And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

But 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,

Then David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As Jehovah liveth, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,

And David answereth Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and saith to them, 'Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

And David made answer to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, By the living Lord, who has kept me safe from all my trouble,

But David, responding to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, said to them: "As the Lord lives who has rescued my soul from all distress,

Who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity - This was, in David's case, a very proper view of the goodness and watchful providence of God towards him. His life was frequently in danger; murderers had often laid wait for it: but God, the living God, had always redeemed that life from all adversity; and called on him now to punish such evil-minded and blood-thirsty men.

And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite,.... In a manner they did not expect:
and said unto them, as the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity; spiritual and temporal, especially the latter is meant, and particularly what he had been brought into by the persecution of Saul, while living, and by those that adhered to his house since his death; which he ascribes to the Lord, and doubted not that he would still deliver him, and complete what he had designed for him, and that he needed not the assistance of such wicked hands as theirs; the words contain the form of an oath made to testify the truth of the following narrative, concerning the man that brought the tidings of Saul's death to him, or for the certainty of what he would do those persons for the murder of Ishbosheth.

But David rewarded them very differently from what they had expected. He replied, "As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, the man who told me, Behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was a messenger of good to me, I seized and slew at Ziklag (vid., 2-Samuel 1:14-15), to give him a reward for his news: how much more when wicked men have murdered a righteous man in his house upon his bed, should I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" The several parts of this reply are not closely linked together so as to form one period, but answer to the excited manner in which they were spoken. There is first of all the oath, "As truly as Jehovah liveth," and the clause appended, "who redeemed my soul," in which the thought is implied that David did not feel it necessary to get rid of his enemies by the commission of crimes. After this (2-Samuel 4:10) we have an allusion to his treatment of the messenger who announced Saul's death to him, and pretended to have slain him in order that he might obtain a good reward for his tidings. כּי, like ὅτι, simply introduces the address. בּעיניו המּגּיד is placed at the head absolutely, and made subordinate to the verb by בו after ואחזה. לתתּי־לו, "namely, to give him." עשׁר is employed to introduce the explanation, like our "namely" (vid., Ewald, 338, b.). בּשׂרה, good news, here "the reward of news." The main point follows in 2-Samuel 4:11, beginning with כּי אף, "how much more" (vid., Ewald, 354, c.), and is introduced in the form of a climax. The words משׁכּבו אנשׁים are also written absolutely, and placed at the head: "men have slain," for "how much more in this instance, when wicked men have slain." "Righteous" (zaddik), i.e., not guilty of any wicked deed or crime. The assumption of the regal power, which Abner had forced upon Ishbosheth, was not a capital crime in the existing state of things, and after the death of Saul; and even if it had been, the sons of Rimmon had no right to assassinate him. David's sentence then follows: "And now that this is the fact, that ye have murdered a righteous man, should I not," etc. בּער, to destroy by capital punishment, as in Deuteronomy 13:6, etc. דּם בּקּשׁ (=דּם דּרשׁ, Genesis 9:5), to require the blood of a person, i.e., to take blood-revenge.