By Larry Barnes in 2 Samuel —

2 Samuel 4

02/05/2026

I just read 2 Samuel 4 NKJV today, and I believe I have a fairly good grasp of David's character, now. When those two boys cut off the king's head and took it to David, I knew they were in trouble before they ever got there.

Yeah, you're spot on with that instinct. When Rechab and Baanah show up with Ish-bosheth's head (2 Samuel 4:7–8 NKJV), they’re absolutely convinced they’re about to get a hero’s welcome—maybe riches, promotion, or at least some serious gratitude from David. After all, Ish-bosheth was the last major obstacle to David’s full kingship over all Israel. They even frame it piously: “The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his descendants” (v. 8).

But David’s reaction is immediate and severe. He doesn’t celebrate. He doesn’t negotiate. He calls them out, swearing by the LORD who has redeemed his life from every adversity, and points back to the earlier incident with the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul (2 Samuel 1). That guy thought he’d bring “good news” too—and David had him executed on the spot. If he wouldn’t reward someone for killing his arch-enemy Saul (who was actively hunting him), how much less would he reward men who murdered “a righteous man” in his own house, on his bed, while he was defenseless? (v. 11).

So David orders them killed, has their hands and feet cut off (a public sign of their treachery and theft of life), and hangs their bodies by the pool in Hebron as a warning. Then, significantly, he makes sure Ish-bosheth’s head is buried honorably in Abner’s tomb (v. 12).

That moment really crystallizes several key aspects of David’s character that come through again and again in Scripture:

  • He refuses to grasp the kingdom by human scheming or bloodshed. Even when it would clearly benefit him politically, he won’t touch it if it involves sin or treachery. He trusts God to establish him in His timing (something he learned the hard way during years of running from Saul).
  • He has a deep respect for God’s anointed—even flawed ones. Saul was anointed, and David repeatedly refused to harm him. Ish-bosheth, though weak and a rival, is still part of Saul’s house, and David calls him “righteous” in this context (probably meaning innocent of personal wrongdoing against David and undeserving of murder).
  • He’s committed to justice, not vengeance or opportunism. He punishes murder, period—not because it inconvenienced him, but because it was objectively wicked.

You’re right—you can feel the tension building as soon as those two set out with the head. Anyone who’s been reading the story knows David by this point isn’t the kind of man who rewards assassins. It’s almost tragic how badly they misread him.

I felt it really touching that he buried the king's head in the grave with Abner, especially since Abner was buried with honor.

Yes, that detail is quietly profound and says so much about David’s heart.

After ordering the execution of Rechab and Baanah and displaying their mutilated bodies as a public warning against treachery, David doesn’t simply dispose of Ish-bosheth’s severed head or ignore it. The text says:

“And they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.” (2 Samuel 4:12 NKJV)

Abner’s burial had already been marked by extraordinary honor. When Abner was murdered by Joab, David publicly mourned him, fasted, wept, and pronounced a curse on Joab’s house for the deed (2 Samuel 3:31–39). He called Abner a “prince and a great man” and made sure his funeral was fitting for someone of that stature—even though Abner had been Saul’s commander and had opposed David for years. David refused to let personal enmity or political rivalry erase Abner’s dignity in death.

By choosing to bury Ish-bosheth’s head in the same tomb as Abner, David is doing several things at once:

  1. He’s extending that same honor to Ish-bosheth. Even though Ish-bosheth was a weaker figure, a puppet king propped up by Abner, David treats him as part of the same honorable lineage. He doesn’t degrade or desecrate the body further. Instead, he gives it a resting place with dignity.
  2. He’s drawing a line of continuity and closure. Abner and Ish-bosheth were the last major representatives of Saul’s house. By uniting their remains in the same tomb, David is in a sense bringing the entire Saulide dynasty to a respectful end—under his authority, but without vindictiveness.
  3. He’s publicly rejecting any appearance of gloating. The assassins wanted to present Ish-bosheth’s head as a trophy to win David’s favor. David turns that trophy into a burial offering. It’s the opposite of triumphalism; it’s almost an act of restitution.
  4. He’s showing mercy to the memory of Saul’s line. David had already spared Saul’s life multiple times and protected Mephibosheth (Jonathan’s son) later on. This burial is consistent with that pattern: he will not allow his kingship to be built on sacrilege or contempt for God’s former anointed house.

It’s one of those understated moments that reveals the depth of David’s character. He could have let the head be thrown away, displayed, or ignored. Instead he chooses burial with honor—next to the man who had been Ish-bosheth’s protector and the last great general of Saul’s house.

That small act of laying the head to rest with Abner feels like David saying, “The rivalry is over. You will be buried as men of stature, not as enemies to be humiliated.” It’s mercy wrapped in justice.

Does that burial choice change or deepen how you see David’s attitude toward Saul’s entire family?

Well, it, too, shows respect to the office, even of not the man. He may have been a weak, puppet king, but he was still king over Israel, and that title alone commands a certain respect.

Exactly. You’ve put your finger on something central to David’s mindset throughout these chapters.

The title of “king over Israel” carried real weight for David—not because of the man wearing the crown at any given moment, but because the office itself was something God had established. Saul had been the LORD’s anointed (1 Samuel 10:1), and even after Saul’s grievous failures, David never treated that anointing lightly. He refused to lift his hand against “the LORD’s anointed” (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:9–11), and that same reverence seems to extend, in a measured way, to Ish-bosheth.

Ish-bosheth may have been:

  • Weak and indecisive
  • Largely a figurehead propped up by Abner
  • Never personally anointed by God or Samuel (unlike Saul and later David)

Yet he was still publicly recognized as king over Israel (2 Samuel 2:8–10), reigning from Mahanaim with the support of much of the northern tribes. For David, that public office carried a kind of derived honor, even if the man himself was no great leader.

By burying Ish-bosheth’s head in Abner’s tomb—rather than letting it become a trophy, a public mockery, or simply discarded—David is saying, in effect:

  • “The crown you wore was legitimate in the eyes of the people and in the providence of God for that season.”
  • “I will not degrade the memory of Israel’s king, even a flawed one.”
  • “My kingship will not be founded on contempt for what came before.”

This isn’t sentimentalism or misplaced loyalty to Saul’s house. It’s a principled refusal to treat the office of king as something cheap or disposable. David himself would one day be judged by the same standard: how the king honored (or dishonored) the things God had set apart. By showing respect to the office—even when the man was weak—David is modeling the kind of restraint and reverence he wants to characterize his own reign.

It’s a striking contrast to the assassins, who saw the title only as a means to personal gain. They thought cutting off the head of “the son of Saul” would buy them favor. David shows them (and us) that true kingship isn’t seized by treating sacred offices as bargaining chips.

That respect-for-the-office-even-when-the-man-is-unworthy thread runs deep in David’s story. It’s part of what makes him “a man after God’s own heart”—not perfection, but a heart that fears God more than it fears missing an opportunity.

Does this same principle show up in other places in David’s life that you’ve noticed, or is this moment in 2 Samuel 4 one of the clearest examples for you?

It is the most recent example. As I continue reading through 2 Samuel, I will keep an eye out for more examples and variations of this.

That’s a great approach—keeping your eyes open for it as you keep reading.

This theme of David’s respect for the office (and for what God has previously established) really does weave through the rest of 2 Samuel in both obvious and more subtle ways. Here are a few places you might notice it showing up again (without spoiling too much of what’s coming):

  • When the kingdom finally unites under him — pay attention to how he handles the transition and the remnants of Saul’s house. There are still people connected to the old regime, and his choices continue to reflect that same careful line between justice and honor.
  • Interactions with Saul’s surviving family members — especially later when certain individuals from Saul’s line come into focus. You’ll see whether (and how) David maintains that distinction between the person and the former anointed status.
  • His own response to threats against his kingship — several times people try to seize or undermine his throne through treachery or violence. Watch how he reacts compared to how others expect him to react; the pattern of refusing to “grasp” power through dishonorable means keeps recurring.
  • Even in his dealings with foreign kings and allies — there are moments where he shows respect for established authority or covenants, even when it would be politically easier not to.

It’s one of those threads that makes David’s story so layered: he’s not naive or soft, but he consistently refuses to let political expediency override a deeper principle of honoring what God has set apart—even when it’s inconvenient or risky.

As you move forward, feel free to come back and share what stands out to you—whether it’s another clear example of this same attitude, a variation of it, or even a moment where he seems to struggle with it. It’s fascinating to track how it plays out across the chapters.

Happy reading through the rest of 2 Samuel! What chapter are you heading into next?

Chapter 5 is next in line, but that is tomorrow.

Got it—Chapter 5 tomorrow. That’s a big one.

Chapter 5 is really the hinge point of the whole book: David finally becomes king over all Israel (not just Judah), the capital moves to Jerusalem, the Philistines come after him twice, and you get some of the clearest pictures yet of both his military success and his dependence on seeking the Lord before acting.

A couple of small things to watch for that tie right back into the theme we’ve been talking about (respect for what God has established, restraint in taking power, and honoring the office):

  • How the elders of Israel come to him and acknowledge that he was already their true leader even in Saul’s time (5:1–3). It’s a formal, public recognition of what God had already set in motion years earlier.
  • The way David takes Jerusalem—especially his attitude toward the “blind and the lame” comment from the Jebusites, and how he turns it into a principle for who can enter his house.
  • His double victory over the Philistines and the specific way he asks God for direction each time (rather than assuming or rushing in).

It’s a chapter full of consolidation, celebration, and continued evidence of the kind of kingship David is determined to exercise—one that keeps God at the center and doesn’t treat power as something to be grabbed or abused.