Passage

2 Samuel 4.10

Book: 2 Samuel · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"8. And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, who sought thy life; and Jehovah hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed. 9. And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,"

"10. when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his tidings."

"11. How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? 12. And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron." (2 Samuel 4:8-12, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"8. They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! Yahweh has avenged my lord the king today of Saul, and of his offspring. ” 9. David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,"

"10. when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he brought good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news."

"11. How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?” 12. David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron." (2 Samuel 4:8-12, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"8. And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed. 9. And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,"

"10. When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings: ^{thinking: Heb. he was in his own eyes as a bringer, etc} ^{who: or, which was the reward I gave him for his tidings}"

"11. 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? 12. 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 Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron." (2 Samuel 4:8-12, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"8. and bring in the head of Ish-Bosheth unto David in Hebron, and say unto the king, 'Lo, the head of Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, thine enemy, who sought thy life; and Jehovah doth give to my lord the king vengeance this day, of Saul and of his seed.' 9. And David answereth Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and saith to them, 'Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,"

"10. when one is declaring to me, saying, Lo, Saul is dead, and he was as a bearer of tidings in his own eyes, then I take hold on him, and slay him in Ziklag, instead of my giving to him [for] the tidings."

"11. Also, when wicked men have slain the righteous man in his own house, on his bed; and now, do not I require his blood of your hand, and have taken you away from the earth?' 12. And David commandeth the young men, and they slay them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hang [them] over the pool in Hebron, and the head of Ish-Bosheth they have taken, and bury [it] in the burying-place of Abner in Hebron." (2 Samuel 4:8-12, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: David
Audience: Rechab and Baanah, the assassins of Ish-bosheth
Location: Hebron (David's capital before Jerusalem)
Time period: c. 1004 BC, between Saul's death and David's anointing over all Israel

Theological reading

2 Samuel 4:10 is David's retrospective use of basar recalling the Amalekite who brought good tidings of Saul's death (the event narrated in 2 Sam 1:1-16). The Amalekite expected reward, he treated his news as besorah-tov, but David judged him instead, viewing the killing of the LORD's anointed as worthy of death. The verse is theologically significant in three ways. (1) Lexically: David explicitly uses basar to characterize what the Amalekite thought he was bringing, confirming the cultural-default expectation that the basar-act delivers good news and earns reward. (2) Politically: the verse establishes the principle by which David then judges Rechab and Baanah for assassinating Ish-bosheth, David refuses to receive the killing of an anointed-or-related figure as good news, no matter who delivers it. (3) Christologically (typologically): the LORD's anointed cannot be attacked with impunity; the herald who treats such an attack as besorah misreads the moral order. The verse is part of the basar-military-news cluster with 1 Samuel 4.17 and 2 Samuel 18.19-31.

Key words

H1319 - basar, basar, David's use of the verb to describe the Amalekite's expectation

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.