2 Samuel 4:6

Contextual Overview

¹When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up, and all Israel was dismayed. ¹ When [Ish-Boshet], Sha'ul's son, heard that Aviner was dead in Hevron, his hands became feeble, and all the Yisra'elites were troubled. ¹ And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. ¹ When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed and all of Israel was horrified. ¹ When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. ¹ When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died at Hebron, he was shocked and all Israel became frightened. ¹ When Ish-bosheth the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, and all Israel was afraid. ¹When Saul's son Ish-bosheth [king of Israel], heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was horrified. ¹ Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was horrified. ¹ And when Sauls sonne heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, then his handes were feeble, and all Israel was afraide,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as though: It is still the custom of the East, according to Dr. Perry, to allow the soldiers a certain quantity of corn, with other articles of provision, together with some pay, and as it was the custom also to grind the corn, as needed, at the break of day, these two captains very naturally went the day before to the palace, where the king's stores appear to have been kept, to fetch wheat, in order to distribute it to the soldiers under them, to be ground at the accustomed hour in the morning. The princes of the East, in those days, as appears from the history of David, reposed on their couches till the cool of the evening: they therefore came in the heat of the day, when they knew their master would be resting on his bed; and as it was a necessary to have the corn before it was needed, their coming at this time, though it might be earlier than usual, excited no suspicion.

under: 2 Samuel 2:23, 2 Samuel 3:27, 2 Samuel 20:10

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 8:8 - wheat 2 Samuel 2:8 - Ishbosheth Esther 2:21 - and sought

Cross-References

Genesis 4:1
The man knew Havah his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Kayin, and said, "I have gotten a man with the LORD's help."

Genesis 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord .

Genesis 4:1
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, "I have given birth to a man with the help of Yahweh."

Genesis 4:1
Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, "With the Lord 's help, I have given birth to a man."

Genesis 4:1
Now the man had marital relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, "I have created a man just as the Lord did!"

Genesis 4:1
Now the man Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have obtained a man (baby boy, son) with the help of the LORD."

Genesis 4:1
Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have obtained a male child with the help of the LORD."

Genesis 4:1
Afterwarde the man knewe Heuah his wife, which conceiued and bare Kain, and said, I haue obteined a man by the Lord.

Genesis 4:1
Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh."

Genesis 4:1
Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, "I'll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the Lord ."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they came thither into the midst of the house,.... They not only came unto it, but entered into it, and went into the inmost part of it; the guards being asleep also perhaps, or not on duty, so that there were none to obstruct them; or if there were, they deceived them, since they went in

[as though] they would have fetched wheat; out of the king's granaries, for the payment and support of the soldiers under them, who in those days were paid in corn, as were the Roman soldiers y in later times; and these granaries might not only be in the king's house, but near his bedchamber; for in those ancient ages of simplicity there was not such grandeur in the courts of princes as now; the Targum is,

"as sellers of wheat,''

in the guise and habit of such persons, pretending they came to sell wheat to the king's purveyors, who were at the granaries; or, as others interpret it, they went in along with the wheat merchants as if they belonged to them, and so found their way to the king's bedchamber:

and smote him under the fifth [rib]; :-;

and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped; they got out of the palace after they had committed the murder undiscovered and unsuspected.

y Vid. Valtrinum de re militar. Roman. l. 3. c. 15. p. 236.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As though they would have fetched wheat - This is a very obscure passage, and the double repetition in 2 Samuel 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.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 4:6. 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.