Ish-bosheth
A son of Saul, made king over Israel by Abner after the disaster at Gilboa while David reigned in Hebron over Judah. He held the northern tribes for two years, but the power was Abner's, and when he accused the commander of taking Saul's concubine, Abner turned to David in fury. Left without support and afraid, he was murdered in his bed at midday by two of his own captains, who carried his head to David expecting a reward and were executed for it.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
2 Samuel1 ChroniclesNow Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
2 Samuel 2:8 — Made king
Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
2 Samuel 2:10
Then Abner was very angry about Ishbosheth’s words, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to Saul’s house your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman!
2 Samuel 3:8
The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, as he took his rest at noon.
2 Samuel 4:5
They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! Yahweh has avenged my lord the king today of Saul, and of his offspring.”
2 Samuel 4:8
David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.
2 Samuel 4:12
Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
1 Chronicles 8:33
Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
1 Chronicles 9:39
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 1 recorded saying
“Now Saul had among his wives a woman named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Why have you taken my father's wife?” — 2 Samuel 3:7
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
In art
