Person Old Testament
Baanah
Baanah and his brother Rechab assassinated Ish-bosheth, hoping to gain favor with David. Mentioned in 4 verses across 1 book, first at 2 Samuel 4:2.
Why it matters. A captain who murdered Ish-bosheth, Saul's son.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Baanah
Baanah was one of the two captains who assassinated Ish-bosheth, the son of King Saul. After Saul's death, Ish-bosheth had been proclaimed king over Israel, while David ruled over Judah. According to 2Samuel 4, Baanah and his brother Rechab, who were Benjamites from Beeroth, entered Ish-bosheth's house while he was resting and killed him. They brought his head to David, hoping to be rewarded. However, David condemned their treacherous act and ordered their execution. The text describes Baanah and Rechab as wicked men who murdered an innocent person. Their actions were motivated by self-interest rather than loyalty. David's response demonstrated his integrity and respect for Saul's family, as he refused to condone violence against his rivals.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 4 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.