THE END OF SAUL’S REIGN By killing Abner at the hand of Joab, the kingdom of Saul came to an end, as Ishbosheth was not a real king. He was killed by the brothers ‘Baana’ and ‘Rechab’ while sleeping in his bed; to leave the kingdom with only one heir: ‘Mephibosheth’ the son of Jonathan; a lame kid, incapable of ascending the throne. 1- Ishbosheth collapses 1. 2- Ishbosheth is murdered 2-8. 3- David avenges the murder of Ishbosheth 9-12. 1- Ishbosheth collapses: “When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled” (2 Samuel 4: 1). Not mentioning his name, was a kind of despise; as Ishbosheth had already lost his dignity and strength having set his kingdom upon Abner, who was murdered by Joab. By that, the heart of the so called king was destroyed, and the whole people were troubled; The brave leader was dead, and they did not know what David was going to do to them. 2- Ishbosheth murdered: Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite (a part of Benjamin) killed Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 4: 2). Those brothers who were in the king’s service, made use of his collapse, and of the people forsaking him; and intended to seek David’s favor, by presenting him with the head of his competitor Ichbosheth. They betrayed the king who trusted them to serve in his court; beside having been from his own tribe, which made their treason more horrible. Some believe that they were originally Canaanites, of the Gibeonites, with whom Joshua made a covenant (Joshua 9); then their land was given to the Benjamites. It seems that the Beerothites-among whom was Rimmon, the father of Baanah and Rechab-fled to Gittaim, when Saul killed some Gibeonites, to deliver their land to the Benjamites. That is why, although those brothers were serving Saul’s son, they were harboring deep hatred toward Saul’s household, which they revealed by killing the weak king. They set out and came to the house of Ichobosheth, who was lying on his bed, at about the heat of the daybetween 12 Noon and 3 p.m. – pretending their desire to get wheat; They stabbed him in the stomach; then beheaded him and took his head and brought it to David in Hebron, presenting the following theological interpretation for their deed: “The Lord has avenged my Lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants” (2 Samuel 4: 8). ‘Baanah’ means (son of affliction) or (tribulation)1; ‘Rechab’ means a (knight)2, ‘Rimmon’ means a (Pomegrante tree)3; and ‘Beerothite’ means (wells), a city built at the foot of the plateau on which Gibeon was built; about 10 miles north of Jerusalem; called nowadays ‘El-Beerah.’4. By killing Ishbosheth, the way before David became completely paved; as the only 1 Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, art. 1195. 2 Ibid, art. 7394. 3 Ibid, art. 7416. 4 Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p. 99. 27 one remaining of Saul’s household was ‘Mephibosheth,’ the son of Jonathan. who had been 5 years old, when his father and grandfather were killed in war; and he was saved and taken away by his nurse. It happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, the bones of his legs were broken, and he became lame (2 Samuel 4: 4); unfit to ascend the throne, because of his physical handicap and his young age (12 years). 3- Avenging Ishbosheth: David confirmed to the two wicked traitors, that he was in no need of their help, as he was leaning only upon the Lord, “Who has redeemed his life from all adversity” ( 2 Samuel 4: 8). He was against the killings of Saul and Abner, “so how much more, when wicked men killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed?” So he gave the command to cut off their hands that killed, and their feet that fled; to execute them, and hang them by the pool in Hebron; to let everyone know that David did not reign through shedding innocent blood. As to the head of Ishbosheth, it was respectfully buried in the tomb of Abner in Hebron. That behavior pleased the heart of God who chose him a king as well as the hearts of the Benjamites, when they realized that David did not harbor any animosity toward Saul’s household, but only love and loyalty.
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