Isboseth is murdered by two of his servants. David punisheth the murderers.
Baana and Rechab secretly kil Ioboseth: 8. bring his head to Dauid. 9. who condemning their fact, putteth them to death.
1And Isboseth the son of Saul heard that Abner was slain in Hebron: and his hands were weakened, and all Israel was troubled.Ma Isboseth figliuolo di Saul avendo udito, come Abner era morto in Hebron, si perde di animo, e tutto Israele ne restò sbigottito.AND Isboseth the sonne of Saul heard that Abner was slaine in Hebron: and his handes were weakened, and al Israel was trubledAudivit autem Isboseth filius Saul quod cecidisset Abner in Hebron: et dissolutæ sunt manus ejus, omnisque Israël perturbatus est. 2Now the son of Saul had two men captains of his bands, the name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Remmon a Berothite of the children of Benjamin: for Beroth also was reckoned in Benjamin.Il figliuolo di Saulle avea due capi di ladroni, de' quali uno chiamavasi Baana, e l'altro Rechab, figliuoli di Remmon di Beroth della tribù di Beniamin: perocché Beroth era anch'essa considerata come della tribù di Beniamin:And the sonne of Saul had two men captaynes of robbers, the name of one Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the sonnes of Rhemmon the Berothite of the sonnes of Beniamin: for Beroth also was accounted in Beniamin.Duo autem viri principes latronum erant filio Saul, nomen uni Baana, et nomen alteri Rechab, filii Remmon Berothitæ de filiis Benjamin: siquidem et Beroth reputata est in Benjamin. 3And the Berothites fled into Gethaim, and were sojourners there until that time.Ma que' di Beroth si rifuggirono a Gethaim, e ivi abitarono come forestieri fino a questi dì.And the Berothites fled into Gethaim, and were there strangers vntil that time.Et fugerunt Berothitæ in Gethaim, fueruntque ibi advenæ usque ad tempus illud. 4And Jonathan the son of Saul had a son that was lame of his feet: for he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan from Jezrahel. And his nurse took him up and fled: and as she made haste to flee, he fell and became lame: and his name was Miphiboseth.Or Gionata figliuolo di Saul avea un figliuolo stroppiato delle gambe: perocché egli avea cinque anni, quando arrivò da Jezrahel la nuova della morte di Saul, e di Gionata, e la balia avendolo preso per fuggirsene, e scappando via frettolosamente, egli fece una caduta, e rimase stroppiato e il suo nome era Miphiboseth.And Ionathas the sonne of Saul had a sonne lame in his feete: for he was fiue yeares old, when the tydinges came of Saul and Ionathas from Iezrahel. his nurse therefore taking him, fled: and when she made hast to flee, he fel, and was made lame: and he was called Miphiboseth.Erat autem Jonathæ filio Saul filius debilis pedibus: quinquennis enim fuit, quando venit nuntius de Saul et Jonatha ex Jezrahel. Tollens itaque eum nutrix sua, fugit: cumque festinaret ut fugeret, cecidit, et claudus effectus est: habuitque vocabulum Miphiboseth.
5And the sons of Remmon the Berothite, Rechab and Baana coming, went into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day: and he was sleeping upon his bed at noon. And the doorkeeper of the house, who was cleansing wheat, was fallen asleep.Andarono adunque i figliuoli di Remmon di Beroth, Rechab e Baana, ed entrarono nella sferza del sole in casa d'Isboseth, il quale dormiva nel suo letto nelle ore meridiane: e la portinaja di casa nettando il grano si era addormentata.Therefore the sonnes of Rhemmon the Berothite, Rachab and Baana coming, entered into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day: who slept vpon his bed at noone.Venientes igitur filii Remmon Berothitæ, Rechab et Baana, ingressi sunt fervente die domum Isboseth: qui dormiebat super stratum suum meridie. Et ostiaria domus purgans triticum, obdormivit. 6And they entered into the house secretly taking ears of corn, and Rechab and Baana his brother stabbed him in the groin, and fled away.E Rechab, e Baana suo fratello entrarono in casa senza esser veduti, prendendo delle spighe di grano, e ferirono Isboseth nell'anguinaja, e si fuggirono.And they entered into the house secretely taking eares of corne, and Rechab and Baana his brother, stroke him in priuy partes and fled.Ingressi sunt autem domum latenter assumentes spicas tritici, et percusserunt eum in inguine Rechab, et Baana frater ejus, et fugerunt. 7For when they came into the house, he was sleeping upon his bed in a parlour, and they struck him and killed him and taking away his head they went off by the way of the wilderness, walking all night.Perocché quando essi entrarono in casa, egli dormiva sul suo letto nella camera, onde lo uccisero: e tolta la sua testa, e presa la via del deserto camminarono tutta la notte,And when they were entred into the house, he slept vpon his bed in a parler, and striking they killed him: and taking away his head they went by the way of the desert al night.Cum autem ingressi fuissent domum, ille dormiebat super lectum suum in conclavi, et percutientes interfecerunt eum: sublatoque capite ejus, abierunt per viam deserti tota nocte, 8And they brought the head of Isboseth to David to Hebron: and they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the son of Saul thy enemy who sought thy life: and the Lord hath revenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.E portarono il capo d'Isboseth a David in Hebron, e dissero al re: Ecco il capo d'Isboseth figliuolo di Saul tuo nemico, il quale macchinava di toglierti la vita: e oggi il Signore ha fatte le vendette del re mio signore sopra Saul, e sopra la sua stirpe.And brought the head of Isboseth to Dauid into Hebron: and they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the sonne of Saul thine enemie who sought thy life: and our Lord hath geuen my lord the king this day reuenge of Saul, and of his seede.et attulerunt caput Isboseth ad David in Hebron: dixeruntque ad regem: Ecce caput Isboseth filii Saul inimici tui, qui quærebat animam tuam: et dedit Dominus domino meo regi ultionem hodie de Saul, et de semine ejus.
9But David answered Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sons of Remmon the Berothite, and said to them: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress,Ma David rispose a Rechab e a Baana suo fratello, figliuoli di Remmon di Beroth, e disse loro: Viva il Signore, che ha liberata l'anima mia da tutte le angustie:But Dauid answering Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sonnes of Rhemmon the Berothite, and sayd to them: our Lord liueth, which hath deliuered my soule out of al distresse,Respondens autem David Rechab, et Baana fratri ejus, filiis Remmon Berothitæ, dixit ad eos: Vivit Dominus, qui eruit animam meam de omni angustia, 10The man that told me, and said: Saul is dead, who thought he brought good tidings, I apprehended, and slew him in Siceleg, who should have been rewarded for his news.Colui, che mi portò quella nuova e disse: Saul è morto, pensandosi di portare gradita novella, io lo feci prendere, e uccidere in Siceleg, quando per la nuova parea doversegli premio.for so much as him that told me, and said: Saul is dead, who thought that he told prosperous thinges, I apprehended, and slewe him in Siceleg, to whom I should haue geuen a reward for his tydinges.quoniam eum qui annuntiaverat mihi, et dixerat: Mortuus est Saul: qui putabat se prospera nuntiare, tenui, et occidi eum in Siceleg, cui oportebat mercedem dare pro nuntio. 11How much more now when wicked men have slain an innocent man in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood at your hand, and take you away from the earth?Quanto più adesso che uomini scellerati hanno ucciso un innocente in casa sua sul suo letto, vendicherò il sangue di lui sopra di voi e vi leverò dal mondo!How much more now when wicked men haue slaine an innocent man in his owne house, vpon his bed, shal I not require his bloud of your hand, and take you away from the earth?Quanto magis nunc cum homines impii interfecerunt virum innoxium in domo sua, super lectum suum, non quæram sanguinem ejus de manu vestra, et auferam vos de terra ? 12And David commanded his servants and they slew them: and cutting off their hands and feet, hanged them up over the pool in Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they took and buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.E David diede l'ordine a' suoi servi, e questi gli uccisero: e troncate loro le mani, e i piedi, gli appiccarono sopra la piscina di Hebron: e preso il capo d'Isboseth, lo seppellirono nel sepolcro di Abner in Hebron.Dauid therefore commanded his seruantes, and they slew them, and cutting of their hands and feete, hanged them ouer the poole in Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they tooke, and buried in the sepulcher of Abner in Hebron.Præcepit itaque David pueris suis, et interfecerunt eos: præcidentesque manus et pedes eorum, suspenderunt eos super piscinam in Hebron: caput autem Isboseth tulerunt, et sepelierunt in sepulchro Abner in Hebron.
4:1
Year of the World 2956.
Haydock
Isboseth is omitted in Hebrew but understood. He is expressed in the Septuagint. The Alexandrian copy generally substitutes Memphibosthai, by mistake; as he (Miphiboseth) was the son of Jonathan, ver. 4. (Haydock)
Haydock
Weakened. Hitherto Abner had been the chief support of Saul's family. His traitorous practices had been kept secret from Isboseth, (Calmet) who hoped that his former declaration had been dictated by a sudden passion, and would not be carried into effect, 2 Kings 3:10. (Haydock)
Salien
Troubled, not knowing what turn things would now take, and fearing the resentment of the sons of Sarvia, though they were convinced of David's good dispositions. (Salien, the year before Christ 1067.)
4:2
Bands, (Latronum.) Literally, "robbers," or people who live on plunder, like the posterity of Ismael, and of Esau, Genesis 27:40. The life-guards of princes are often styled latrones, (Calmet) from their being stationed at their "sides," as if Laterones. (Menochius) -----Fixumque latronis, Impavidus frangit telum. (Virgil, Aeneid 12:7.) See Servius. (Judges 11:3.)
4:3
Menochius
That. Hebrew, etc., "this day," when the historian wrote. (Menochius)
4:4
Calmet
Miphiboseth. All from Beroth, (ver. 2,) may be included within a parenthesis, being only mentioned here to let us know the state of affairs, (Haydock) and how the son of Jonathan could have no pretensions of the crown. (Grotius) (Calmet)
Haydock
He would be almost 12 years old at the death of his uncle. (Haydock)
4:5
At noon, "to divide the day," as Varro (III. 2,) writes. This custom is very prevalent in hot countries.
Haydock
And the, etc., is all omitted in Hebrew and in most ancient manuscripts of St. Jerome's version. It is taken from the Septuagint, (Calmet) who do not notice any farther the taking ears of corn, ver. 6. (Haydock)
Du Hamel
Probably the Hebrew had this sentence formerly. (Du Hamel)
Calmet
It was customary to have women to keep the doors; (Matthew 26:69,) and they were often employed in cleansing wheat. Petronius says, in lance argentea pisum purgabat. (Calmet)
Sanctius
The ears of corn, hardly ripe, were cleansed, and used as a delicious food. (Tirinus) (1 Kings 17:17.) (Sanctius)
4:6
Corn. Soldiers were paid with corn, instead of money. They came, therefore, under this pretext; or they brought some as a present to the king, (Liranus) or pretended that they were come to purchase, (Menochius) or bringing a sample to sell; (Tirinus) ut emptores tritici. (Chaldean) Protestants, "as though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him under the fifth rib."
4:7
Parlour. Hebrew, "bed-chamber."
Haydock
Wilderness. Avoiding places frequented. (Haydock)
Calmet
The distance was about 40 leagues, which they could not travel in one night. (Calmet)
Haydock
Adrichomius says it was 30 hours' walk. Septuagint, "west-ward." (Haydock)
4:8
Menochius
Life. They wish to recall to David's remembrance what Saul had done against him, that he may approve the more of what they had perpetrated. (Menochius)
Salien
They supposed that, as Abner had been well received, they should obtain still greater favour. (Salien)
4:11
Haydock
Innocent. Isboseth was such, at least, in their regard. He might also have mounted his father's throne, bona fide; and, at any rate, it was not their business to decide the matter (Calmet) in this treacherous manner. Thus Alexander punished Bessus, who had murdered his master, Darius, with whom the former was at war. (Haydock)
4:12
Calmet
Feet, while they were alive, (Theodoret; Menochius) almost as Adonibezec had treated many; (Judges 1:6,) or they were first put to death, and the parts cut off were fastened to a cross; as the head and right hand of Cyrus were by his brother Artaxerxes. (Xenophon, Anab. iii.) (Calmet)
Josephus seems to be of the former opinion, saying, "he ordered them to be executed in the most excruciating torments," "while the head of Jebosthe (Isboseth) was buried with all honour." (Antiquities 7:2.)
Haydock
Thus David convinced the people that he would punish crimes, when it was in his power, and that he would give no encouragement to the treason or perfidy of any one. (Haydock)
4:8
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 5
… “Audacity” ( 1 Sam. xxv. 10 .) in the case of Nabal, and “flattery” ( 1 Sam. xxiii. 20 .) in that of the Ziphites? For in their purpose they betrayed David. Would you see “wisdom” ( 1 Sam. xxvi. 5–12 .) and not flattery, that of David, how he gat Saul into his power, and yet spared him? Would you see the flattery of those who murdered Mephibosheth,
4:11
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
2 Sam. iv. 11 . Ishbosheth spoken of as righteous.
4:2
2. NOW TWO MEN, PRINCES OF ROBBERS, WERE WITH THE SON OF SAUL. — The Septuagint: two men, princes of bands, were Isboseth son of Saul; the Chaldeans: two men, princes, heads of two armies, were with the son of Saul; Vatable: commanders of forces. Robbers therefore are here called soldiers, who were accustomed to make raids hither and thither for plunder (for the king Isboseth would not have tolerated those properly called robbers): for these are called in Hebrew גדודים gedudim: thus the Romans of old understood by robbers mercenary soldiers, because like robbers they would sally forth from ambushes to plunder, as Varro, Festus and Nonius Marcellus say. Thus Jephte is called a prince of robbers, that is, of plundering soldiers, Judges XI, 3. Perhaps these two were leaders, or captains, of the royal guard, namely of the praetorian soldiers, who attended and guarded Isboseth, as the Swiss do now: for thus entry into the house was easy for them, and secret access to Isboseth. Thus Salianus. 3. AND THE BEROTHITES FLED, — namely Baana and Rechab already mentioned; and they fled from the face of Isboseth under whom they had served, on account of some crime committed, which Isboseth wished to punish. Thus Rabanus, Abulensis, Serarius and others. Therefore R. Solomon and Cajetan err, in understanding by Berothites all the citizens and inhabitants of the city of Beroth. For why would all the citizens have fled? And what does their flight contribute to the present history? For what R. Solomon says, and from him Lyran, that they fled after Saul's death from fear of the Philistines, because Beroth was near to them, is refuted by the fact that these two leaders were soldiers of Isboseth after Saul's death, as was said in verse 2.
4:4
4. NOW JONATHAN THE SON OF SAUL HAD A SON WEAK IN HIS FEET, — named Miphiboseth, as follows. Why is mention of Miphiboseth introduced here? I answer, that it might be signified that from the line of Saul no male had survived fit for the kingdom: for Miphiboseth, who alone remained, was lame and deformed, and unfit for waging the wars of Israel; wherefore when Isboseth died (whose slaying is narrated here) the kingdom necessarily had to be transferred from the line of Saul to David. Thus Abulensis. Otherwise the Hebrews according to St. Jerome in the Tradition, Rabanus, Cajetan, R. Solomon, and others answer, namely, that Baana and Rechab served not under Isboseth, but under Jonathan, wherefore they favored his son Miphiboseth, and wished to make him king, and therefore conspired against Isboseth: but Miphiboseth reported their conspiracy to Isboseth, and they, fearing his vengeance, fled, and returning secretly killed him, that they might gain David's favor. But this is mere conjecture, having no foundation in Scripture.
4:5
5. WHO WAS SLEEPING UPON HIS BED AT MIDDAY, — as many in Italy and other hot regions take their midday rest, and take a light sleep at midday; for otherwise the judgment of physicians is: Avoid midday sleep. The Chaldean calls this sleep the sleep of kings, saying, and he (Ishbosheth) sleeping the sleep of kings; for kings who are vigilant, who often at night are forced to keep watch for the safety and affairs of the kingdom and to pass sleepless nights, seek sleep at midday. Just as Epaminondas, the leader of the Thebans, while others were celebrating festivals and banquets and sleeping from them, was accustomed to keep watch, saying: I keep vigil against enemies, so that you may feast securely; truly a golden saying of a prince. The same Epaminondas, when he had run through one of the guards sleeping, and was therefore accused of excessive severity, said: I left him such as I found him; namely, the life of the living is vigilance, and therefore the life of the sleeping is rather death than life; whence Christ in the Gospel frequently commands us to be vigilant. AND THE DOORKEEPER OF THE HOUSE, CLEANING WHEAT (already threshed, removing small stones, chaff, etc., and selecting each grain as it were, so that it be completely pure for delicacies) FELL ASLEEP, — namely from the labor of cleaning, and being weary from the work and from the heat fell into sleep. St. Gregory brings a beautiful and very useful tropological interpretation on this matter, lib. I Moral. cap. XVIII: The doorkeeper, he says, cleans wheat, when the custody of the mind, by discerning, separates virtues from vices. If she falls asleep, she admits those who lie in wait for the death of her own master; because when the care of discernment ceases, she opens a path to the evil spirits for slaying the soul. Those who enter take away the ears; because they immediately carry off the germs of good thoughts, and they strike in the groin; because they kill the virtue of the heart by the pleasure of the flesh. To strike in the groin, namely, is to pierce the life of the mind by the pleasure of the flesh. He sets forth the damage of this sleeping custody, saying: Surely Ishbosheth would not succumb to this death, if he had not appointed a woman at the entrance of the house, that is, a soft custody at the entrance of the mind. A strong and manly sense ought to be placed before the doors of the heart, which neither the sleep of negligence oppresses, nor the error of ignorance deceives. Whence Ishbosheth was well named, who with a female guard is stripped naked to hostile swords: for Ishbosheth is said to mean a man of confusion. But a man of confusion is he who is not fortified with strong custody of the mind; because, while he thinks virtues are acting in him, vices entering unawares slay him unknowingly. Therefore the entrance of the mind must be fortified with all virtue, lest at any time enemies lying in wait penetrate it through the opening of neglected thought. Hence Solomon says: Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it life proceeds. Angelomus, Rupertus and Eucherius transcribed the same word for word from St. Gregory; whence it is clear that this Eucherius is not St. Eucherius of Lyons the Bishop, who preceded St. Gregory by more than a hundred years; but Bede or someone of that age. Let princes learn here, either by themselves or through faithful friends, to keep watch, especially at those times when others sleep, namely at midday and at night; for enemies seize these times, so that they may invade and oppress the unwary. Thus Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, when he had slept in the army, upon waking said: I slept the whole time, but Antipater kept watch. Thus Plutarch in Apophthegms. The same, when he slept during the day, and the Greeks gathering at the doors were blaming him, Parmenio defending him said: Do not wonder if Philip now sleeps; for when you were sleeping, he was keeping watch. For the saying of Plato is true, which Laertius recounts in lib. III: No one sleeping is worthy of anything, because he is like one dead. For sleep is an image of death, as Alexander the Great used to say, declaring from sleep that he was gathering what he was a mortal man, not the son of Jupiter, as some flatterers said, according to Plutarch. Indeed, often from sleep one goes to death. Whence Gorgias of Leontini, feeling a lethal drowsiness creeping over him, when a friend asked: How are you? Sleep, he said, now begins to commend me to his brother (death). Thus Aelian, lib. II.
4:6
6. AND THEY ENTERED THE HOUSE SECRETLY, TAKING EARS OF WHEAT, — so that the fraud and the plot of the slaying of Ishbosheth might be hidden, if they should meet anyone awake; for they appeared to be wheat reapers, or buyers and merchants, as the Chaldean, R. Solomon and others translated it; whence from the Hebrew you would translate, they entered into the midst of the house taking grain, although the Hebrews according to St. Jerome think they carried ears of wheat, which they feigned as if they were about to offer them as first fruits and gifts to King Ishbosheth. Others, so that they might cover their faces with the ears, lest they be recognized. Others think they brought green ears to the doorkeeper, so that she, accustomed to cleaning wheat, would shell the ears and grind them; and thus she would make polenta which was in delicacies for the ancients; for this was the work of women. Whence Abigail offered polenta to David, to soften his anger, lib. I, cap. XXV, 18. Thus Sanchez. Which conjecture is apt and probable. AND THEY STRUCK HIM IN THE GROIN. — In Hebrew, under the fifth, namely the rib, which is the last one under which there is nothing bony, but a soft belly, and therefore suitable for a blow and lethal perforation.
4:11
11. HOW MUCH MORE NOW, WHEN WICKED MEN HAVE KILLED AN INNOCENT MAN, etc. — Ishbosheth was an enemy and harmful to David, contending with him for the kingdom; yet David calls him "innocent," because he believed that Ishbosheth in good faith thought the kingdom belonged to him, as to the son of King Saul deceased; for it was not clearly established to him that it had been transferred to David by God's gift: although he had perhaps heard that David was anointed by Samuel as king, yet the right of David was not clear to him; for he could have objected and said that David was indeed anointed as king, but only of his tribe of Judah, therefore the other tribes belonged to him; or, that David was indeed anointed as king, but to reign in that case in which the royal line of Saul should fail so that he might succeed him: but now this line had not yet failed, but continued in him, wherefore David could not, with the royal line excluded, seize his kingdom.
4:12
12. THEY KILLED THEM. — David did this in order to remove from himself the suspicion of the people, that he himself had been the secret author or accomplice of the slaying of Ishbosheth. Again, in order to show his love toward Saul and Ishbosheth, although they were his enemies; and thus he would gain for himself a reputation for clemency and beneficence among all the tribes, which brings great goodwill and authority to a king among his subjects. Third, in order as king and judge to punish so great a crime, and to avenge the unjust slaying of the king. For the body of a king ought to be inviolable to all. Moreover, Theodoret and the Bishop of Abulensis think that David crucified these regicides. Josephus, book VII, chapter II, says they were subjected to the most exquisite torments; but Scripture has nothing of the sort, which indicates that they were immediately killed, and therefore confessed by sword or spear, and soon their hands, with which they perpetrated the slaying, and their feet, with which they hastened to it, were cut off, and they were hung up for perpetual remembrance and vengeance of the crime. BUT THE HEAD OF ISHBOSHETH THEY TOOK AND BURIED IN THE SEPULCHRE OF ABNER IN HEBRON, — because Hebron was a place as it were sacred, consecrated to the burial of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and as many wish, of Adam. See what is said in Joshua XIV, 15. Moreover, David did not display the pomp of a funeral for Ishbosheth, which he had displayed for Abner, both because Abner was killed in his territory near Hebron, whereas Ishbosheth was killed outside the limits of his kingdom; and because Ishbosheth had always been opposed to David; whereas Abner had gone over from Ishbosheth to David, and was striving to bring the other tribes to him. Finally, when Abner was killed, there was a vehement suspicion among many that he had been killed by David's command or nod; wherefore in order to remove this suspicion from them, it was necessary for him to honor Abner greatly in his funeral. Thus the Bishop of Abulensis, Salianus and others.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
4:2
… After Ish-bosheth was killed, they presented themselves to his rival David, who, however, punished the murder with death (II Sam. 4, 2-9).
4:3
Ark (of the Covenant), Ark of the Testimony
… followed the Israelites in the desert, then was at Shiloh until the time of Samuel (Josh. 18:1, 8-10; Judg. 20:18, 27; 21:2, 19; I Sam. 1:3, 21, 24; 2:14); from Shiloh it was carried as a pledge of divine protection into battle (Judg. 20:18 (Heb.), 28; II Sam. 4:3; I Sam. 11:11). Captured by the Philistines, because of the misfortunes it caused it was soon returned (I Sam. 4-6). It rested at Beth-shemesh, then remained at Kiriath-jearim (ibid. …
4:4
Jezreel ("God sows", an allusion to the fertility of its soil)
Before the battle of Gilboa, King Saul encamped with his army "at the spring near I.," while the Philistines drew up at Shunem in the region of I. (I Sam. 29:11; II Sam. 4:4). Chosen as a second capital by the family of Omri (v.), King Ahab built himself a palace to the east of the city, adjoining a vineyard whose owner, Naboth, having refused to give …
… He was five years old when his father died, and on that day he fell from the arms of his nurse as she fled, remaining crippled forever (II Sam. 4:4). He lived for many years, unknown to all, at Lodabar, in Transjordan (II Sam. 9:4). Taken from his retirement and summoned to court by David (mindful of Jonathan's friendship), he …
4:12
… satellites) of Nebuchadnezzar, from whom he received the order to kill the diviners incapable of interpreting the king's dream, and to whom he introduced Daniel (Dan. 2:14-16, 24 f.); duties which in oriental courts we find entrusted to such officials (II Sam. 4:12; 1:15).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.