More Bronze Age Bloodshed (2 Samuel, Chapter 4)

Above: Rechab and Baanah bring the head of Ishbosheth to King David.

From www.keyway.ca

(2 Samuel, Chapter 4) - Once again, I am simply astounded by the mentality of people living in the Bronze Age.  As a fan of archaeology, the glimpse of the mindset of these ancient peoples, as offered throughout the Old Testament, is a priceless treasure.  It's just unfortunate that people today STILL take this as a guide of moral truth.

In the aftermath of the fall of King Saul, much of the people comprising the House of Saul have fled or have been killed.  Ishbosheth was the king who was installed by the general from the House of Saul named Abner, to rule over lands still loyal to the House of Saul.  If you recall, Abner was assassinated in the previous chapter, and King David was angry about this assassination, cursing the assassins and their progeny to a life of poverty and leprosy.

This chapter has a similar story.  Two assassins, Rechab and Baanah, whom I believe used to be captains in Saul's army, assassinated the newly installed King Ishbosheth, in the hopes of getting in the good graces of King David.  They cut off the head of Ishbosheth and approached King David with the head. David was not happy with this assassination, and had his own men kill the two, and then cut off their hands and feet and hang them over a pool in Hebron.  He also had the head of Ishbosheth buried in a sepulcher there, as well.

Abner kills Asahel.  From Johann Christoff Weigel, 1695

Chapter 2 is basically about the aftermath and all the ensuing drama from the power vacuum left over after King Saul's untimely death on the battlefield against the Philistines.  

David was made King over Judah, but some of Saul's family and followers did not like this.  For instance, a general named Abner went and installed Saul's son Ishbosheth as the king over Jezreel,Gilead, Ephraim, Benjamin, and over the Ashurites.  Abner was the captain of the deceased Saul's army.

Abner then took some men and went down to a place called Gibeon, where some of the newly installed King David's followers sought him out, under a general named Joab.  It seems that Joab and Abner were trying to negotiate some sort of compromise.  The meeting was an odd one, because at some point Abner said, "Let the young men rise, and play before us."  Joab told them to arise, and the "game" they played was something more like the Romans' version of decimation, but instead all died.  Or maybe the King James Bible wasn't written clearly, and this was just meant to be more like a gladiatorial fight.

Anyhow, twelve young men for each side got up, grabbed the head of his opponent and then thrust his sword into his opponent's side, so that all 24 of them fell down in unison.

A battle ensued between the two armies, and after realizing that the battle would be won by Joab, Abner tries to make his escape.  One of Joab's lieutenants, Asahel, sees this escape attempt and pursues Abner.  , Abner winds up having to kill Asahel (pictured above) with the blunt end of his spear.

My personal thoughts on this chapter is just to marvel once again at level of detail offered by the book's authors, and also how interesting it is for us to have this little window into the minds of these Bronze Age people.