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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - 2 Samuel 4:9 - 4:9
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But David rewarded them very differently from what they had expected. He replied, “As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, the man who told me, Behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was a messenger of good to me, I seized and slew at Ziklag (vid., 2Sa 1:14-15), to give him a reward for his news: how much more when wicked men have murdered a righteous man in his house upon his bed, should I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?” The several parts of this reply are not closely linked together so as to form one period, but answer to the excited manner in which they were spoken. There is first of all the oath, “As truly as Jehovah liveth,” and the clause appended, “who redeemed my soul,” in which the thought is implied that David did not feel it necessary to get rid of his enemies by the commission of crimes. After this (2Sa 4:10) we have an allusion to his treatment of the messenger who announced Saul's death to him, and pretended to have slain him in order that he might obtain a good reward for his tidings. כִּי, like ὅτι, simply introduces the address. בְּעֵינָיו ... הַמַּגִּיד is placed at the head absolutely, and made subordinate to the verb by בֹו after וָאֹחֲזָה. לְתִתִּי־לֹו, “namely, to give him.” עֲשֶׁר is employed to introduce the explanation, like our “namely” (vid., Ewald, §338, b.). בְּשׂרָה, good news, here “the reward of news.” The main point follows in 2Sa 4:11, beginning with כִּי אַף, “how much more” (vid., Ewald, §354, c.), and is introduced in the form of a climax. The words מִשְׁכָּבֹו ... אֲנָשִׁים are also written absolutely, and placed at the head: “men have slain,” for “how much more in this instance, when wicked men have slain.” “Righteous” (zaddik), i.e., not guilty of any wicked deed or crime. The assumption of the regal power, which Abner had forced upon Ishbosheth, was not a capital crime in the existing state of things, and after the death of Saul; and even if it had been, the sons of Rimmon had no right to assassinate him. David's sentence then follows: “And now that this is the fact, that ye have murdered a righteous man, should I not,” etc. בִּעֵר, to destroy by capital punishment, as in Deu 13:6, etc. דָּם בִּקֵּשׁ (=דָּם דָּרַשׁ, Gen 9:5), to require the blood of a person, i.e., to take blood-revenge.