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2 Samuel 4 Bible study: Who has redeemed my soul
When Ishbosheth's killers said, "The LORD has avenged my lord the king" (4:8), David answered with the LORD "who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" (4:9), and when he was old he swore by those same words again (1 Kings 1:29).
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“David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“David swore "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" a second time, in 1 Kings.”
Is that in 2 Samuel 4, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
His hands became feeble
Abner had made Ishbosheth king. "Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim" (2:8), and "He made him king" (2:9). "Abner made himself strong in Saul’s house" (3:6), and when Ishbosheth questioned him, "He could not answer Abner another word, because he was afraid of him" (3:11). Then Abner turned to David (3:12), and Joab killed him at Hebron (3:27). Chapter 4 opens on the news: "When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled" (4:1) (tap feeble). The chapter doesn't use his name at first. In 4:1 and 4:2 he is only "Saul’s son"; his name comes in 4:5.
Where it leads to Jesus
Killing in God's name
2 Samuel 4:8leads toJohn 16:2
Rechab and Baanah killed Ishbosheth (4:5-7) and told David, "The LORD has avenged my lord the king today of Saul and of his offspring" (4:8). David called them "wicked men" (4:11). In Jesus' words to his disciples: "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God" (John 16:2). John doesn't cite 2 Samuel 4, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some see the same thing in both: a killing credited to God, done by men David calls "wicked" (4:11), and of which Jesus says, "They will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me" (John 16:3). Others read each on its own terms: Jesus is warning his disciples of what they will suffer for his sake (John 16:1-3), while the chapter gives only the brothers' words to the king, not what they thought, and David likens them to the man who came "thinking that he brought good news" (4:10).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Samuel 4
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Samuel 4 is waiting in Favor
- A boy of five
- Two ways of naming the LORD
- Ending at Hebron
- The same oath, years later
- Mephibosheth, and Merib-baal
- 8 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 2 Samuel 4 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
פָּדָהpadahsay pa-DAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "ransom". Strong's gives "to sever, i.e. ransom; generally to release, preserve". David swears, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" (4:9). 2 Samuel uses the verb three times: here, and twice in David's prayer after the LORD's promise, of Israel "whom God went to redeem to himself for a people" and "whom you redeemed to yourself out of Egypt" (7:23). The Law uses it of the LORD, who "redeemed you out of the house of bondage" (Deuteronomy 7:8). When David is old he swears the same oath in the same words: "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" (1 Kings 1:29).
For your group
2 Samuel 4 Bible study questions
- 1Rechab and Baanah put the LORD's name on what they had done: "The LORD has avenged my lord the king" (4:8). When is it tempting to call something God's will mainly because it works out well for you or your side?
- 2David said the LORD "has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" (4:9), and years later he said it again (1 Kings 1:29). What trouble has God brought you through that you could name the way David did?
- 3Mephibosheth was five when his nurse fled with him, and years later he was still "lame in his feet" (4:4, 9:3). Who in your life carries something from a day they didn't choose, and how could you be kind to them this week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Samuel 4 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home