CHAPTER 4 Jul. 20 
Ishbosheth Killed
When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. 2Saul’s son had two men who were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is reckoned to Benjamin: 3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until this day). 4Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. 5The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, as he took his rest at noon. 6They came there into the middle of the house, as if they would have fetched wheat; and they struck him in the body: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him, and killed him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night. 8They 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 this day of Saul, and of his seed.
Rechab and Baanah Put to Death
9David 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, 10when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead’, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? 12David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and 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 the grave of Abner in Hebron.

Commentary

4:4 His nurse took him up, and fled- She failed to believe in David’s grace; she assumed that he and his men would come and kill Jonathan’s son, despite David’s grace to Saul and demonstration of his loyalty to Jonathan. We too find it so hard to believe in grace, even when it is demonstrated by the cross. Grace is the hardest thing to believe in because it is so contrary to all we have experienced at the hands of people and all we see around us; it is Divine in origin and doesn’t come naturally, so we so struggle to believe it- and, as in this case, catastrophe’s happen because of it which damage others permanently.
4:8 Yahweh has avenged- This was true, but they were wrong to have taken the work of His vengeance and judgment into their own hands. Vengeance is God’s, and by taking it for Him we are as it were playing God; we aren’t to take vengeance exactly because vengeance is God’s, not ours; and this is written in Scripture, Paul says (Rom. 12:19). Whilst Paul’s allusion may be to Dt. 32:35, he may also (under inspiration) be drawing his Old Testament teaching from this incident. If we would forbid ourselves to even think of taking vengeance, we and others would be saved so much hurt and trouble. 
4:12 See on 3:35.