2 Samuel 4:6

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

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. And they came thither into the midst of the house.

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 . 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.

2 Samuel 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. A tergo Nemesis.

(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 2 Samuel 2:23.

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.

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. 2 Samuel 4:7 appears at first sight to be a somewhat awkward repetition of 2 Samuel 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. 2 Samuel 3:22-23; and of the national assembly at Hebron in ch. 2 Samuel 5:1; 2 Samuel 5:3; and note on ch. 2 Samuel 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 (ἡθυρωρός, cp. John 18:16, Acts 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. Amos 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. 2 Samuel 2:23.

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.

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.