שמואל ב, פרק ד׳, פסוק ז׳

The assassination of King Ish-bosheth unfolds as a calculated strike within the heart of his most private space. The sheer ability of the assassins to penetrate the innermost chamber reveals a ruler who felt entirely secure. Had he suspected any threat of rebellion, he would have stationed guards to block access to his personal bedroom [מלבי״ם]. Instead, his overconfidence left him vulnerable in what should have been his safest retreat [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The story seems to describe the attackers entering the home and striking the king twice, leading to different understandings of how the murder actually unfolded. One perspective suggests that this is simply a closer look at a single, continuous event. Rather than describing a new action, the account goes back to break down the exact sequence of the murder. The attackers first struck and killed the king, and only afterward severed his head [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל].

A different approach presents a more drawn-out, two-stage assassination. In this scenario, the attackers initially broke in, struck the king, and ran away. Fearing their initial blow was not fatal and that he might survive, they returned to the house. Finding him lying wounded on his bed, they delivered the final death blow and removed his head, intending to present it to David to win his favor [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. Taking this idea of a staged attack even further, another view suggests a complex deception. The assassins first entered disguised as women purchasing wheat, struck the king, and fled. While the household guards chased after the supposed women, the two men returned in their true identities as military commanders, pretending to visit the injured king who had been moved to his bedroom. Finding themselves alone in the empty house, they completed the murder and slipped away unseen [אלשיך].

Following the deed, the assassins took the king's head as a trophy, hoping it would earn them a reward. They escaped under the cover of darkness, making their way from Mahanaim through the Jordan Valley, and traveled through the plain all night toward the city of Hebron [ביאור שטיינזלץ].