2 Samuel 4:6
in 2 Samuel 4They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him in the body: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
KJV
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAs though they would have fetched wheat - The king’s stores were probably near his own dwelling; and these men were accustomed to go thither for provisions for themselves, their cattle, and their men. This supposition which is natural, renders unnecessary all the emendations of Houbigant and others.
This site's exposition
about the heat of the day
on 2 Samuel 4:5-7
The captains walk in as though they would fetch wheat, the ordinary errand that gets two armed men past the door to a sleeping king. Ish-bosheth is struck under the fifth rib, the same wound the narrator gave Asahel falling to Abner's spear at 2:23 and Abner falling to Joab's hand at 3:27, with Amasa struck in the fifth rib at 20:10 the fourth private killing this book measures the same way. Verse 7 adds the detail the confession of verse 8 will need: the captains behead him and carry the head north through the plain all night.
This site's exposition
as if to get some wheat
John Wesley notes that the captains drew wheat from the house of the king to pay their men. Albert Barnes calls the verse obscure. He reads Rechab and Baanah either as captains drawing wheat or as men who entered the house among those carrying it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Fetched wheat - Which was laid up in publick granaries in the king's house, and was fetched thence by the captains and commanders of the army for the pay of their soldiers, who, in those ancient times were not paid in money, but in corn.
And they came thither into the midst of the house,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As though they would have fetched wheat - This is a very obscure passage, and the double repetition in 2Sa 4:6-7 of the murder of the king and of the escape of the assassin, is hard to account for. Rechab and Baanah came into the house under the pretence of getting grain, probably for the band which they commanded out of the king’s storehouse, and so contrived to get access into the king’s chamber; or, they found the wheat-carriers (the persons whose business it was to carry in grain for the king’s household) just going into the king’s house, and by joining them got into the midst of the house unnoticed. If the latter be the sense, the literal translation of the words would be: “And behold (or, and there) there came into the midst of the house the carriers of wheat, and they (i. e. Rechab and Baanah) smote him, etc.”
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠הֵנָּה | vehenah | and they [fem] | H2007 → | |
| בָּ֜אוּ | bau | they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| תּ֤וֹךְ | tokh | [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הַבַּ֙יִת֙ | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לֹקְחֵ֣י | lokechei | taking | H3947 → | 966 times |
| חִטִּ֔ים | chitim | <of> wheat<s> | H2406 → | |
| וַיַּכֻּ֖הוּ | vaiyakuhu | and they struck him | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַחֹ֑מֶשׁ | hachomesh | the belly | H2570 → | 4 times |
| וְרֵכָ֛ב | verekhav | and Rechab | H7394 → | 13 times |
| וּבַעֲנָ֥ה | uvaanah | and Baanah | H1196 → | 9 times |
| אָחִ֖יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| נִמְלָֽטוּ׃ | nimlatu | they escaped | H4422 → | 95 times |
וְ֠הֵנָּהand they [fem]
vehenahH2007 →
בָּ֜אוּthey came
bauH935 →2568 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
תּ֤וֹךְ[the] middle of
tokhH8432 →418 times
הַבַּ֙יִת֙the house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
לֹקְחֵ֣יtaking
lokecheiH3947 →966 times
חִטִּ֔ים<of> wheat<s>
chitimH2406 →
וַיַּכֻּ֖הוּand they struck him
vaiyakuhuH5221 →499 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַחֹ֑מֶשׁthe belly
hachomeshH2570 →4 times
וְרֵכָ֛בand Rechab
verekhavH7394 →13 times
וּבַעֲנָ֥הand Baanah
uvaanahH1196 →9 times
אָחִ֖יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
נִמְלָֽטוּ׃they escaped
nimlatuH4422 →95 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 2:23But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 3:27
When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 3:27
Through
2 Samuel 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- 1 Kings 2:5
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them…
- Deuteronomy 27:24
‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- 1 Kings 2:32
The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to…
- 2 Samuel 2:19–23
and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
Through
2 Samuel 20:10Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 2:23
But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused…
- Judges 3:21
And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.
- 2 Samuel 2:23
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.