1-2), breaking that ancient covenant. So it is possible these men harbored a grudge against the house of Saul. But their primary motivation here is not vengeance for their people, but rather naked ambition. They come to Ish-bosheth's house not as loyal captains, but as assassins, choosing the moment of greatest weakness and repose for their strike.

6 They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

Their entry is gained through deceit. They pretend to be on official business, "as if to get wheat." As captains, they would have had reason to be at the royal residence drawing rations for their men. This pretext allows them to penetrate into the heart of the house without raising suspicion. The murder itself is brutal and direct: "they struck him in the belly." This was a common way of speaking of a fatal stabbing. The act is one of ultimate treachery. He is their commander, their king, and they murder him under his own roof. Having done the deed, they make their escape. The security around the feckless king was clearly lax, a sign of the decay of his entire administration.

7 Thus they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, and they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. And they took his head and went on the way leading to the Arabah all night.

The narrator repeats and elaborates on the crime, emphasizing its cowardly nature. He was not on a battlefield; he was "lying on his bed in his bedroom." This is not the honorable killing of a warrior; it is a sordid assassination. They not only kill him, but they also behead him. This was for the purpose of providing proof of their deed. The head of the rival king would be their ticket to favor with the new king. They take this grisly trophy and travel all night, taking the road to the Arabah, the Jordan valley, heading south toward Hebron where David was. Their all-night journey shows their eagerness to cash in on their crime. They must have imagined the hero's welcome they would receive.

8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus Yahweh has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his seed.”

Here is the climax of their folly. They arrive in Hebron and stand before David, presenting the severed head of Ish-bosheth. Their speech is a masterpiece of self-serving, blasphemous spin. First, they identify the victim: "Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth." Second, they cast him as David's great enemy: "the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life." This was a gross exaggeration; Ish-bosheth was a weak man, a pawn of Abner, not some great threat who actively sought David's life. Third, and most egregiously, they attribute their murder to the hand of God. "Thus Yahweh has given my lord the king vengeance." They are claiming to be the agents of divine justice. They did not just kill a man; they believe they have executed the judgment of God. They expected David, the beneficiary of their crime, to applaud their zeal and reward their faithfulness. They could not have been more wrong.

Application

The spirit of Rechab and Baanah is alive and well in the world, and it is a constant temptation for the church. It is the temptation to believe that a good end justifies a sinful means. It is the temptation to cut corners, to lie for the gospel, to slander an opponent for a "good cause," or to compromise biblical ethics for the sake of political expediency. Whenever we are tempted to do evil that good may come, we are walking in the footsteps of these two murderers.

These men thought they were serving David, but they did not understand his character. They did not understand that the man after God's own heart would not build his kingdom on a foundation of treachery. In the same way, we cannot serve the Lord Jesus Christ with the tools of the devil. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is not advanced by manipulation, coercion, or violence. David's response, which we will see in the following verses, is the response of a true king: he executes justice, even when the crime seems to benefit him personally. He shows that he fears God more than he loves power.

We must learn to trust God's promises and His timing. God had promised David the kingdom, and God brought it about in His own time. He did not need the bloody hands of Rechab and Baanah to fulfill His word. God has promised that Christ's kingdom will fill the earth, and He will bring it about in His time and by His means, which are the proclamation of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. Our job is not to be clever pragmatists, but to be faithful servants. Let us leave the outcomes to God and concern ourselves with walking in obedience before Him, refusing to get our hands dirty with the world's wicked methods.