2 Samuel 4:11

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?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
wicked	רְשָׁעִ֗ים re.sha.'Im	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
men	אֲנָשִׁ֣ים 'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
slain	הָרְג֧וּ ha.re.Gu	H2026	to smite with deadly intent · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
righteous	צַדִּ֛יק tza.Dik	H6662	just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
person	אִישׁ 'ish-	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
house	בְּבֵית֖וֹ be.vei.To	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
bed	מִשְׁכָּב֑וֹ mish.ka.Vo	H4904	a bed (figuratively · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
require	אֲבַקֵּ֤שׁ 'a.va.Kesh	H1245	to search out (by any method · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
blood	דָּמוֹ֙ da.Mo	H1818	blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand	מִיֶּדְכֶ֔ם mi.yed.Khem	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
away	וּבִעַרְתִּ֥י u.vi.'ar.Ti	H1197	to kindle · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
earth	הָאָֽרֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 9:12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
Proverbs 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Genesis 9:5-6 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of eve…
Numbers 35:31-34 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
Genesis 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will dest…
Genesis 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl…
Exodus 9:15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 4:9–end

We have here justice done upon the murderers of Ish-bosheth. I. Sentence passed upon them. There needed no evidence, their own tongues witnessed against them; they were so far from denying the fact that they gloried in it. David therefore shows them the heinousness of the crime, and that blood called for blood from his hand, who was now the chief magistrate, and was by office the avenger of blood. And, perhaps, he was the more vigorous in the prosecution because for reasons of state he had spared Joab: "Shall I not require the blood of the slain at the hand of the slayers, and, since they cannot make restitution, take theirs instead of it?" Observe, 1. How he aggravates the crime, Sa2 4:11.…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 4:8

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David . . . and said, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth--Such bloody trophies of rebels and conspirators have always been acceptable to princes in the East, and the carriers have been liberally rewarded. Ish-bosheth being a usurper, the two assassins thought they were doing a meritorious service to David by removing the only existing obstacle to the union of the two kingdoms.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 4:11

How much more - Here are several things which aggravated the guilt of those wicked men. 1. Ish-bosheth was an innocent man, and therefore none could have any ground of quarrel against him. 2. He was in his own house, which was his sanctuary, and none but the worst of men would disturb him there. 3. He was upon his bed, resting in the heat of the day, and so free from suspicion that he was not even attended by his guards, nor had he his doors secured. To take away the life of such a man, in such circumstances, whom also they professed to hold as their sovereign, was the most abandoned treachery.

John Gill on 2 Samuel 4:11

How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person,.... As Ishbosheth was in comparison of the wicked men that slew him; though not with respect to David, if he knew of his divine designation to the throne; nor with respect to Mephibosheth his eldest brother's son, whose right to the throne was prior to his, which he must know; though with respect to his conduct towards David, in assuming the throne of Israel, it might not be owing to any bad principles of malice and injustice, but to his ignorance of David's having a right to the throne upon his father's death, and by the advice of his friends he took it: the sin of these men in murdering him is aggravated, in that they slew him…

The Church Fathers

Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, is killed through a ruse at the hands of Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite. And, when they announced the news to David and showed him the head of his enemy, they were killed by David, who said, "Wicked men have slain a just man in his own house upon his bed." Ish-bosheth was certainly not a just man, and yet he is called a just man because he was innocently killed.
— Jerome, Against the Pelagians 1.33

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Assassination · David’s abhorrence of — David’s abhorrence of
Ish-Bosheth · Avenged by David — Avenged by David
Kings · Often exercised power arbitrarily — Often exercised power arbitrarily
Rechab · .Mur — .Mur

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 4:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 4:9–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 4:8

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 4:11

John Gill on 2 Samuel 4:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 4:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 4:9–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 4:8

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 4:11

John Gill on 2 Samuel 4:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 4:9-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 4:9-11

Rashi on 2 Samuel 4:10