4:7 They had entered 3 the house while Ish-bosheth 4 was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him 5 and then cut off his head. 6 Taking his head, 7 they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night. 4:8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against 8 Saul and his descendants!”
1 tc For the MT’s וְהֵנָּה (vÿhennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Targum.
2 tn Heb “and they struck him down.”
3 tn After the concluding disjunctive clause at the end of v. 6, the author now begins a more detailed account of the murder and its aftermath.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ish-bosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “they struck him down and killed him.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
6 tn Heb “and they removed his head.” The Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate lack these words.
7 tc The Lucianic Greek recension lacks the words “his head.”
8 tn Heb “from.”