Lives of Scripture

Baanah, a Benjamite, served as one of the army captains under Ish-bosheth, Saul's son who reigned as a rival king over Israel while David ruled Judah (2 Samuel 4:2). After Abner's death left Ish-bosheth weak and undefended, Baanah and his brother Rechab entered the king's house at midday while he lay resting, and Baanah struck him in the stomach before the brothers beheaded him (4:5-7). They carried the severed head through the night to David in Hebron, presenting it as an act of loyalty and vengeance on David's behalf, expecting a reward (4:8). David rejected the framing entirely, recalling how he had previously executed the man who merely claimed to have killed Saul, and asked how much more he owed justice to the killers of "a righteous man in his own house on his bed" (4:9-11, referencing 2 Samuel 1:14-16). David had Baanah and Rechab executed, their hands and feet cut off, and their bodies hung publicly by the pool in Hebron, while Ish-bosheth's head was buried with honor in Abner's tomb (4:12). Baanah's story shows that political murder, even when aimed at a rival's downfall, was never something David would reward -- it was simply cold-blooded murder.