After Abner died in Hebron, the news reached Ish-Bosheth, Saul's son. When he heard it, his courage failed him completely, and fear spread through all Israel.
Ish-Bosheth had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. Their names were Baanah and Recab. They were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, from the tribe of Benjamin. Beeroth was counted as part of Benjamin because its people had fled to Gittaim and lived there as foreigners up to that time.
There was also Jonathan, Saul's son, who had a boy named Mephibosheth. He was crippled in both feet. He had been only five years old when the news came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan were dead. His nurse had picked him up and fled, but in her hurry he fell and became disabled, and his name was Mephibosheth.
One day, Recab and Baanah set out for Ish-Bosheth's house. They arrived during the heat of the day while Ish-Bosheth was resting at noon. They entered the inner part of the house as if they were going to get some wheat. While he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they stabbed him in the stomach and killed him. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.
After killing him, they cut off Ish-Bosheth's head. Carrying it with them, they traveled all night along the Arabah. When they reached Hebron, they brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David and said to him, "Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to take your life. Today the LORD has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his descendants."
David answered Recab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite. He said, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, when someone once told me, 'Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his message. How much more should I now demand blood from your hands when wicked men have murdered an innocent man in his own house, on his own bed, and rid the earth of you?"
Then David gave an order to his men. They killed Recab and Baanah, cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner's tomb at Hebron.