The Murder of Ish-bosheth

When Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, heard of the death of Abner, he took it hard to be robbed of a man who was his kinsman and who had in fact given him the kingdom. He was deeply afflicted, and Abner’s death troubled him greatly. Nor did he himself live long after, but was treacherously attacked by the sons of Rimmon (Baanah and Rechab were their names) and killed by them. These men were of a family of the Benjamites, and of the first rank among them, and they thought that if they killed Ish-bosheth they would get large presents from David and be made commanders by him, or at any rate be given some other position of trust. So once they found him alone, asleep at noon in an upper room, when none of his guards were there, and when the woman who kept the door was not watching but had fallen asleep too, partly from the work she had been doing and partly from the heat of the day. These men went into the room where Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, lay asleep, and killed him. They also cut off his head and traveled all that night and the next day, supposing that they were fleeing from those they had wronged to one who would accept this deed as a favor and would give them safety. [a]

So they came to Hebron, showed David the head of Ish-bosheth, and presented themselves to him as his well-wishers, men who had killed one who was his enemy and rival. But David did not take what they had done as they expected. He said to them, “You vile wretches, you will receive the punishment you deserve at once. Did you not know what vengeance I took on the man who murdered Saul and brought me his gold crown, and that though the one who did that killing did it as a favor to Saul, so that he would not be caught by his enemies? Or do you imagine that my nature has changed, and that I am not the same man I was then, but am pleased with men who do wicked things, and will count your vile deeds as a kindness to me, when you have become the murderers of your master, when you have killed a righteous man on his bed, who never did evil to anyone and treated you with great goodwill and respect? So you will suffer the punishment due on his account, and the vengeance I ought to inflict on you for killing Ish-bosheth and for supposing that I would take his death kindly at your hands. For you could not have put a greater stain on my honor than by supposing such a thing.” When David had said this, he tortured them with every kind of torment and then put them to death. He gave the head of Ish-bosheth all the customary rites of burial and laid it in the grave of Abner.

When matters had come to this end, all the leading men of the Hebrew people came to David at Hebron, with the commanders of thousands and the other rulers, and put themselves into his hands. They reminded him of the goodwill they had borne him in Saul’s lifetime, and of the respect they had never stopped paying him when he was a commander of a thousand, and that he had been chosen by God through Samuel the prophet, he and his sons; and they declared besides how God had given him power to save the land of the Hebrews and to overcome the Philistines. He welcomed this eagerness of theirs on his behalf and urged them to keep it up, for they would have no reason to regret being so disposed toward him. When he had feasted them and treated them kindly, he sent them out to bring all the people to him. Then there came to him about six thousand eight hundred armed men of the tribe of Judah, who carried shields and spears as their weapons; for these had stayed with Saul’s son when the rest of the tribe of Judah had appointed David their king. There came also seven thousand one hundred from the tribe of Simeon. From the tribe of Levi came four thousand seven hundred, with Jehoiada as their leader. After these came Zadok the high priest, with twenty-two captains of his kindred. From the tribe of Benjamin the armed men were four thousand; but the rest of the tribe held back, still expecting that someone of the house of Saul would reign over them. Those of the tribe of Ephraim were twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valor and outstanding in strength. From the half-tribe of Manasseh came eighteen thousand of the most powerful men. From the tribe of Issachar came two hundred who foresaw what was to come, and twenty thousand armed men. From the tribe of Zebulun came fifty thousand picked men. This was the only tribe that came over to David to a man, and all of them had the same weapons as the tribe of Gad. From the tribe of Naphtali the leading men and rulers were one thousand, whose weapons were shields and spears, and the tribe itself followed after them, almost past counting. From the tribe of Dan there were twenty-seven thousand six hundred picked men. From the tribe of Asher there were forty thousand. From the two tribes beyond the Jordan, and the rest of the tribe of Manasseh, came a hundred and twenty thousand, who used shields and spears, helmets and swords. The rest of the tribes also used swords. This multitude came together to David at Hebron with a great quantity of grain and wine and every other kind of food, and with one consent they established David in his kingdom. When the people had rejoiced for three days in Hebron, David and all the people moved on and came to Jerusalem. [e]