2 Samuel 4:6

6. And they came, &c.] An explanation how it was possible for Rechab and Baanah to enter Ish-bosheth’s house unsuspected. They came, as they may have been accustomed to do, to procure wheat for their men from the king’s granary.

The Heb. however may be otherwise rendered, “And hither [some MSS. read “and behold”] there came wheat-fetchers into the midst of the house:” men whose business it was to draw the rations of wheat from the granary. If this is the right rendering, the meaning is that the murderers obtained entrance to the house by going in their company.

2Sa_4:7 appears at first sight to be a somewhat awkward repetition of 2Sa_4:6. But it is a peculiar feature of Hebrew historical writing to give a general account of a fact first, and then to repeat it with additional details. The murderers’ entrance into the house, their deed, and their escape are first briefly related: then the fact of their entrance is repeated as an introduction to the fuller details of the scene and manner of the murder, and the route by which the assassins escaped. Compare the double mention of Joab’s return to Hebron in ch. 2Sa_3:22-23; and of the national assembly at Hebron in ch. 2Sa_5:1; 2Sa_5:3; and note on ch. 2Sa_13:38.

The Sept. however has the following entirely different reading, which is found also in some MSS. of the Vulgate in addition to the rendering of the present Heb. text, but apparently was not retained by Jerome himself. “And behold the portress of the house was cleaning wheat, and she slumbered and slept; and the brothers Rechab and Baanah came unobserved into the house. Now Ish-bosheth was sleeping on the bed in his chamber: and they smote him,” &c. This also explains how the murderers entered unobserved. The female slave who watched the door (ἡ θυρωρός, cp. Joh_18:16, Act_12:13) had fallen asleep over her task of sifting[98] or picking the wheat, and there was no one to give the alarm. This reading gives a clear straightforward narrative, and certainly seems preferable to the repetitions of the present Hebrew text.

[98] Cp. Amo_9:9. An illustration of a Bethlehem woman sifting wheat is given in Neil’s Palestine Explored, p. 246. He says that it is a process constantly going on and forming a marked feature of Palestine life.

under the fifth rib] In the belly. See note on ch. 2Sa_2:23.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 4:6 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.

Ver. 6. As though they would have fetched wheat.] Either for their own pay, or for the use of their soldiers.

And they smote him under the fifth rib.] Where there is no bone to hinder; but the belly is soft, and fit for a deadly wound. To the doing of this villainous act, some think they might be encouraged by Joab’s impunity; so true is that political sentence, Bonis nocet qui malis parcit.

And Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.] But though for a time they had escaped, yet vengeance suffered them not long to live. {Act 28:4} A tergo Nemesis.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4:6 Recab and Baanah believed they would gain David’s favor by committing this treacherous act.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They disguised themselves as merchants, which came to buy wheat.

There is nothing so vile and dangerous, which the wicked will not enterprise in hope of lucre and favor.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 6. As 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.

As these men were accustomed to bring wheat from these stores, from which it appears there was an easy passage to the king's chamber, (especially if we consider this a summer-house, as it most probably was,) no man would suspect their present errand, as they were in the habit of going frequently to that place.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) As though they would have fetched wheat.—Literally, fetching wheat. The English version gives the sense, since the fetching wheat (probably for their soldiers) was a pretext to cover their purpose. The LXX. has here a curious addition: “And, behold, the portress of the house was cleansing wheat, and she slumbered and slept, and the brothers slipt through.” On “the fifth rib”= abdomen, see Note on 2Sa_2:23.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber,.... This is repeated to give a more particular account of the murder; though Abarbinel thinks they went in twice; when they went in first they smote him under the fifth rib, and made their escape; but fearing they had not left him dead, they returned, and did as follows:

and they smote him, and slew him; so that it was out of all doubt with them that he was dead:

and beheaded him; to make sure work of it:

and took his head; along with them, perhaps in one of the sacks they had to fetch wheat in, and so passed undiscovered, to carry to David, to curry favour with him:

and gat them away through the plain all night; through the plain of Jordan; all the way from Mahanaim to Hebron being for the most part a plain country till they came to Hebron, which was mountainous; the way from Mahanaim to Hebron was a space of sixty eight miles, according to Bunting (z).

(z) Travels, p. 145, 148.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Corn. Soldiers were paid with corn, instead of money. They came, therefore, under this pretext; or they brought some as a present to the king, (Liranus) or pretended that they were come to purchase, (Menochius) or bringing a sample to sell; (Tirinus) ut emptores tritici. (Chaldean) Protestants, "as though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him under the fifth rib."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Into the midst of the house, or, into the house; for the midst is not always taken exactly, and mathematically, but for any part within, as Gen 48:16; Exo 8:22; Jos 3:17.

As though they would have fetched wheat; which was laid up in public 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, as is well known. Upon this pretence they were admitted into the house, and so went from room to room, to the place where the king lay.

Rechab and Baanah escaped; which was not difficult to do, when the king was left alone; either because he desired to compose himself to rest or sleep; or because his guards, if he had any, were very small and negligent, now, at least, in his declining and forlorn condition.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. The house — Some extensive structure at Mahanaim used for the royal palace, and the treasure-house of the royal stores.

As though they would have fetched wheat — From the royal granary. Being royal officers, they were probably accustomed to go to the king’s storehouse for grain. The Septuagint here has the following: “And behold the doorkeeper of the house was winnowing wheat, and he nodded and slept.”

The fifth rib — See note on 2Sa_2:23.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 6, 7. As though they would have fetched wheat. Not only is the narrative confused, but the versions offer extraordinary varieties of reading. The murder of Ishbosheth is fully described in ver. 7, and is there in its place, while it is out of place in ver. 6. And that the captains would themselves fetch wheat, instead of having it carried from the granary by their men; and that they would go through the king"s chamber to obtain it; are both improbable. The very act of going to get wheat at midday, when everybody was having his siesta, would itself be suspicious. The Syriac says nothing about wheat, but that these "wicked men took and smote him." The Vulgate and LXX lay the blame on the woman who kept the door, the narrative of the latter being as follows: "They entered into the house of Ishbosheth in the heat of the day, and he was asleep in his midday chamber And behold, the woman that kept the door of the house had been winnowing wheat, and she slumbered and slept. And the brothers Rechab and Baanah entered the house without being noticed, and Ishbosheth was asleep on his bed in his chamber, and they smote him," etc. There is, confessedly, considerable confusion in the text, but the versions do not altogether clear it up; and until we have better materials for forming a judgment, we must be content to wait. In ver. 5, instead of "who lay on a bed at noon," the Hebrew has "as he was taking his noonday rest." In ver. 7 the bed is the divan, or raised bank, which in an Oriental house runs along the wall, and is supplied with pieces of carpet, or cushions, on which to sit cross legged or recline. For sleep, the corners were the favourite places. Even the public rooms had these divans. But Ishbosheth had probably retired for his siesta into a private chamber, where the captains knew that he would be alone. The plain through which they fled was the Arabah, or Jordan valley, as in 2Sa_2:29.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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. Upon this pretense they were admitted into the house, and so went from room to room, to the place where the king lay.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They came into the interior of the house. Together with the traders, the wheat buyers.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.