Wednesday Bible Study: I is for Ishboseth

Once again, I had a plan- and it wouldn't work.  So I submitted the choice to God, and He chose, Ishboseth.  I said, "Wait, they won't even know who this is- of course, they wouldn't know mine either.  Ishboseth it is."  And the story of Ishboseth brings up a literal ton of questions.  So let me try to thumbnail WHO he is, and answer what questions that I can along the way.  But I want to state at the onset, my BIG question is this:

2Sa 4:9  But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 
2Sa 4:10  when one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 
2Sa 4:11  How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?" 

This is at the very end of our story, and the "righteous man" that Rechab and Baanah have killed IS Ishboseth.  And my question, when all is done, is, "How is it that David calls this guy RIGHTEOUS?"  So let's go down the Ishboseth trail.

Our first point of contention is, his name.  In 1 Chronicles, the sons of Saul's main wife are listed in this order:  Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and ESHBAAL.  These names are important:  Jonathan means "Jehovah given"; Malchi-shua, "King of Wealth", Abinadab "Father of Generosity", and Eshbaal "Man of the Lord".  All very good, kingly names.  However, Eshbaal soon becomes Ishboseth, which is "Man of SHAME."  How does he get there?  Be patient.

Next is the question: "Is David my rival or my stepdad?"  And this pinges on something we hit during the 3:16s, namely the age difference between Jonathan and his beloved friend David.  Depending on what all you take into account, while we are pretty sure David was 18 when he slew Goliath, Johnathan can be shown to have been anywhere from 28 to 46 when it happened- an increasing question of 'how were they such good friends?' as the number rises.

Now, there are two women in the Bible named Ahinoam.  One was Saul's chief wife; the other was David's second wife after Saul's daughter Michal.  But the Jews claim the two were the same woman, based on an argument between Saul and Jonathan:  

1Sa 20:30  Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 

They claim that David stole Ahinoam from Saul, explaining why Jonathan was the "son of a perverse, rebellious woman" and the part about "the shame of your mother's nakedness".  Hmmm.  But, here's the other side.  Where the verse says "woman", the word is an implied addition (meaning in your Bible it will be in italics), and the verse can just as easily be read, "a perverse, rebellious son".  Add to that, the age difference between Jonathan and David would make Ahinoam anywhere from 43 to 61 when David "took her" at the age of around twenty.  Add to that, David had been married (and still was in God's eyes) to Ahinoam's DAUGHTER Michal, and how many of us really think David would do that?

So now, let's skip ahead to the dramatic battle on Mt Gilboa where Saul fell, along with all his royal sons from Ahinoam- EXCEPT for, you got it, the man of shame.  Why wasn't HE at the battle?  If they were going to keep someone back, in case things went bad, wouldn't it be the heir-apparent, Jonathan?  But, it was Ishboseth that lived, and that's where we bring in Abner.  Abner was the commander of Saul's army, and was Saul's uncle.  (Note: within a couple of verses, he's said to be an uncle -directly- and a cousin- by doing the math.  But since most sources make him an uncle, we'll go with that.)  So Abner takes Ishboseth and makes him King of Israel in Mahanaim, while Judah declares David King in Hebron.  But Ishboseth, as we will see isn't much of a king, and very soon they come to a problem.  The most famous of Saul's concubines is a lady named Rizpah.  If you thumb back through the 3:16s, this is the lady whose sons got executed in retaliation for how Saul treated the people of Gibeon.  She stayed by their hanging corpses for several days, warding off wild beasts from them, until they were allowed to be buried.  So this was a lady with steel and character.  But Ishboseth accused Abner and her of fooling around.  Why?

Well, it could be they were; had Abner fathered a child by her, he might have had grounds to knock off Ishboseth and make that child king- but, if he's Saul's uncle, and she's Saul's concubine, and Saul reigned 40 years before he was killed... that makes age a factor.  On the other hand, by our figuring, if David was 18 when he entered Saul's court, and not much older when exiled by the paranoid Saul, Ishboseth would have been 23- and picking up Saul's bad habits, apparently.  Perhaps Ishboseth was paranoid that Abner, probably a strong and fit 80, WAS planning an end around, and accused him.  Problem was, Abner got mad, and deserted him for David.

Which brings us to the next question- the fate of Abner.  He goes to David trying to work out a plea deal, and David says, no deal until Michal is restored to him.  THAT brings us back to the 2 Samuel 3:16 I keep referencing ( Which you can check out here if you so choose).  But here's the rub.  Joab is David's commander; and he hates Abner, because in the opening battle in the war between Ishboseth and David, Abner killed his brother.  Plus, he's somehow privy to the whole Abner/Ishboseth blowup, and he goes off on David, using the same wording that Ishboseth used to Abner to indicate that Abner was "seducing" David.  David, who has an annoying habit of not listening to rumor, ignores Joab's advice, so Joab gets word to Abner that he'd like a "meet and greet" if they were going to work together- conveniently not telling his King he's doing so.  So they meet, Joab pulls Abner aside to "tell him a secret", and runs him through.  Needless to say, David is NOT happy:

2Sa 3:28  Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 

2Sa 3:29  May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!" 

2Sa 3:30  So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon. 

2Sa 3:31  Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier. 

Now THAT'S a curse!

And what has this to do with Ishboseth and my question?

2Sa 4:1  When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. 

The words here translated "his courage failed" literally mean "his hands became feeble."  He gave up the battle; without Abner, whom he had so recently (and likely falsely) accused, he was but a shadow king.  And so it was that one day, during his afternoon nap, Baanah and Rechab killed him, and then figured David would give them a reward.  And as David said, I put to death the guy that thought he was bringing me "good news" that Saul was dead.  What do you think would happen to you?

So what about poor headless Ishboseth?  He evidently earned the name of shame.  He was a coward in battle, paranoid in ruling, and lost without someone to do his work.  How then does David call him righteous?  I wondered the same thing when Peter declared Lot righteous:

2Pe 2:7  And He delivered righteous Lot, who had been oppressed by the behavior of the lawless in lustfulness. 

In looking that one up, I came across an answer to that question on TheGospelCoalition website, and a fascinating answer summed up thusly:

So then how was Lot righteous? Lot was righteous in the same way that you and I are righteous—-by trusting in the God of Abraham. God remembered Abraham (Gen 19:29), whose faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). The only biblically consistent answer to the question of how Lot was righteous (2 Pet 2:7) is that he, like Abraham, believed God. Lot was righteous not because he acted perfectly in the incident with the two strangers in Genesis 19—-far from it. But we know from Peter that he was troubled by the sin he saw around him day after day.

Is this the righteousness that David is referencing?  I don't know.  I do know he thought highly of Abner, who led the rebellion against him for a time- and just maybe he had a bit of sympathy for Ishboseth's position:

2Sa 3:38  And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a leader and a great one has fallen this day in Israel? 

2Sa 3:39  And I am weak today, though anointed king. And these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me. May Jehovah reward the doer of evil according to his evil! 

David felt he was too weak to treat with Joab and his remaining brother as he should- and left it for Solomon to do (which he did in 1 Kings 2)- which is yet another thing about David I've yet to understand.  As for Ishboseth, maybe he was faithful to God, in a way that Saul failed.  Or, maybe David was just- as many commentators say- calling him righteous IN COMPARISON to his murderers.  All I can say for sure was that David was completely consistent in his actions- he never would strike against someone he considered the Lord's Anointed.  And that obedience is why, despite all the questions about David I'm trying to answer for myself, he remains "a man after God's own heart"  (1 Samuel 13 and Acts 13).  And on top of that, if the question is David declaring righteous someone who doesn't exactly deserve it, he's following in the footsteps of Christ pretty well!