8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king , "Behold , the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul , your enemy , who sought your life ; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants ."
9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother , sons of Rimmon the Beerothite , and said to them, "As the Lord lives , who has redeemed my life from all distress , 10 when one told me, saying , 'Behold , Saul is dead ,' and thought he was bringing good news , I seized him and killed him in Ziklag , which was the reward I gave him for his news . 11 "How much e more e , when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed , shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth ?" 12 Then David commanded the young men , and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron . But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 4:8-12
Commentary on 2 Samuel 4:8-12
(Read 2 Samuel 4:8-12)
A person may be glad to obtain his just wishes, and yet really regret the means by which he receives them. He may be sorry for the death of a person by which he is a gainer. These men shed innocent blood, from the basest motives. David justly executed vengeance upon them. He would not be beholden to any to help him by unlawful practices. God had helped him over many a difficulty, and through many a danger, therefore he depended upon him to crown and complete his own work. He speaks of his redemption from all adversity, as a thing done; though he had many storms yet before him, he knew that He who had delivered, would deliver.