Bible Strands
2 Samuel 4:5
Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, arriving at Ish-bosheth’s residence during the midday heat while the king sleeps. This event occurs immediately after the political fragmentation of Saul’s dynasty and before the assassination described in the following verse.
The words — כְּ/חֹם (ke./Chom) literally means "when the heat of," specifying the midday hour. וַ/יֵּ֨לְכ֜וּ (va/i.Ye.le.Khu) translates as "and they went," marking their deliberate approach to the target house.
The thread — The pattern of a ruler caught unguarded during a midday rest echoes the warning in Proverbs 24:33 about sudden vulnerability. The political maneuvering continues the displacement initiated when Abner moved Ish-bosheth to Mahanaim in 2 Samuel 2:8.
Why it lands — The passage records a calculated strike enabled by a routine moment of rest. It requires the reader to acknowledge how political transitions occur through opportunistic violence rather than institutional succession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish–bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 24:33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
- 2 Samuel 2:8 Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
- 2 Samuel 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- 1 Kings 16:9 However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
- 2 Chronicles 24:25 And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
- 2 Chronicles 25:27 From the time that Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- 2 Chronicles 33:24 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed him in his palace.