What is it about?
In 2 Samuel 4, the repeated word "Beerothite" sounds and looks in Hebrew almost exactly like the word for "purge" (NIV: "rid." ESV: "destroy") in 2 Samuel 4:11.
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Why is it important?
In 2 Samuel 1-4, three men are put to death, all of whom were obstacles to David attaining the throne: Saul, Abner, and Ish-Bosheth. One of the questions that is raised when you read these accounts is whether or not David acted properly in the way he responded to each of these deaths. He has Saul's murderer put to death, but he does not do anything to Abner's murderer. In 2 Samuel 4, the narrator tells us by means of this wordplay that Rechab and Baanah deserved to die (their purging had already been expressed in their father's ancestral name!). This helps us in turn to evaluate the other deaths in these chapters.
Perspectives
In 2006, according to the preaching rotation at our church, it fell to me to give the sermon from 2 Samuel 4. As I prepared, this play on words leaped off the page at me. I couldn't find it identified anywhere else in print and so was gratified when the editors at Vetus Testamentum accepted my brief write-up for publication.
Stefan C Matzal
Trinity Fellowship
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Word Play in 2 Samuel 4, Vetus Testamentum, January 2012, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/156853312x632366.
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