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The violent death of Ishbosheth. 2 Samuel 4:1. And [Ishbosheth,] the son of Saul, heard that Abner died in Hebron, and his hands fell, and all Israel was troubled. See (2 Samuel 3:26–27). “And his hands fell, and all Israel was troubled” - from the surprise of the news and ignorance of what should be done at the moment. “No matter how rude Abner was to Ishbosheth, he still constituted his only strength. Reasonable advice and the strong hand of Abner have so far resolved all the difficulties that have arisen in the kingdom of Ish-bosheth. Now, with the death of Abner, not a single strong person connected his interests with the personality of the weak king, whom it was much easier to destroy than to support... “And all Israel, it is said, was confused”: the people felt themselves in the position of sheep without a shepherd” (Ya. Bogorodsky, “Jewish Kings”, p. 148). 2 Samuel 4:2. [Ishbosheth,] the son of Saul, had two leaders of the army; the name of one is Baan and the name of the other is Rechab, the sons of Remmon the Beerothite, from the descendants of Benjamin, for Beeroth was also numbered among Benjamin. “To Benjamin”, i.e. to the tribe of Benjamin. 2 Samuel 4:3. And the Beerothites fled to Giffaim and remained there as strangers to this day. Giffaim, according to the interpretation of Calmet, is the same as Gath. 2 Samuel 4:4. Jonathan the son of Saul had a lame son. He was five years old when news came about Saul and Jonathan from Jezreel, and the nurse took him and ran. And when she ran hastily, he fell and became lame. His name is Mephibosheth. An introductory place that is not directly related to the story being told. Concluding the history of the reigning house of Saul, the historian, for the sake of completeness of the story, also mentioned that member of Saul’s house, who, although he had not played an active role until now, by his origin belonged to this house, and with his pitiful position to some extent characterized the fate of the offspring of the king rejected by God (1 Sam. 16:1). 2 Samuel 4:10. if the one who brought me the news, saying: “Behold, Saul [and Jonathan] is dead,” and who considered himself a glad messenger, I captured and killed him in Ziklag, instead of giving him a reward, 2 Samuel 4:11. then now, when wicked people have killed an innocent man in his house on his bed, shall I not exact his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth? 2 Samuel 4:12. And David commanded the servants, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and feet, and hung them over the pond in Hebron. And the head of Ishbosheth was taken and buried in Abner’s tomb in Hebron. Wed. ( 2 Samuel 1:1-16 ). In addition to punishing the guilty, David’s punishment also had another meaning: it was supposed to strengthen in the minds of the people the inviolability of the king’s personality as God’s anointed (cf. 1 Samuel 24:7,26:10). You might be interested in: